Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

I went into Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania knowing what to expect. I worked in a game store when the first two games on the Game Cube were released and they were a firm favorite of everyone in the store! We would play Monkey Target and Monkey Bowling all of the time. The thing is, the series kind of lost its way and I am not saying games after the first two sucked, but they certainly lost a lot of the charm that the first two games had.

The Gang Is All Here

You do not come to a game like this and expect a story like something from The Last of Us! Still, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania has a charming premise that has a lot of heart to it.

The basics here are that the evil money scientist Dr. Bad-Boon has come up with a way to blow up Jungle Island! Thankfully, AiAi and the rest of the monkeys we know and love are here to try and save the day. The story is told with these fun comic book style scenes and it has a whole lot of charm.

Squad Goals!

I have always loved the whole style of this series and Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is kind of like a greatest hits of the series. It has that bright and colorful look that the series is known for. I have always felt that the Monkey Ball series is a prime example of the way Sega games looked during the Dreamcast era. You have your main cast of characters such as AIAi, MeeMee, GonGon, and more. What got people excited about this game was the guest characters. Sonic the Hedgehog is here as is Kiryu from Yakuza which is hilarious.

How Many Stages????

Remember how I said that Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania was a greatest hits of the series? Well, this game features over 300 stages that are taken from the original two games that were released for the Nintendo Game Cube and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe which was released for the PS2, and Xbox which itself was a compilation of the first two games. There are certainly a ton of stages here. The idea is that you need to roll to the goal! Look at this point, I am pretty sure we all know what the gameplay of Super Monkey Ball is about. The thing is, it is fine, but like all the other games, there is just something missing from what the Game cube originals offered.

Mini-Game Madness

Look, I like the core game of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania and the series in general, as much as anyone, but the reason I play a Super Monkey Ball game is for the mini-games and this game has many of the classics. There are 12 mini-games on offer here and my personal favorite Monkey Bowling is here.

Pros:

• It has a ton of stages from the past games
• They have tried to rebalance some of the stages
• It has a great roster and you can even dabble in character customization
• The mini-games as always are the star of the show here

Cons:

• Not all the mini-games are unlocked from the start
• Some stages can be rather frustrating as the controls are not always precise