Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania Review – A Strong Return to Form for AiAi and Friends

I’ve got fond memories playing Super Monkey Ball as a kid. Between the original GameCube releases, Touch & Roll, 3D and more, SEGA kept me coming back for more. Following on from 2019’s Banana Blitz HD, developers Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s now bring us Banana Mania, another remake which recreates the first two entries alongside Deluxe’s additional content. In many ways, it’s a nostalgia homecoming that offers a welcome return to form.

Combining the original three games into one remake, Banana Mania is indisputably a hefty package, recreating all 300 stages from Deluxe. Bringing back a story mode, we witness AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, GonGon, YanYan and Doctor taking on Dr. Bad-Boon, an evil scientist attempting to steal all of Monkey Island’s bananas. Ditching the fully animated cutscenes for a comic-book-esque approach, Banana Mania presents this more like a classic TV show, though the story has no real effect on gameplay.

Expectedly, Super Monkey Ball’s main gameplay remains fundamentally unchanged in Banana Mania. Our primary objective is guiding an encased monkey through these stages to reach the goal before time runs out, but you don’t control the ball directly. Instead, players tilt the stage in your desired direction, avoiding various obstacles like moving platforms and ramps. Should you fall off the edge or run out of time, you’ll need to restart. 

It’s straightforward and if you loved the originals, Banana Mania’s exactly what you’d expect. RGG Studio’s faithfully recreated these stages that, thanks to several rebalancing tweaks, hold up better than ever. However, they’re still challenging and if you’re finding it tricky, various accessibility options exist like increased time limits and path guides. Or you can spend 2000 points to skip a stage. Points are earned through collectable bananas, while stages awards points dependent on completion speed, alongside first-time clears.

Beyond the campaign, there’s a comprehensive package within Banana Mania, one that’s teething with variety. Ranking Challenge brings a time attack for the main game and a score attack for party games, the main story’s challenge mode gives you special EX stages to complete, while scores are also uploaded via online rankings for high-score chasers. Unlockable special modes also exist, such as a “Reverse Mode” which swaps the start/end points, or “Dark Banana Mode” where players need to avoid rotten bananas. 

Compared to Banana Blitz HD, Banana Mania’s a significant improvement upon its predecessor. There’s more content within and gameplay mechanics feel better refined, likely benefitting from a longer development window. 

That’s not all, either. Deluxe’s 12 Party Games are also back with 4-player local multiplayer, bringing us monkey variants on Racing, Fight, Tennis, Billiards, Bowling, Football Soccer, Target and more. While bowling feels a little trickier to control than before thanks to more responsive ball spin, they’re still just as absurdly fun as before. It’s a shame there’s no online multiplayer but if you can gather a few friends to join in, you’ll have an excellent time. 

There’s further extras too through the Points Shop. Here, you can spend points on unlockable costume choices for the monkeys – which includes various headwear, shirts, shoes and new ball colours – purchasable frames and character reactions for photo mode and, most noticeably, guest characters. While they’re not useable in Party Games, players can experience the main game as Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower, Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu, or Beat from Jet Set Radio, with further DLC additions planned later on.

I’m confident most fans will love Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. Though the challenging levels may be off-putting for some and no online multiplayer is disappointing, there’s a wonderful experience within that improves upon Banana Blitz HD’s flaws. RGG Studio’s done a fine job recreating these classic games into one comprehensive package and considering the lower price, Banana Mania comes highly recommended.

8/10

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania was reviewed on PS5, and a review code was provided by the publisher. It's also available on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox.

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