Let’s get some important stuff up front. While Super Monkey Ball Mania is actually a remake of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe — itself a compilation of the excellent first two entries in Sega’s simple and often very satisfying series — this isn’t the old Monkey Ball. With new assets, a new soundtrack, and slightly reworked physics, the remake in Unity is no longer the monkey ball that used to have me chasing the perfect score in Monkey Target with my friends during endless sleepless nights. Its visuals are flatter, tedious, and less magical, not to mention the most important dynamics you’ve ever managed at the bottom of the slope in Monkey Ball’s most cherished mini-game, and most often mishandled in the entries because , is now replaced by a rude and not-so-subtle push into heaven.
Of course, remakes are always risky, especially remakes of games as prized as the original Super Monkey Ball – it’s amazing how strongly emotionally attached you can be to a 20-year-old game, namely on a board court Pushing apes around with hamster balls. Maybe nostalgia prevails, but to these tired old eyes, this is a remake that looks decidedly inferior to the original; I miss that unique part of the Sega Naomi era, or Details like how the polished sheen of a gleaming bonus level floor is not so sparkly.
And then there’s the problem, while it’s closer than we’ve ever been, it’s not at all the monkey target you know and love, and have been craving for all these years.That Monkey Target hasn’t gone anywhere yet, mind you – I still have a GameCube hanging in the corner of my office and I can go there and revisit it anytime (and Amusement Vision’s other GameCube masterpiece, the F-Zero GX – now when will we get it? a Switch port That? ). It’s not a replacement for those games – they’re not going anywhere – and once I was at peace with the fact that this wasn’t just a direct port, I started to soften a bit.
In fact, after the initial disappointment, after a few late nights colliding with the trickier levels in the very generous lot offered here, I softened up quite a bit. Some of the stylistic choices can be a little irritating (like the poor decision to make the original soundtrack pay extra), but the original Super Monkey Balls is still an absolute blockbuster game, albeit with a few hiccups Banana Mania doesn’t really detract from that. Indeed, returning to an absolute masterpiece is an exciting thing.
Maybe, somehow, you’ve never played monkey ball before — or you may have only encountered one of the many bland follow-ups that come after a few good early games — so here’s a quick primer. A descendant of Marble Madness, Monkey Ball is the most sublime of game design at its simplest – guide your monkey from one end of the stage to the other, accomplishing tasks with just an analog stick.
Extract the miracle from that one input monkey ball. It’s a puzzle game, platformer and racing game – there’s even the thrill of a sweaty horror game when the timer starts to count down and the announcer screams “Hurry up!” The stakes are getting bigger and bigger.This is genius, the simplicity of the concept is matched by the refined execution, which has not been diminished in this remake – the fidelity of the controls is fantastic, the management of speed and momentum is electric, and the level design is always creative. It’s amazing how much Monkey Ball can extract from such a simple thing.
This simplicity was downplayed in later versions of the game, I’m a monkey ball traditionalist, and I still can’t quite stand the switches and teleportation introduced in the sequel – unnecessary fuss that gets in the way of pure magic original Super Monkey ball. Having played through the levels of Super Monkey Ball 2, I’ve softened my stance a bit since they came out in Banana Mania, many of which show a wit that later games lack, but still the magic of the original level lies in its most powerful.
In fact, the genius of the original Super Monkey Ball is still undiminished in this remake – if anything, the 20 years between the original and Banana Mania just underscores that this is a very special game, and it’s still around. The level design has a complex mechanical structure in which the engineering seems clear – Monkey Ball’s simplicity harks back not only to the arcade classics of the ’80s, but also to the mechanical marvels of the 19th century penny arcade. Plus, there’s a monkey in the ball!
Banana Mania does add some mod cons. Now with camera controls, this may undercut simplicity, but is ultimately welcome on some levels, even if the camera itself is a bit slow and unwieldy to prove really useful. There’s a secondary mode that lets you continue from any specific level that’s making you sad – and the classic monkey ball is excellent at giving you sadness – or a slow-motion mode that can be activated that takes away some of the sting. There are challenges and unlocks as well as special new modes and filters, plus a supporting cast of some classic Sega characters – there’s Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu and Jet Set Radio’s Beat, and one that puts Sonic or Tails in one of the hamster balls and pretends Chances are you’re playing the best Sonic the Hedgehog bonus level ever. You can even unlock hats and booties to dress up people like Ai-Ai and Gon-Gon.
But beyond that, and perhaps most importantly, you can play over 300 levels from the heyday of Monkey Ball, or play one of 12 mini-games such as Monkey Bowling, Monkey Fight, or – of course – Monkey Tennis or with friends. Some details and traits may not be exactly what you remember – no, Monkey Target is unfortunately not the same – reminding you that this is a cover release, not the real deal. Still, it’s a cover version of an all-time classic, and one that finally nails the all-important foundation. It may not be the monkey ball you remember, but it sure is the best monkey ball experience since those amazing originals.
