Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, the first all-new entry in SEGA’s cult classic platformer series in over a decade, is upon us. While there’s certainly been no shortage of remakes available on the Switch, with Banana Blitz HD (2019) and Banana Mania (2021) helping to address Super Monkey Ball’s content woes, Banana Rumble promises an all-new local/online multiplayer adventure , five unique combat modes and plenty of chaotic physics-based gameplay. Launching as a Nintendo Switch exclusive on June 25, 2024, is Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble appealing enough for everyone, or did the game need a little more time to fully mature?
If you’ve never played Super Monkey Ball before, the basic gameplay consists of tilting an obstacle course, either using the motion controls or the left stick, to roll a ball with a cute little monkey character to reach the end goal as quickly as possible. As expected, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is no different, with improved physics that feel solid and fast (and precise controls/camera settings that can be fine-tuned to your liking). This time, however, inspiration is taken from Sonic the Hedgehog with the newly introduced “Spin Dash” move, which allows you to thrust yourself forward to temporarily increase your speed, and thus your momentum. Using the Spin Dash feels incredibly natural, perfect for shortcuts and quick dashes, and the mechanic is a great addition that I hope will become a mainstay for future titles.
Banana Rumble’s main campaign, called Adventure Mode in the game, consists of 200 brand new stages that you can play alone or with up to three friends, either locally or online. Taking place in a tropical resort known as Juicy Island, AiAi and friends meet an adventurer named Palette, who asks for help in searching for seven artifacts known as OOPArts. These artifacts (which look suspiciously like Chaos Emeralds) are said to be used to locate what is known as the “Legendary Banana”, which Palette believes her missing dad may be looking for. While the story is mostly superficial and predictable, the fully CG animated cutscenes that are shown before the start of each world are super charming and adorable.
It only takes a few hours to complete the first 100 stages (10 worlds, 10 stages each), where the story and cutscenes end. However, once the credits are earned, you’ll start unlocking “EX” versions of all the previous worlds, eventually adding 100 unique and much more challenging stages. I found most of the stages to be very well designed, easy to understand but difficult to master, with a gradual progression of difficulty. Completing a world also unlocks that world’s “Time Attack” mode, allowing you to test your speed-running skills on an online leaderboard. Clearing a stage only requires you to reach the goal within 60 seconds, but there are also three optional missions per stage to earn extra points; collect the golden banana, collect a certain number of bananas and clear the stage within the set time frame, which adds tons of replayability.
There are seven playable characters available from the start (AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, GonGon, YanYan, Doctor and Palette) that can be used in all modes, with more to unlock as you progress through the campaign. Each character has their own set of stats based on speed, break, weight, and spin, but I personally chose AiAi for my playthrough because he’s the most well-rounded. More than 300 cosmetic items for character customization, including clothing, accessories, ball types and more, can be unlocked and purchased using points earned by playing the campaign as well as multiplayer battle modes.
There are 5 different battle modes in Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble: Race (get to the finish line first), Banana Hunt (collect the most bananas), Ba-BOOM! (hot potato with bombs), Goal Rush (go through objectives to earn points) and Robot Smash (damage robots to earn points). When playing online you can compete against up to 16 players, but unfortunately local split screen is limited to just 2 players (despite Adventure Mode being playable with up to 4) with optional CPU bots that can be added. There are 15 battle stages (themed around the worlds in Adventure Mode) split between 5 modes. Competitive items can be used in each of the battle modes by dropping them into an item box (think Mario Kart) or by filling the item count over time, with some special items only obtainable for certain characters. I favorite battle modes are definitely Race and Banana Hunt, but all 5 modes are different enough to provide a lot of replay value, especially when playing online or with the right group of friends. While it would be nice to see a new and reworked Monkey Target mode as well, SEGA has confirmed that more stages and modes will be added in future updates, so hopefully our patience will be rewarded.
As a Switch exclusive, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble was built from the ground up specifically for the platform, and for the most part it’s very obvious. Although the graphics are quite simple, the pleasant, colorful art style still makes it very visually appealing, especially on an OLED screen. Load times are surprisingly quick, with degrees resetting almost instantly after an accidental roll. And while I can’t give exact frame rate details, the game ran consistently smoothly for the most part, with only a few occasional noticeable drops during multiplayer when there was a lot going on on the screen.
UPDATE: Framerate is 60fps for single player and 30fps for multiplayer. This will bother some more than others, but the occasional crashes I’m referring to are when the game drops below the target frame rate.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is available in two different versions: Standard ($39.99/$49.99) and Digital Deluxe ($59.99/$69.99), with the latter’s additional content also sold separately via the eShop for £22.29/$24.99 for those who choose to purchase a physical copy of the game. The Digital Deluxe Edition comes bundled with the SEGA Character Pass, which includes six more playable characters from all-star SEGA franchises (Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy), Jet Set Radio (Beat), Crazy Taxi ( Axel) ) and 15 additional SEGA-themed customization options, all of which will be released in the coming months. Now, optional paid DLC usually doesn’t bother me, but in this case, when half of the Banana Rumble DLC characters were already available in the base game of its predecessor, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania (which only costs £34.99/$39.99 ), the prices rub me the wrong way. . While it obviously doesn’t ruin the enjoyment I had in the game itself, the DLC really should have been included in the base game to justify the price increase over Banana Mania.
With an excellent Adventure Mode, a highly replayable Battle Mode, and tons of online and local multiplayer options, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is easily the best Super Monkey Ball title available on Nintendo Switch, but unfortunately not without a few major caveats. As long as you can deal with the omission of Battle Mode’s 3-4 split-screen multiplayer, the noticeable lack of the fan-favorite Monkey Target mode, some occasional frame rate hiccups, and the underpriced DLC, there’s still plenty of fun to be had in this brand new The Switch-exclusive entry in the Super Monkey Ball series.
7.5/10
A review copy of Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble was provided by SEGA.
