Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania Reviews

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a confident and addictive reminder of why Monkey Ball was so popular back in the day. It truly feels like a celebration of the franchise that’s jam-packed with content, bonuses, and unlocks. Monkey Ball still holds up with addictive challenge, fantastic music and a goofy, yet endearing premise, and all of it is accentuated by small yet meaningful additions that makes it more accessible than ever before.

“Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is a welcome, but imprecise remake that's lacking detail.”

We tell you, it’s a good game! It’s not average! It might have some problems here and there, but you have to admit it is a “Good” game.

They see me rollin', they laughin'

Another sub-par remaster of Super Monkey Ball that ruins the precision and elegance of the originals and replaces it with janky, unpredictable controls and shoddy presentation.

The music in Banana Mania is exactly what you would want from a Monkey Ball game: energetic and silly. Every time you boot up the game, a lady yells “SUPER MONKEY BALL,” and it really gets you ready to get your monkey ball to the goal. The visuals are cutesy but very charming, and I love the little touches, like how different characters collect different items instead of bananas. Kiryu collecting Staminan Xs will never not be funny to me.

Nostalgia might have some fans of Super Monkey Ball trapped in the little ball with them, running their little feet, futile against the inevitability of gravity. But for those not already on the inside, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is skippable.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a fantastic party game that is sure to trigger nostalgia while providing a great time to all.

Banana Mania offers so many playable modes and levels that I was instantly in love. For its initial asking price, the game is a steal. Although ultimately how this game appeals to someone will vary on whether or not the gameplay clicks with them. It can be fun, and there are tools to help you get through the toughest parts of the game, but if you do not like monkey maze pinball this game can be a hard sell. Check out some streams and see if it is for you; because if it is, this collection is going to be your dream game. ∎

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a franchise fan’s greatest wish… apart from an actual new entry, that is. A remaster of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, which itself was a bundle of Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2, Banana Mania boasts 300 recreated stages alongside a host of 4-player party games.

Ever get an itch to play something simplistic yet innately satisfying in design? Sega and Rya Ga Gotoku’s Super Monkey Ball franchise has become that for me in recent years. The series has but one simple concept that lasts surprisingly well for each entry and its bountiful level count. That concept is that you are a monkey, inside a little ball. Have fun rolling through this death run of an obstacle course to reach your end goal. Good luck. Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is the latest exam...

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania does at least update the technical side of things, and on Xbox Series X and PS5, or indeed any of the 4K-equipped consoles, you’re getting the sharpest ball monkeys yet. The visuals are otherwise as bright and simplistic as they’ve ever been. They look nice, but no one is likely to be wowed. That’s not really the point. That simplicity makes it a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch, where it looks as sharp as you would hope for, outside of some lacking texture filtering.

For fans, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a no-brainer, and even newcomers will find tons of fun here. Some slightly annoying gameplay can't hinder the mountain of content and extras tied into this package.

While the classic Monkey Ball cast is all present and accounted for, Banana Mania also features many guest characters. Players can purchase costumes based on other video game characters like Sonic and Tails, Kazuma Kiryu from Yakuza (which is made by the same developer), Morgana from Persona 5, and more.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is just as fun and infuriating as I remember. It’s a content-complete package that celebrates the series. It can feel a bit too limited, with no online play or unlockable characters in minigames, but it’s still a unique experience you can’t get anywhere else.

AiAi has been having fun rolling around in his ball for 2 whole decades and he's back with a remake of his original frantic adventures.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania was a pleasant surprise, in that it doesn’t mess too much with a formula that works and it makes strides to welcome newcomers into the fold. Not all of its stages are created equal, but this is a great entry point into a series that’s been lacking one on modern platforms for a long while.

While these levels stay true to the original versions from the early 2000s games, the developers have made an attempt to mitigate difficulty, tweaking some levels and adding a helper system. After failing to complete a level numerous times, the game automatically asks if the player would like to enable the help system, although it can be turned on from the pause menu at any moment, too. With help enabled, the time limit is extended from 60 seconds to 120 seconds, and players are given directional arrows showing the easiest way to travel to the finish line. Additionally, points can be used to clear stages, helping players who get really stuck on a particularly difficult level. It's not something that can be exploited to clear the game quickly, however, because points are only earned by finishing challenges, levels, and collecting bananas.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania truly does feel like a copious offering of many things good in the franchise with a vibrant touch-up. There’s no lack of things to do and challenges to overcome again and again. The polish, music, and occasional level rearrangement makes everything feel fresh and great and you can even challenge the unarranged levels as a bonus. The Party Games are also loads of fun, even if some are better than others. The camera controls are tough to work around and it’s pretty silly that you can’t play Party Games online or with the unlockable characters. That said, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania delivers a mostly delicious and nearly never-ending buffet of bananas and challenges to keep pretty much any player rolling for a good, long time.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a solid celebration for the 20th anniversary of the series’ inception. It caters to fans who have stuck around to see the next big thing and does so in a complete package with new surprises and things to come.

Expertly aping past glories, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is a definitive compendium of remastered classics, stuffed to the gills with bonus modes, extra characters, and party games. It is, without question, the most fun you can have rolling a monkey in a ball around a maze - that is an empirical fact. You’d be bananas not to buy it.

There isn't much new in this best-of compilation, but when the core package is this well-made and feature-packed, that's easy to overlook.

It’s a shame that the camera works against you at times, and pretty much all of the content here may be recycled from previous games, but that doesn’t stop Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania from being outrageously entertaining. Also, while the game’s premise is simple, there’s a great level of challenge here that will keep players returning time and time again to master all of the stages on offer. Throw in the party games that each offer their own unique take on Monkey Ball action, and you have a package that’s not to be missed by those who simply like to have fun.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is the best of classic Monkey Ball with some fantastic new touches to keep things interesting, though accessibility takes a back seat in these remakes.