'Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble' announced (Switch, June 25th 2024)

Even with overalls, Aiai can't help but let his ass hang out

 

Interesting this is a Switch exclusive. I'd bet Nintendo paid to have something to fill out the 2024 lineup. More than likely a timed one.

 

Looks great, no noticeable railings or anything like Banana Blitz. I know some didn't like Banana Mania due to different physics, but that shouldn't be an issue in this game. The levels will be designed around the new physics so it should work better. Curious how split screen co-op is going to work with some of these levels clearly having tight sections that I can't imagine being fun to traverse with 4 people at once.

 

Yeah it's a timed exclusive

 

Looks good, I like how the new worlds look and it was about time they implemented online into one of these games.

I'm a bit curious about how Extra stages work, cause there's no lives and it'd be weird if they just plopped you into them with no fanfare like in Banana Mania. They should just steal the death counter from Paperball honestly.

 

Looks good but the game should be bloody multi-platform and also on Mobile

 

It has to be said that Banana Mania didn't exactly sell that well on most platforms by the looks of things. Obviously there isn't any proper sales data to go off but we do know it peaked at only 782 players on Steam, and 70% of its UK first week sales were just for the Switch version.

Considering all of that it's probably pretty good going that we even have this new game at all, and it's a no-brainer that it is just exclusive to Switch for now. Although at this rate it wouldn't surprise me much if we got a slightly different Apple Arcade-only edition down the line.

 

Having never played a monkeyball game, this looks like a fun way to pass the time at family gatherings.

 

Switch and PC are the only things with anything decent to play on them, so I don't really see the problem. This looks...okay. Monkey Ball keeps trying to be "back" but it really isn't.

 

I'd like to hear you elaborate on that part because I like it when people say stuff.

 

I beg the differ myself.

 

Personally I agree with PhazonHopper. This new game still doesn't got the sauce as the best way I can put it. The magic of the original 2 Monkey Ball games has been gone for a very long time. It's most evident in the art direction, the characters keep getting more cutesy and the levels more bright and pastel. While yes the characters are meant to be cute and the levels are vibrant It's come to a degree now where it's almost obnoxious? Especially with AiAi now looking like a toddler, when true Monkey Ballers know this is a MAN with a wife . The levels also haven't been designed the same, while Banana Rumble hasn't made the mistake of adding rails like Banana Blitz only like 1 singelplayer level I saw in the trailer looked like a classic Monkey Ball level. Granted we've only seen like 4 so it's probably too soon to judge, but I'm not confident in it with how lackluster the new stages in Banana Mania were. Same with the music too, in recent times it's all just felt like generic poppy music that goes in one ear and out the other, it doesn't stick with you like the music of 1 and 2. So yeah, to me the series hasn't been here since 2002, we've just been playing a dressed up painted corpse of a series called Monkey Ball that hasn't been here in over 20 years. This definitely just seems like a GaaS to sell cosmetics for a multiplayer that tbh doesn't look that fun? Either way I'm not buyin this and I'll just play ROM hacks for the Gamecube games to satiate my Monkey Balling needs.

 

did that have new levels? I don't think so

 

I think we need a proper numbered sequel. A Monkeyball 3 with new art direction and a break from the childish Nintendo look the game has gone for since Blitz

 

Is this being developed by RGG Studio? The website is being very vague about the actual developer.

 

eh alot of the GC Monkey Ball aesthetic came from limitations imo. i bet ya if they had more polygons to use they would have mit more cutesy looking instead of that 90s CG aesthetic during the GC era

not a nintendo look at all lol

its important to remember that the RGG Studio branding is only marketing because its not used in Asian regions of the game.

 

The original aesthetics came from Monkey Ball, the arcade game. They added an extra layer of polish for Super Monkey Ball.

 

its that early Silicon Valley computer look imo that is also seen in the VF2 CG Portrait series for the Saturn which was worked on by the person that created the character designs of Monkey Ball, Mika Kojima

Imo the look for Banana Rumble is very much the standard Japanese mascot look that can also be found for fictional mascots in Yakuza