Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble (Switch) Review

THE Super monkey ball the franchise has seen its share of ups and downs over the years. The first two GameCube titles knocked it out of the park, offering a plethora of content ranging from addictive maze-like main stages to incredible mini-games. Since then, however, the series has seemingly been unable to reach the same heights, either simply taking one step forward and two steps back, or completely fumbling the (monkey) ball.

After Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania instilled some confidence with its commendable restoration of Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2, Sega is back with a brand new entry in the form of Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble. However, in keeping with franchise tradition, it’s yet another game that just can’t get it right, combining a solid single-player experience with a bunch of multiplayer modes that, frankly, aren’t worth the price of admission or the investment of time.

However, starting with the positives, the single player campaign is a lot of fun from start to finish. It’s exactly what you’d expect from Super Monkey Ball at this point and features 100 levels spread across 10 unique worlds. Once you have completed these tasks, you can then double this issue with a bunch of bonus levels of immense complexity, challenging even the most experienced Monkey Ball fans. Granted, nothing here blew us away in terms of creativity or uniqueness, but what we do have is a healthy selection of fun, well-designed levels. We think that’s all most people hope for.

In addition to the wide selection of levels, the gameplay itself is also very enjoyable. Physics is not enough up there with the GameCube originals, but that’s about as close as the series has gotten in recent years. There are plenty of opportunities to “break” levels with crazy jumps or absurd feats of speed, and we can’t wait to see how quickly players manage to complete the game in the weeks and months to come.

To further improve gameplay, Banana Rumble takes inspiration from Sonic the Hedgehog and introduces a new ability “Spin Dash”. By holding down the “B” key at any time, you can reload your dashboard and enjoy a brief boost. This is not only useful for completing levels faster, but it also allows you to move from platform to platform, jump across ramps and much more. We’re surprised at how vital running ability proves during some of the later levels. Those worried that this will turn out to be a useless gimmick can rest easy; its implementation results in a simple but effective evolution of the main gameplay of Super Monkey Ball.

So what is our problem? Well, the multiplayer kinda sucks. Moving away from the game’s title, one could argue that the five modes included here are the biggest draw of the entire experience, but honestly, we’d rather have mini-games like Monkey Target and Monkey Bowling. It’s not nostalgia either – they’re definitely much better than what’s on offer in Banana Rumble.

The five modes included are Race, Banana Hunt, Ba-BOOM, Goal Rush and Robot Smash, and the problem with all of them is that they are either too chaotic with the maximum number of players (16) or too boring when you are just a handful. There’s no middle ground, no sweet spot where modes are actually fun to play, and it’s so frustrating.

Take Racing mode, for example. The courses here include a mix of long straights in which to build nice momentum and complex puzzle areas that require more precise movements. When you reach these final segments, don’t be surprised when a group of other players rush at you as they too arrive at the same area. The result is a visual mess in which you’ll struggle to make out your own character among a sea of ​​monkeys, and it’s just not particularly fun. It’s clear that Sega was trying to create a Fall Guys vibe with this, but it just doesn’t work.

This is only exacerbated by the frame rate. During single-player missions, the game runs at a silky smooth 60 frames per second, and it feels great. Enter multiplayer modes or add an additional player to the campaign and the frame rate is cut in half to 30. It’s a shocking change that, while certainly not unplayable, is a tough pill to swallow after spending so much time. progress through the single-player stages.

A few modes have the potential to be enjoyable later, perhaps if Sega adds more stages or characters. As it stands, the only one we recommend at the moment is Ba-BOOM, where you pass bombs to your opponents by rolling over them before time runs out. On the other hand, Goal Rush is absolutely pants and simply requires you to run into a bunch of goal posts to score points. Yawn.

Aside from the main modes, Banana Rumble has a good amount of bonus collectibles and fun little extras. You have a total of seven playable characters to start with, as well as a few unlockable characters available through the in-game store as you progress. All of these can then be upgraded with cosmetic items, including clothing, new ball colors, and unique effects. There’s a lot to delve into in terms of customization, and it’ll take you a while to unlock everything.

You also have a “Memories” section where you can watch unlocked movies, listen to music tracks, and rewatch saved replays. “Missions” includes a bunch of unique “achievements” to track and earn bonus points, while an intriguing world ranking feature requires you to spend your accumulated points in order to grow a palm tree. Quite random, of course, but it’s a good way to see how you stack up against the competition. Finally, the game includes a fun, if rather simple, photo mode. You can unlock new poses through the in-game store, so it’s a nice little feature to play around with for a while.

Conclusion

If all you’re looking for in a new Super Monkey Ball game is a selection of new single-player levels to tackle, then you’re in luck, because Banana Rumble has some of the best stages we’ve seen in recent memory. The added “Spin Dash” ability makes traversal a lot more fun, and the physics seem as close to “classic” Monkey Ball as the franchise has in some time. Unfortunately, if you’re looking forward to multiplayer modes, temper your expectations. They’re just not very good for the most part and are significantly hampered by the drop in frame rate. We almost scored a point less, but the quality of the single player mode almost brings it up. As it stands, Banana Rumble is a mixed bag, but one worth delving into if you’re craving more solo shenanigans.