The Super Monkey Ball the franchise has experienced its fair share of highs and lows over the years. The first two GameCube titles knocked it out of the park, providing a wealth of content from addictive maze-like main stages to amazing mini-games. Since then, though, the series hasn’t seemed to reach the same heights, either content to take one step forward and two back, or otherwise completely fumble with the (monkey) ball.
After Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania inspired some cred 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 the franchise’s tradition, this is yet another game that just can’t hit a home run, combining a solid single-player experience with a bunch of multiplayer modes that frankly aren’t worth the price of admission or time investment.
Starting with the positives though, the single player campaign is great fun from start to finish. It’s exactly what you’d expect from Super Monkey Ball at this stage and features 100 levels split into 10 unique worlds. Once you complete them, you can double this number with a bunch of bonus levels of enormous complexity challenging even the most seasoned Monkey Ball fans. Sure, there wasn’t anything here that blew us away in terms of creativity or uniqueness, but what we do have is a healthy selection of well-designed, fun levels. We suspect that’s all most people are hoping for.
In addition to the strong level selection, the actual gameplay feels pretty great as well. Physics is not quite a lot up there with the GameCube originals, but it’s as close as the series has come in years. There are plenty of opportunities to “break through” levels with crazy jumps or absurd speeds, and we can’t wait to see how fast players can get through the game in the coming weeks and months.
To further enhance the gameplay, Banana Rumble takes a cue from Sonic the Hedgehog and introduces a new “Spin Dash” ability. By holding down ‘B’ at any point, you can charge your control and enjoy a short burst of speed. Not only is this useful for completing levels faster, but it also allows you to jump over certain platforms, jump over ramps, and more. We’re surprised at how vital the dash ability turns out to be during some of the later levels. Those who fear that this may have turned out to be a useless trick can rest easy; its implementation results in a simple but effective evolution of the core gameplay of Super Monkey Ball.
So what is our problem? Well, the multiplayer is a bit crappy. Going off of the game’s title, it could be argued that the five modes included here are the biggest draw of the entire experience, but to be honest, we’d prefer mini-games like Monkey Target and Monkey Bowling. This isn’t nostalgia either – they really are 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’re either too chaotic with the maximum number of players (16) or too boring when there’s only a handful of you. There’s no middle ground, no sweet spot where the modes actually feel fun to play, and it’s so frustrating.
Take the Race mode for example. The courses here include a mix of long straights where you can build up some nice momentum and tricky puzzle areas that require more precise movement. When you get to the final segments, don’t be surprised when a bunch of other players run into you as they also get to the same area. This results in a visual mess where you’ll struggle to distinguish your own character among a sea of monkeys, and it’s just not very fun. It’s clear that Sega is going for a Fall Guys vibe with this, but it just doesn’t work.
This is only made worse by the frame rate. During single-player missions, the game runs at a lovely, silky-smooth 60fps and feels great. Enter the multiplayer modes or add an extra player to the campaign and the framerate will be halved to 30. It’s a jarring change that, while certainly unplayable, is a tough pill to swallow once you’ve spent so much time working your way through the single player stages.
A few of the modes have the potential to be enjoyable later on, maybe if Sega adds more stages or characters. As it stands, the only one we’d recommend right now is Ba-BOOM, where you basically deliver bombs to your opponents by rolling them before time runs out. On the other hand, Goal Rush is absolutely awkward and just requires you to zoom up to a bunch of goal posts to score points. Yawn.
Aside from the core modes, Banana Rumble boasts a healthy amount of bonus collectibles and fun little extras. You have a total of seven playable characters to start with, along with some unlockable characters available through the in-game store as you progress. They can then all be upgraded with cosmetic items including clothes, new ball colors and unique effects. There’s a lot to dive into in terms of customization, and it’ll take you quite some time to unlock everything.
You also have a Memories section where you can watch unlocked movies, listen to music tracks and re-watch any saved replays. “Missions” include a bunch of unique “achievements” to track and earn bonus points, while an intriguing global leaderboard feature requires you to spend your accumulated points to grow a palm tree. Pretty random, of course, but a good way to see how you stack up against the competition. Finally, the game features a fun, if rather lackluster, 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 the new Super Monkey Ball game is a selection of new single player levels to tackle, then you’re in luck because Banana Rumble boasts some of the best stages we’ve seen in recent memory. time. The added ‘Spin Dash’ ability makes running around a lot more fun, and the physics feel as close to ‘classic’ Monkey Ball as the franchise has gotten in quite some time. Unfortunately, if you’re looking forward to the multiplayer modes, temper your expectations. They’re just not very good for the most part and are significantly hampered by the framerate drop. We almost scored this a point lower, but the quality of the single player almost pulls it up. As it stands, Banana Rumble is a mixed bag, but it’s worth digging into if you want more single-player shenanigans.
