Super Monkey Ball has had a bit of a rough ride. Starting with two fantastic entries, the series shot into sharp decline. Whilst some were better than others (and heck, I even like the much-hated Super Monkey Ball Adventure), it seemed liked the magic had disappeared.

Thankfully hope arrive in the form of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. Despite the HD remaster of Banana Blitz showing that you can’t polish a banana-shaped turd, this remake of the original two game turned out surprisingly well. There were issues, such as a ruined party mode, but it’d still a great way to play two SEGA masterpieces.

So, what next? They did a great remake, but with such a near-flawless foundation, that didn’t mean that the future was now bright for the series. The real test is with a whole new entry. Can they recapture that original magic?

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE
This is the part where I’d detail all the ins and outs of the story. And honestly, I would love nothing more than to go deep into the narrative of Banana Rumble and detail the adventures the gang have with their new monkey-friend Palette, but I just can’t.

I did try my best to follow the story – I really did – but the horrendously tedious dialogue made the experience torturous. The Monkey Ball games have always had terrible stories that can be tough to endure, but this one was on another level. After watching a mere couple of cutscenes, I found myself rushing for the skip button every time one appeared. Perhaps there is a compelling tale about life, love, and bananas in there somewhere, but I’d rather boil my my own banana than endure it.

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The story mode is not (ironically) about the story in this series though, as it’s all about the gameplay. Split over ten worlds, each one has ten stages for you to conquer. The primary goal is to get to the end, but each stage also has an assortment of missions for you to complete should you choose to do so. This could be beating a level under a certain time, or obtaining the special golden banana, and they’re a nice way of encouraging people to master the game by replaying the stages and experimenting with shortcuts and the like. This is particularly useful considering that you can take on a special time trial after beating each world to see how fast you can beat it in one sitting. It’s not as good as the challenge mode that it replaces, but it’s still a fun little challenge regardless.

Unlike some of the other modern titles, I have to specifically praise the stage themes of each world as they’re all really cool and make the game visually quite pleasant. There’s a rose garden early on, as well as a temple – but later stages get wackier, which make for an even interesting backdrop. There’s no washing machines or anything like that here, but I still admire their choices. Some of them even use the theming to apply world-specific obstacles too, which is also a nice touch.

Of course, as all ball rolling connoisseurs know, the most important elements are the physics and the level design, and thankfully both are pretty damn good.. The physics seem to be copied directly from Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania which, even though some fans bemoaned that it wasn’t exactly the same as the classic controls, I found were good enough to feel like you were in control. Those who weren’t keen on the new physics may be equally as disappointed with this game, but everyone else should be satisfied.

As for the level design, it’s a far cry from the days of handrails and monotonous waiting. Whist it does stray away from the precise platforming on super thin ledges of the first game, Banana Rumble takes plenty of inspiration instead from the gimmick-laden second game. There’s classic rail-track stages and half-pipes, nods to previous ‘classics’ (was anybody really looking for a Launchers 2?), and of course many new obstacles not seen before. There may be the occasional dud, such as one stage where you spend thirty seconds pushing a giant manhole cover out of the way, but thankfully almost every other stage in the game is an absolute delight. One thing that surprised me was how little the game uses the new dash mechanic in its stages, as only a handful of levels really require its usage. It’s certainly useful as a tool to help skip certain sections for those daring enough, but it doesn’t feel as forced as the jumping did in Banana Blitz.

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The problem with the story mode (aside from the narrative, of course) is that it never really gets all that challenging. Almost all the stages are fun, for sure, but there are very few I got stuck on. In fact, most of my deaths came from trying to cheese the stages and find my own shortcuts rather than being difficult. It was only until the final world when things started getting harder, and I’d say that none of the levels were harder than the Advanced Extra stages from the first two games.

Thankfully, this is rectified by a New Game Plus mode, of sorts, that has you going through the ten worlds again albeit with special EX versions that ramp up the difficulty significantly. They may still not get as hard as some of the previous entries, but this is certainly where the challenge is hiding for veterans of the series. Whilst this approach to the EX stages feels a little trite when compared to the earlier games where you had to beat the all the stages without continuing in order to earn them, it’s still nice that there are harder stages available for the seasoned veterans out there.

As for the other side of the coin, the newcomers, the game also offers a great helper function to help you out if you’re struggling. As well as showing you a path of arrows to guide you where you need to go, there’s a ghost monkey you can follow, and a mid-level checkpoint. It works really well and it feels like the game is training you on how to play it, thus increasing the odds that people will want to go back without those training wheels in order to beat it for realsies.

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Whilst I have mainly discussed the single player features, that is not all there is to the game. With a battle mode available, you can take on various game modes against up to 15 other players. The main draw feels like a Fall Guys style adaption of Monkey Ball, with every player making a mad dash for the goal whilst trying not to fall out, and it’s a solid enough distraction at the very least.

The problem is that the multiplayer has been relegated to a much lower framerate. It does still run at 30FPS, which would be fine for most games, but the precision needed for Monkey Ball makes it far from ideal. With the single player running at a smooth 60, it makes the online very disorientating moving from one to the other. I also found that the matchmaking lobby area runs extremely choppy too, which gives off a terrible first impression before the long wait until a match starts. Still, considering the online is probably going to be dead in a week, it probably doesn’t matter all that much.

VERDICT
If you liked Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, then you should love Banana Rumble. Whilst it isn’t without its faults, it is still a spectacular return to form. SEGA has finally remembered what the franchise is all about and I have high hopes for the future.