It’s really not long to go now until Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania touches down, the 5th of October to be precise.
What makes this release special is that it’s been 20 years since the original was released on GameCube. Can you believe it’s been 20 years since you launched your monkey of choice down a bowling lane, or tried to get them to hit a target?
Of course, there’s the main game as well, but it’s great to see that there’s the list of multiplayer games that fans of the series know, and love. Let’s no forget that there’s also the courses from Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 as well as deluxe. So you’re looking at just over 300 stages which will put you to your limits. For anyone that’s played the games before, you’ll know that there’s a fantastic mix of straightforward and balls to the wall stages that will surely result in a few cases of the monkeys going right out of bounds.
Oh, and you can also have the Dreamcast (as well as the other Sega consoles) and Sonic et al in the balls as well. It’s a nice bit of variety, and it’s great to see that the Dreamcast is still getting the love it deserves. Hello Kitty is also thrown into the mix, which, whilst unusual, actually appears to fit in pretty well with the cutesy aesthetic of the game.
The good news is that this will be the most freely available Super Monkey Ball yet. Not only will it be available on Steam (you can pick it up from the Humble Store, here) but it will also be on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X and S. Lastly, it couldn’t be the 20th anniversary if it didn’t touch down on a Nintendo console. Thankfully, it will be coming to Nintendo Switch as well. Roll on (heh) the 5th October!
Last update on 2021-12-01 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.