Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Hands-On Preview: A Promising Return

After a lengthy hiatus, the Super Monkey Ball franchise resurfaced in 2019 and 2021 through remasters and remakes of earlier entries. Yet fans have waited more than a decade for a completely new Super Monkey Ball game. That wait ends in June, when Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble looks set to provide the follow-up veteran players have been craving. Given the series’ uneven recent history, the major shifts in game-design thinking since its peak, and the dust developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio may need to shake off, I questioned whether a new Super Monkey Ball could work in 2024. Fortunately, after an hour with Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, nearly all of those doubts have disappeared.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble introduces the Spin Dash

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble adds a substantial amount of content and makes several adjustments, while still feeling unmistakably like Monkey Ball. Its most notable new mechanic takes inspiration from Sega’s leading franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog. Earlier Super Monkey Ball games allowed players to jump, but Banana Rumble replaces that move with the Spin Dash, a staple of Sonic’s abilities since 1992’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I initially had reservations about the switch, but those concerns vanished the moment I tried it in the tutorial.

The Spin Dash works remarkably well within the Super Monkey Ball structure. It creates a smoother rhythm when moving through stages, while also allowing you to burst forwards from ramps and edges in search of shortcuts. The most exciting moments of my hands-on session came from carefully lining up a Spin Dash and hurtling through a level. It can be used to cut stage corners, but it is also vital for completing each level’s missions, especially alongside the revised physics, which make the series feel better than it has before.

Adventure mode’s 200 new levels and completion challenges

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble’s Adventure mode contains 200 entirely new levels. Reaching a stage’s finish is enough if that is all you want to do, but completionists will find three optional objectives in every level: collecting a specified number of bananas, picking up the Golden Banana, and clearing the stage within a target time. You are not required to achieve every objective in a single attempt, though I nevertheless tried to do exactly that during my demo.

It soon became clear that the banana-based challenges could be handled during an ordinary run through a level. Meeting the time limits on certain stages, however, demanded a more inventive approach. That is where creative thinking and the Spin Dash become crucial.

In one stage, I waited until a moving platform rose into position, then Spin Dashed into it at the right instant. This gave me enough airtime to sail over the remaining platforms and land at the goal. Another level required me to drop down from precisely the right place to bypass vast sections of the course and reach the finish sooner, in a way that recalled games such as Super Mario 64 in the best way possible. I thoroughly enjoyed working through these brain-teasing courses, and, having only completed the first two worlds, I am eager to find out how demanding the later levels become.

Should you get stuck on a level, several assistance settings are available. These include ghosts that demonstrate the best routes, plus checkpoints that allow you to continue after falling from the platforms. Clearing worlds earns trophies for display on your island, as well as in-game currency for buying cosmetics from the shop.

Battle modes support up to 16 players

Beyond Adventure mode, I also tried the Battle modes, which support up to 16 players online or 2 players locally. As the game has not yet launched, my matches were against 15 bots. The final game will retain that option, enabling players to fill a match with bots until it reaches 16 total competitors.

The Battle modes leave me optimistic about Banana Rumble’s multiplayer offering. The selection includes Race, a Mario Kart-style competition; Banana Hunt, a collectathon; and Goal Rush, an entertaining risk-and-reward mode in which players roll rapidly downhill and aim to pass through the highest-value goals to add to their team’s score. Together, they provide a varied set of experiences.

My two favourites, however, were Ba-Boom and Robot Smash. Ba-Boom is effectively a game of tag: players must hand off a bomb before the countdown reaches zero, eliminating anyone still carrying one. In Robot Smash, players build momentum and use the Spin Dash to slam into arena robots, earning points for their team. I am looking forward to trying these modes with human opponents, as they seem to offer a surprisingly strong degree of depth for side activities.

My overriding impression of Banana Rumble was that it offers much more than cheerful, superficial fun. The puzzle-solving part of me is keen to discover the most efficient routes through the many Adventure mode levels, while the party-game fan in me wants to play more rounds across the Battle mode selection.

I had a brilliant time with Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, and the content I played represented only a small portion of what awaits players. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble launches exclusively for Switch on 25 June.