Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble Review (Switch)

Most platforming games have you controlling an often overwhelmingly adorable character. You’ll take them over, down, and above a spiraling flight of conniving levels. Sometimes, it’ll be a race against the clock. Other times, you’ll need to hit the mark of a certain number of coins collected. With Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble, we’re looking at an intriguing twist to platforming that diehard fans of the series will remember. Instead of controlling a character, you’ll be controlling the platforming sections themselves.

It can sound strange and confusing. However, spend a few minutes playing the game, and its simple gameplay with controls that work fluidly well will grow on you. Even more so, you’ll be primed to play through just one more stage and another. Before you know it, you’ll be sucked into the world of monkeys trapped inside larger-than-life hamster balls, running and running wild to save themselves from tumbling down an endless pit of nothingness. 

But let’s backtrack to the beginning: before all the remakes and remasters in the Super Monkey Ball franchise probably swayed you away from keeping track of the series. Way before the latest entry, “Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz” (2012), failed to capture what made the franchise so irresistibly good, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (Yakuza’s developer) and publisher Sega are giving the arcade franchise another go on the still-running, although aging, Nintendo Switch.

Do they stick the landing, or should the series be left alone to gather dust in the gaming world’s attic? Be sure to read until the end of our Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble review to find out.

Adorably Cute

No one with experience playing any of the previous games in the Super Monkey Ball franchise is devoted to the story. In fact, the series hasn’t bothered to pen down a story campaign worth your tears, care, or attention. Instead, they establish a quick take on the world, with a barebones story to super-charge your way to beating its missions. 

In that sense, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble has been no different, introducing you to an adorably cute cast of monkeys on a mission to claim the Golden Banana. There is nothing to write home about. Still, we do proceed through the main adventure mode in story form, unlocking cute cutscenes and meeting all sorts of charming characters. But it’s the platforming sections of gameplay that steal the spotlight the most.

In adventure mode, you have ten worlds to explore, each with ten levels to beat. You can play as slow or as fast as you like, establishing the momentum that works best for you from the get-go. At first, tilting the platforms this way and that, is easy for any gamer to wrap their head around. Depending on the direction you tilt the platform, the monkey you’ve chosen to play as trapped inside a hamster ball will move, and with extreme precision too. 

But the levels quickly grow in complexity, ushering all sorts of obstacles, ramps, walls, and gaps to watch out for. Some move about, demanding perfect timing to make it through to the goal. The level of complexity further spikes when you need to collect bananas spread out all across the platforms. The player that collects the most bananas in the time allocated for the level grabs the top spot in a global leaderboard. 

More Than Just a Cute Game 

In time, you begin to realize that Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble is far beyond just a cute game. It adds layers and depth the more you play, that demands your full attention so as not to miss a step. Even a slight misstep can cause you to lose the game. 

Speed, precision, puzzle solving, or a mixture of them all soon begin to feature in the latter levels. It can pick up pace too quickly for even seasoned gamers to feel the pinch. But despite the spike in difficulty, the platforming still maintains its fun aspect that keeps you playing for hours on end. 

It constantly switches the challenges up, pushing you to experiment and pull off more conniving tricks. Part of this stems from the three optional challenges you can take on: beating your time record, collecting a certain number of bananas, or collecting a golden banana, often hidden or placed in tough spots to reach.

But there’s also the content variety, which keeps you engaged enough to runsack through them all. When you’re finished with the story campaign, you unlock ten more levels for each world, bringing the sum total of levels to beat to a whopping 200. Moreover, you unlock different monkeys with varying skills. Some are faster, others heavier, and others will break quicker. Some levels will demand specific monkeys, and finding which one can add to more exploration.  

A Little Help

If the levels become too tricky to beat, don’t worry. You can always activate the Helper mode, keeping in mind that while activated, you won’t earn in-game currency. The option to use Helper mode also pops up on-screen when you lose a level three times.

When activated, Helper mode allows you to rewind sections to actualize the perfect move. It shows you which direction to go when stuck and even gives you mid-point checkpoints to catch your breath.

Sonic Who?

Still, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble introduces a new spin-dash ability akin to Sonic the Hedgehog‘s. It gives you added momentum while rolling down platforms, which you’re free to take advantage of in whatever way you like.

Perhaps you can use it to scoop up golden bananas hanging mid-air. Perhaps you can use it to jump off a ramp and reach the goal faster than opponents. You can even use it to discover hidden shortcuts, just be sure to watch out for the cooldowns. 

There’s More

Beyond the adventure mode, you can check out a myriad of other party-based minigames. Race, Goal Rush, Ba-Boom!, Banana Hunt, and Robot Smash are all options you can consider to switch up gameplay. Now, not every game mode will provide the same rush of adrenaline. After adventure mode, the race and goal rush modes come pretty close.

It’s made even more so by the option to bring on some friends for the ride. You can take on 2-4 local co-op play or up to 16 online multiplayer. While it’s fun watching the Switch handle 15 other CPUs, it’s also pretty fun and chaotic to have so many players compete for the top spot. 

Unfortunately, the multiplayer options have a smaller room for replayability, especially when compared to other worthwhile contenders like Super Mario Party. Perhaps it’s in the way the framerate dips at its most chaotic moments. Or simply that Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble lacks the kind of fun variety Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s minigames have.

At least the game looks good, with levels that incorporate vibrant and crisp visuals. There’s so much detail, yet your attention remains focused on the monkey in the hamster ball. The soundtrack, too, doesn’t disappoint, with corresponding tracks for different worlds. 

If you’re a fan of customization, you’ll be happy to know the in-game currency system allows you to unlock a host of costumes and artifacts. But it’s only aesthetic-enabled, which you also won’t see much of given the behind-the-monkey perspective the gameplay uses.

Verdict

Wrapping it up, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble has plenty going for it, but also a few drawbacks as well. The question is, are the drawbacks significant enough to detract you from gameplay? Quick answer: No. In fact, you’ll probably hardly notice them. Certainly not when you’re deeply immersed in the engaging and fun gameplay of the adventure mode. 

I mention the adventure mode specifically because it’s where you’ll likely spend most of your time. It offers a wealth of content variety to keep you returning for more. It’s approachable for any gamer, with a slow but steady pace to catch on. Even if the difficulty becomes intolerable, you can activate the helper mode or skip the level entirely using your in-game currency. 

Thanks to the global leaderboard, you can compare your scores to those of others worldwide and jump back in the game to maintain the top spot. Since each stage only takes 60 seconds to beat, it allows quick run-throughs during lunch break or whenever you have a few minutes to spare. And because the controls are snappy and precise, you always enjoy a seamless gaming experience.

Now, when it comes to multiplayer and some of the other game modes, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble may start to lose your interest. It can be for any number of reasons, including framerate dips, lower content variety, lack of replayability, and just overall underwhelming playthroughs, especially compared to adventure mode. 

All things considered, however, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble hits the mark. It brings back what made the franchise so damn addicting in the first place. We’ve had to suffer through low-bar remakes, remasters, and the latest underwhelming Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz (2012). But not anymore, folks. Not anymore.