Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble – fun and infuriating

When I was a kid, I used to play with a small wooden ball maze from time to time. It’s likely you came across one of them in your childhood, too. You know, the game where you gingerly navigate a small ball past obstacles and holes to reach the goal.

Board games

EUR13,24

small foot Ball labyrinth

German

Board games

EUR13,24

small foot Ball labyrinth

German

Super Monkey Ball games are basically the virtual versions of this simple game principle. But instead of a boring wooden maze, the monkey games feature colourful runs jam-packed with crazy dangers and obstacles. And instead of a lifeless silver sphere, there are cute little monkeys scurrying around in plastic balls.

The last game in the series – not counting remakes and remasters – is now twelve years old. And my experience with the games goes back even further than that. Now that Banana Rumble’s here, I’m giving the series another go. A decision I regret in hindsight – at least in part.

Awesome adventure mode

The main attraction of the game is its extensive adventure mode. There are ten different worlds with a total of 200 (!) levels to choose from. Your job is to navigate sweet little monkeys through these levels.

The «story» that connects these worlds is trivial. A gang of primates including AiAi, GonGon and their cronies are on the search for a legendary banana that’s said to hold great powers. Whatever. All I want to do is roll through the levels.

Frankly, the beautifully produced cutscenes don’t impress me much either. This is mainly due to the terrible «voice» output featuring annoying monkey sounds. Luckily, you can skip the cutscenes anytime without missing out on any crazy «story» twist.

The levels in adventure mode all work the same way. Your job is to move a monkey in a plastic ball through an obstacle course as quickly as possible to get it safely to the finish line. What’s special about Super Monkey Ball is that it’s not the monkey you move, but the whole level you tilt with the analogue joystick to get the ball rolling. The primates can’t jump, but you can help them get over small cracks by giving them a boost. If you fall into the abyss, you have to go back to the beginning of the level.

There are bananas to collect on the way to the finish line. The more you collect, the higher your score. You use the points to unlock new accessories for the monkeys as well as new characters. The most difficult one to grab is the golden banana, which gives you extra points. And it’s not like you can take your time picking fruit. You only have one minute per level to complete it.

The different characters you can choose from have different pros and cons. Some monkeys are fast but tough to navigate; others are slow but very precise. Depending on the level, you can choose a monkey that’s right for the mission.

What really deserves a mention is the wide range of visuals and the creative gameplay ideas – amazing! The simple game principle is interpreted in surprising ways throughout the 200 levels. My favourite’s a level featuring a giant clock where you use the second hand as a ramp for reckless boost jumps. Ingenious!

The soundtrack’s also brilliant. As you travel through the nerve-wracking courses, you’re accompanied mostly by upbeat electronic earworms. Check out this absolute banger from the Neon Arena (the track kicks in at 32 seconds). Love it!

Hey, that’s not fair!

Unfortunately, the quality of the levels yo-yo quite a lot throughout the adventure. Especially towards the end, there are many incredibly annoying trial-and-error passages. They often leave me wondering what the game expects of me or what I’ve done wrong. Then there are moments when I don’t get the physics of the ball or why my monkey moved strangely and went falling into the abyss. What drives me absolutely bits bananas is when the game suddenly stutters at the worst moment. This happens in particular fast levels or when there are lots of effects.

There’s loads of potential for frustration with the camera, too. It automatically follows the little monkeys and turns with each change of their direction. However, it’s often badly positioned and stops me from spotting dangerous obstacles. In levels with moving or rotating platforms, the camera completely gives up the ghost. This means, you have no sense of where you’re going and end up falling to your death, completely disoriented.

I keep failing at these frustrating parts and blame the game. «Hey, that’s not fair!» I shout like a rabid monkey as I throw my Switch controller on the floor in frustration. Fortunately, the fluffy carpet in my living room cushions these impacts quite well.

Cheating my way through the game

If you’re also having problems with the camera and controls, a look at the settings will help. There’s an incredible amount of customisation options that allow you to adjust button assignments, the dead zone range of the analogue stick and the camera’s behaviour to suit your needs. Motion control can also be activated in the settings. Although the extensive settings menu didn’t solve my problems with the game, at least it made them a little more bearable.

If all else fails, the game offers additional help options in the levels. A spirit will appear to show you the best way. There are also checkpoints – a feature that saved me from having another tantrum in some levels. However, if you use these «cheats», your best time for a level won’t count. See if I care.

The game even takes it a step further – if I fail to complete a level, no matter how hard you try, you have the option of skipping it in exchange for points earned. Although my gamer honour initially prevents me from making use of this function, I’m tempted to do so as the game progresses. And I don’t regret it either. It allows me to concentrate on the really good levels and ditch the annoying ones.

Stuttering apes

You can tackle adventure mode with up to three other players in co-op. Fortunately, the collision between the plastic balls can be deactivated for this mode. In other words, other monkeys can’t push you into the abyss. I rolled through a few levels in two-player mode for this test. It’s so much fun!But it also comes with an even shakier frame rate than single-player mode. That’s a pity.

The game has even greater performance problems in the chaotic multiplayer battles in «battle mode». This is where you can let off steam either locally or online in various competitive mini-games with up to 15 players. But it’s stutter central in both versions. It seems as if the game can’t cope with the sheer amount of monkeys rolling around and the effects going off at the same time. In addition, the online games are accompanied by unbearably long loading times.

In terms of gameplay, the quality varies greatly between the mini-games. The races, for example, offer exciting and chaotic Mario Kart-style battles with high replay value. The Banana Hunt, on the other hand, is just a boring high-score hunt that takes place on uninspired arena levels. All in all, these additional game modes are just a disappointing and stuttery addition to the amazing main adventure.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble is available for Switch. The game was provided to me by Sega for testing purposes.