After the disappointment that Sonic Colours Ultimate left in its wake, I was a little uneasy going into Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. It certainly looked the part, but I still had this nagging feeling that they were going to dramatically mess something up. Thankfully, my fears were for nought. Banana Mania does almost everything I could want from a remake of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, albeit with a few small issues that impact the experience to varying degrees.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have revealed that long time leads Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato have left the company and the studio has undergone a restructure as a result. Masayoshi Yokoyama will now take over from Nagoshi as the studio’s Director and Executive Producer.
Toshihiro Nagoshi has been a SEGA mainstay since 1989, starting as a designer and director on games like Virtua Racing, Daytona USA and Shenmue before finding fame as the lead director of the Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza franchises.
Daisuke Sato is also a long-tenured SEGA employee starting his career on field map production for 1995’s Magic Knight Rayearth on the Saturn and having designer credits on games like SEGA Super GT, Virtua Fighter 3tb and Shenmue. Sato’s career highlights also include directing duties Yakuza 3 and Binary Domain.
You can read the full story on RGG Studio’s restructure by clicking this link.
SEGA continue their trend of adding the absolute best bonus characters of all time to Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania with today’s reveal that Hello Kitty is coming to the game as a paid for DLC character. Hello Kitty will cost $4.99 “or equivalent” and the in game bananas also become apples when Hello Kitty is in use. You can check out the reveal trailer below:
Hello Kitty will launch as paid for DLC on October 5th 2021. The base Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania game also launches on the same day on Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The game is an enhanced port of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe from 2005.
More bonus characters have been revealed for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania and this time we have the additions of both Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles “Tails” Prower. When these characters are in use the bananas strewn around the game’s levels also become rings for added Sonic the Hedgehog theming. Check it out in the reveal trailer below:
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania launches for Switch, PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series consoles on the 5th of October 2021. The game is an enhanced remake of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe which originally released on PS2 and Xbox back in 2005.
Beat from Jet Set Radio is joining the Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania cast as an unlockable character. When using Beat, the collectible bananas also change to cans of spray paint which is a cute little touch that helps with the Jet Set Radio theming. You can check out the first look of Beat in action in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania via the embed below:
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania launches for Switch, PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series consoles on the 5th of October 2021. The game is an enhanced remake of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe which originally released on PS2 and Xbox back in 2005.
SEGA have just uploaded the first in-game trailer for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD, and as you can expect it’s basically Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz in HD. That’s no bad thing because the original game was certainly a good-looking game, and with that added clarity it now looks even better. Check it out:
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD released on the 29th of October 2019 for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. A PC port will arrive later in the Winter. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is also famous for being the last Super Monkey Ball game directed by series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi who would later find fame with the Yakuza franchise.
UPDATE AT 17:54
A Western release has been confirmed as Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD. The game will release on PS4, Xbox One and Switch on October 29th 2019 with a PC release scheduled for “Winter” 2019. You can watch the announcement trailer above.
ORIGINAL STORY
It’s official – Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball launches in Japan on October 31st 2019 for PC, Switch and PS4, and now we have our first look at the in-game visuals thanks to 4 high quality screenshots direct from Famitsu (see above).
Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball appears to be a remake of 2006 Wii title Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, which controversially included boss battles and the ability to jump. It was also the last Super Monkey Ball title directed by series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi who has more recently found fame with the Yakuza franchise.
There is currently no word on a Western release, but this at least confirms the existence of an Asian version after it was leaked on a Taiwanese ratings board last week.
The Super Monkey Ball franchise hasn’t seen an entry since 2012’s Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz on Vita and it’s been even longer since it received a release for a home console (2010’s Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll for Wii if you’re keeping track).
The Taiwanese Rating Board have listed a new title in the Super Monkey Ball series, following on from what sounded like a new game being trademarked in Japan a couple of months ago.
The rated title’s name on the board roughly translates to “Now Taste Good! Super Monkey Ball”, which suggests this indeed the previously trademarked “Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball” (so a closer title would be along the lines of “Ripe! Super Monkey Ball”). The listing also seemingly reveals which platforms the title will be coming to – PS4, PC and Switch. We wouldn’t be surprised if SEGA followed their recent trend of adding an Xbox One version to the lineup in Western regions (as was the case with Valkyria Revolution and, bizarrely, Sonic Forces), but that’s purely speculation on our behalf.
With an actual logo and artwork included with the listing, it’s probably not too long until SEGA officially announces this title. It’s a good time to be a fan of classic SEGA IP though – this is the latest in a string of revivals including Panzer Dragoon and Streets of Rage. Here’s hoping it’s up to par. Monkey Golf Par, that is.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
SEGA have announced a new Super Monkey Ball game called Super Monkey Ball Bounce. As with a lot of SEGA’s recent output, the game is a mobile title for iOS and Android devices and looks incredibly similar to the Peggle games. Check out the trailer below:
Super Monkey Ball Bounce launches this Summer on iOS and Android devices. It will be a free-to-play title.
SEGA have announced the release of several DLC packs for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz on PS Vita. Here’s the lowdown straight from the SEGA Blog:
SEGA Grey Pack – Include the SEGA Saturn system and Logo in your designs!
SEGA Black Pack – Include the SEGA MegaDrive / Genesis system and logo in your designs!
SEGA White Pack – Include the SEGA Dreamcast system and logo in your designs!
Sonic Pack – Update your levels to include a Sonic the Hedgehog statue!
Hard Pack – Tons of new slimmer elements, including L, T, and + (plus) shapes.
Professional Pack -All new elements, that are even more challenging than the Hard Pack, can be found in this Professional Pack!
Variety Pack – Update your levels with pyramids, bumps, cones and more!
Puyo Puyo Pack – The update adds a tile containing PuyoPuyos that are hard to navigate across!
All packs launch in North America on October 30th for $1.99 each. The European DLC is staggered and released on these dates:
October 31st: SEGA Grey Pack & SEGA Black Pack
November 7th: SEGA White Pack & Sonic Pack
November 14th: Hard Pack & Professional Pack
November 21st: Variety Pack & Puyo Puyo Pack
There is currently no pricing on European packs but they will all be sold as a single bundle at a later date.
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