Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Review
thesixthaxis.comIt’s best not to think about the animal welfare questions that series like Super Monkey Ball and Pokémon raise. Do these animals like being in their balls? Have they chosen to be in balls? How do they eat and…. well, you know, in the balls? OK, that last one is a wild musing of my addled mind, but ever since the GameCube original, Super Monkey Ball has been putting simians in spheres and people have been loving it.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble starts, as many of these games have before, with letting you choose which ape to trap in an oversized hamster ball, before setting forth across a series of nefarious courses designed to send your furry friend hurtling to their doom. Fortunately, any missteps here only result in a return to the start, rather than a visit from animal protection.
Banana Rumble is just as joyously happy as its forebears, and the core formula remains as tricky and teeth-gnashingly frustrating as ever, while retaining that essential ‘one-more-go’ flavour to keep you coming back. This time you’re off to Juicy Island in search of the Legendary Banana. Now, this isn’t an island populated by ladies’ leggings, and there’s a smattering of Chaos Emerald about the Legendary Banana, but you can probably forget all about this narrative as you’ll be too busy trying not to fall off things.
The cast here, led by the indomitable AiAi, are as adorable as ever, but there’s a batch of newcomers to keep an eye on, both in single and multiplayer modes. Alongside borrowing the Chaos Emeralds, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble also steals Sonic’s Spin Dash, allowing your monkeys to hurtle across the screen even faster, more easily overcoming small walls and ramps. They’re definitely falling off the level even more too.
Adventure mode has a narrative woven into it, though the adorable cutscenes are strangely low resolution, and if you’re looking for meaningful simian drama you’re probably better off with Planet of the Apes. A young female monkey Palette is looking for her
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