Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz review

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is Sega’s attempt at getting the series back to basics after the rather poor Super Monkey Ball Adventure which I also reviewed. Forget that game existed.

The central core of Banana Blitz is what you would expect; guide your little monkey companion through a level towards the goal, while collecting bananas and trying not to fall off. It really isn’t that much different to previous titles, bar the control method.

You tilt the Wii controller in the direction that you want your monkey to roll, and away you go. It’s a fairly simple and easy system to get to grips with, but part of me wishes that we were able to use the nun chuck and its control stick. As a result, the game doesn’t feel as fast and frantic as previous versions - which used to be the whole attraction. That said, I do welcome the use of the Wii control system, and this is a good title that showcases its various functions.

Wii-sy does it

Along with the motion sensing, another new feature is the ability to jump. Yes, the staple part of the adventure genre for over 2 decades, jumping has been included in a Super Monkey Ball game for the very first time. It, too, seems to take away some of the frantic SMB action that we all know and love. If you get close to the edge, simply jump and move back towards safety. The game still presents a challenge so you shouldn’t fret it being all too easy.

The levels are split into several worlds, each with its own theme. This is an area that Banana Blitz really excels in; the themes are unique, and really add something to the game. Snow falls from the sky in the icy world, and the desert world has an impressive heat haze effect. The sound, too, is a nicely implemented– each world has its own musical arrangement, and they all suit their respective themes well.

There are also boss fights included at the end of each world. As boss fights go, these are some of the easiest I’ve encountered. Some are also just plain stupid; the boss at the end of the desert level is a giant mechanical dinosaur. The world has an Egyptian theme, along with giant pyramids, and you have to duke it out with a mecha T-Rex. If someone could explain that one to me, I’d be most grateful.

Super Monkey Letdown

Visually, there’s nothing here that pushes the Wii’s ability. For a game that centres around simians in spheres, it’s graphically acceptable and some of the effects are fairly nice. Be warned, though, this is a very bright game; an Ode to Crayola of sorts.

Along with the usual 4 monkeys, there are an extra 2 included in this iteration – YanYan and Doctor. YanYan is another female monkey, but Doctor? Well, according to the manual he “doesn’t remember his name” and was “found wandering around the island”. In other words, “we’re really scraping the barrel”.

Multiplayer is perhaps the most disappointing part of the monkeys’ latest outing. Despite having 50 party games (roughly ten times more than the first two), they all feel rushed and tacked-on. There isn’t any lasting appeal, and you’ll be bored very quickly. I would have preferred the ability to take turns playing through single player, or to see the return of the original party games, but we can’t have everything. I’m just glad it’s not another adventure game.

Banana Blitz over Europe

I don’t quite understand why Banana Blitz was chosen as the title. There are actually fewer bananas per level than there were on previous titles; 100 of the fruity delights used to equate to an extra life, but this has been reduced to 20. So why else would it be called that?

Maybe there’s a secret World War II level? In fact, I might not be too far off; have you seen the doctor monkey? He wouldn’t look too out of place in some Nazi science lab. Could this explain why they’re in balls in the first place?

Jokes aside, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is a good launch title for the Wii. It presents a good learning curve for those unaccustomed to the Wiimote, and stays true to the tried-and-tested Monkey Ball formula. This could quite easily be branded Super Monkey Ball 3, and it certainly would be deserving of such a title.