The MONKEY Ball series has never been something that interested me so much.
It’s been running for over 20 years and has appeared on numerous consoles, including Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox, and fans love it.
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The latest game in the series is Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, and is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.
I’ve been testing the game, and after playing a few dozen levels, I’m thinking about going back and playing all the games in the series that I missed.
The basic premise of Super Monkey Ball is quite simple – you have a monkey in a ball that you must guide through complex floating levels.
You move your monkey by tilting the stage in various directions, like the ball maze puzzles you played as a kid.
There’s also a newly added spin dash, where you hold down a button to charge a quick, short boost, activated when you release the button.
These levels start out simple, but get much more complex and challenging as the game progresses, really testing your dexterity and patience.
Each level has three objectives to complete – finish the level in a set amount of time, collect a certain amount of bananas, and collect the only rare golden banana in each level.
It is nearly impossible to complete all three objectives the first time through a level, so you are encouraged to play the levels multiple times.
There’s a certain addictive quality to replaying these levels, competing against yourself for a better score, faster time, and complete completion.
I ended up staying up late at night – and often late in the morning – to try to find the ideal path through each stage and beat my own scores.
There are over 200 stages in Banana Rumble, and most of them go through the story mode, which is surprisingly long.
The story itself is a bit dull, told entirely through short cutscenes at the beginning and end of each world.
The main focus is the newest playable character, Palette, who is on a treasure hunt to help find her missing grandfather.
There’s also an opposing treasure hunting team, but they’re not particularly compelling and I found myself skipping cutscenes halfway through.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble can also be played in multiplayer mode, and there is an online battle mode where you compete against other players.
The online modes are a little sparse, offering very little that will keep you coming back for long, but they’re a fun enough distraction in short bursts when you’re frustrated with a story level you just can’t seem to beat.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is a fantastic game for Nintendo Switch that’s a great first entry for new fans, while also offering plenty of challenge for series veterans.
Score: 4/5
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
