Along the GameCube launch in late 2001, SEGA released a totally new intellectual property that quickly became one of fan’s favorite Cube launch titles, Super Monkey Ball. The title featured a premise that had previously been unexplored prior to Nintendo’s last-gen console – one involving monkeys, glass balls and 3D mazes. You simply can’t deny that the theme of the original Super Monkey Ball, or the franchise as a whole, is one of gaming’s most unique.

Here we are five years and another Nintendo system launch later – this time Wii’s. SEGA is once again at launch for another Nintendo console, and it has brought Super Monkey Ball with it. The company’s latest Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, introduces a number of new mechanics, but it doesn’t stray too far at all from the path that made the original game such a hit.

We already went over the main subject matter when it comes to Super Monkey Ball. Essentially, the game has an incredibly simple concept. You control a monkey – or a 3D platform, if you want to get technical – and must roll a monkey that is encased in a glass ball down one end of the platform to the goal, which is located on the other end of it. Simple, right? Well, like most things that sound “simple” on paper, this is anything but simple. In fact, the Super Monkey Ball franchise is notorious for its frustratingly challenging difficulty, and Banana Blitz continues the legacy. More likely than not, you’ll fly through the first couple of worlds in Blitz, but by half-way through the game, you’ll be ready to chuck your Wii-mote at the nearest wall. Indeed, this game is hard. But we like it like that.

What would otherwise be an easy objective is made challenging by a mixture of obstacles and even enemies that prevent you from simply rolling your monkey ball from point A to point B. You must avoid bumping into any of these, as they’ll send you flying off the stage, forcing you to restart the stage from the beginning.

The control scheme for Banana Blitz is perhaps what makes SEGA’s latest such a different experience from the title’s two predecessors. This is a Wii title, as you might have heard, and thus it makes sense that it employs control that utilizes Nintendo’s innovative controller. You hold the Wii-mote in your left or right hand, just like a television remote. Imagine, if you will, the Wii-mote representing the stage you’re currently playing in Banana Blitz. By rotating it forwards, the stage leans forwards. By rotating it left, it swivels left – synching nearly perfectly with what you’re doing with the Wii-mote.

The original Super Monkey Ball, as well as its sequel, was controlled by the GameCube’s analog stick. While these controls worked well enough – especially for the time – it’s completely true that Banana Blitz’ configuration is superior in almost every way, minus the phase when you’re first learning how to play the game. We won’t lie. It takes some time to get used to SEGA’s new control scheme, but we think that most will agree that once they’ve grown familiar with the control style, they won’t want to go back to the old setup. Of course, this isn’t to imply that SEGA has nailed control flawlessly. That’s not the case at all. Control, as said before, isn’t as intuitive as could be because it’s so sensitive and unlike anything out there. But we have more of an actual complaint – one that stays relevant from the beginning to the end of Banana Blitz – we wish that you could choose a control scheme that lets you hold the Wii-mote horizontally, using both hands as if you were holding a NES controller. With that off our chests, we must note that the current configuration is by all means adequate and is in fact quite fun. Indeed, the controls make Banana Blitz feel totally fresh, unlike any Monkey Ball game or any other software by another name out there.




The game’s development team has made another enhancement to the control scheme, too. Previously, you could only roll your ball-encased monkey around the title’s 3D puzzle-esque platforms. But the addition of the jump button in Banana Blitz totally mixes up what would otherwise be an identical experience to what’s found in the GameCube originals. Your mind can no doubt imagine the possibilities the added jump mechanic enables. Although something as simple as pressing A to jump might sound unimpressive, this addition has a wide effect on the game’s level design. Maps now feature steps, chasms and other obstacles that could never have appeared in the GameCube games. What’s more, quite often, the game’s physics engine can be lightly exploited, allowing you to do quick hops that quickly build momentum, allowing you to jump across platforms that a normal hop would prove useless against.