Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Hands-On Preview – Total Primate Mayhem 

Let the chaotic rumble begin again with AiAi and friends in Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, the upcoming latest entry in the party platform series. If you are unfamiliar with the franchise, it is a series where you guide monkeys in a transparent gachapon ball through obstacle courses by tilting the world itself.

Recently, we got a chance to have a hands-on session of the game prior to launch and experience the fun colorful multiplayer chaos with the adorable monkeys. Without further ado, here is our impression of Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble!

Adventure Mode

Before diving into the multiplayer modes, the game does have a single-player mode with a light story and score-based gameplay. The game is straightforward, and your job is to move your monkey, collect as many bananas as possible, and reach the goal. It is that straightforward, but its simplicity makes it an addictive and fun experience. Even if you are not as skillful with the maneuvers, you can still have plenty of enjoyable moments.

There is also a dash ability that you can utilize, and with clever usage, you could even speedrun through the stage from 40 seconds to say 4 seconds in an instant – a truly satisfying way to clear stages.

Multiplayer Modes

As for multiplayer, you can enjoy 5 different game modes, which are all amazingly fun in their own right. The multiplayer experience can be summed up with insane chaos as it is not limited to 4 players or 8 players, but rather 16 players can duke it out in the lobby.

Character choices matter in this game as each character has different attributes that may grant advantages over other characters in certain game modes such as distances. Some modes are team-based, while others are free-for-all, where everyone is your opponent up for a competition. While the gameplay is straightforward, multiplayer is where the difficulty increases as the impact of colliding with other players will affect where and how you land. In short, pure chaos and entertainment.

Mechanics

One interesting mechanic we noticed during our time with the game is how the dash works, you can basically charge it up, point to any direction you want, and propel forward. However, if let’s say, you release your dash without touching the ground, you will lose your charge.

This dashing mechanic plays a big part in gameplay because, in multiplayer modes, the direction where you are aiming to dash through is visible to opponents. In other words, you can use it to your tactical advantage, aiming towards directions to take the lead or mess with your opponents. The charge-up can be canceled too by simply moving the analog back to the neutral possible and releasing the button. Note that you will not be able to initiate another charge until your gauge depletes.

Monkey Banana Mayhem

Through our hands-on experience, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is no doubt an absolute blast and will be a great party game like the Mario Kart series to jam out with friends and families at gatherings. This game is made perfectly for the Nintendo Switch, especially with its casual theme and family-friendliness, alongside varied multiplayer modes – perfect for Joy-Con actions.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is slated to launch on June 25, 2024, for the Nintendo Switch.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

Release Date: 2024-06-25

Nintendo Switch

Join AiAi and friends in Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, where you and up to 16 players can compete online across multiple game modes as you aim to become Top Banana! You can also work together with your favorite bunch in 4 player cooperative mode, or slip into a wonderfully crafted story in the all-new Adventure Mode experience!

Join Us!