Yeah the sound design and music is aimed towards a much younger audience in my opinion. Some of the tracks are pretty great though, but I feel like the music in the original games was much more complex. The character redesigns seem to be there to appeal to kids too come to think of it.
@@PixelPursuit Super Monkey Ball was clearly about using brilliant gameplay idea for all audiences. It is like Mario or Crash, you can be 10 or 100 and still enjoy those games, age does not matter in that case
@@PixelPursuit And that’s part of why Super Monkey Ball; Banana Blitz (SD, short for Standard Definition), despite being overrated, deserved a negative review from you (and more; Liam Triforce, for example m.czcams.com/video/HQQmtLT3s9k/video.html), because it’s average at best/infuriating at worst.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz was one of the first games I ever played,and I loved it. The artstyle was great,some mini games were fun,and I thought the levels were good as well. However,I never knew it was hated,and I'm kinda sad to see that it's as hated as it is. Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 are definitely my favorite Monkey Ball games,but Banana Blitz will always hold a special place in my heart for being practically the 4th or 5th game I ever played
With it being a Wii launch title, I imagine it holds a special place to a lot of people. It was probably a lot of people's first ever Wii game and if the Wii was your first console (as I imagine it was for a lot of people) this would have been one of the first games you played, so it's bound to harbour a lot of nostalgia! The thing is, although this is the worst game in the series (at least in my opinion), you can still have a bit of fun with it because the core Monkey Ball concept is so fun! I just think they really lost the direction for the series with this one by adding boss fights, the jump mechanic and such a heavy reliance on motion controls. The first games I ever played were Rayman 1 and V-Rally and I still consider Rayman to be one of my favourite games of all time, so I know how you feel with games having a special place like that. V-Rally is alright, but nothing special really haha!
@@PixelPursuit yeah I definitely think it's not a great monkey ball game. However I did like it more than Step and Roll because I thought it had a bit more character. But yeah,it's not in my top 10 games of all time, but I'll still never hate it
Even though i’ve played neither the original nor the remake along with the entire series, the remake definitely seems better then the original banana blitz
For sure, I went into it thinking that the original could have been better than the remaster, but no. It turns out the original is a lot worse than I imagined!
The issue with the jump button and the bosses though is that they just don't blend very well with the normal gameplay, so it just ends up feeling clunky whenever you encounter them! I absolutely hate the final boss in this game, I always struggle so much with it because of how wonky everything feels.
4:44 this reminds me of that jumping level from Hugo 1 (the sound effects especially), haha do you remember that level had time limit when you could not move any faster that was so funny
While I don’t think this game is anywhere near as bad as you think it is, I think there is one simple thing they could have done to vastly improve the motion controls - design them around the wii remote being held horizontally. It would give you the feeling of holding an actual marble box as well.
You know what, yeah I think that might have worked better. It's a bit of a strain on the wrists holding it like a TV remote and rotating it constantly, so it would have been much more comfortable holding it horizontally for sure! Plus holding it with two hands would have given you a bit more stability too!
While I can agree with a lot of your points, especially with the boss fights and mini games, I genuinely feel this game is better than HD for two reasons. In one regard, speedrunning. In the wii version, the two best jumpers in the game, Yanyan and Baby, can gain you a lot of speed very quickly, and once you get a good feel on the controls, playing as one of those characters and completely breaking the game by using your jumps well feels just about as satisfying as the original games... Your jumps can be used to stop on a dime, or turn around quickly, and it helps a lot with the more imprecise controls. They completely broke jumping in HD by not allowing you to gain speed from it like you do in the original, and those stairs you were talking about in world 4 actually become quite fun with good timing while playing as either of the two characters I mentioned. And secondly, I just think banana blitz is a more visually and auditorily impressive game for the hardware it came out on... The menus are so full of life! Also the last 2 worlds are awesome. I'd love for you to return to this game, maybe just to play the levels and nothing else, and see if you can find something to love about the movement in it.
One more thing, I'd love it if someone developed a gamepad for the Wii with motion axis analogue sticks emulation built in, that is compatible with the Wii, this would really open up the game library of the Wii and make so many otherwise good games playable, all you need is the gyro motion axis on the left analogue stick and the pointer on the right.
Man, this game made me so frustrated ahaha - lost about 10 continues on the World 5 boss alone (the octopus), and the final 2 worlds were just super infuriating at times due to the lack of precision 😭 First SMB game where I was just glad it was over when I finished world 8, and like you, didn’t even bother with worlds 9 and 10 - I’ll just do them in BB HD 😂
Tell me about it! The only reason I didn't struggle really bad with the octopus boss was because I already knew how it worked because I played HD first! The World 8 boss though... He was still just as annoying to fight as he was in HD... For me Banana Blitz is easily the worst game in the entire series! I won't be going back to it! Just a heads up... World 10 is very, very annoying even in BBHD! Haha!
Pixel Pursuit Oh no ahah, scared for world 10 now... thanks for the heads up! 😅 I got lucky with the world 8 boss, I managed to exploit it where if you stand under his legs, whenever he goes to do an attack he’ll lift up juuuust enough for you to hit him if you jump at the right time, so after a few continues, I figured that out and I managed to kill him within like 30 seconds 😅
You should be scared! There's one level inparticular that took me an ungodly amount of tries to beat. I have no idea how you're supposed to do the entire world without losing a continue haha! Jeez, I wish that would have happened to me... I struggled so much with that boss and even when I finally managed to do it, it felt like a fluke! :D
This game kind of offends me on a personal level. I grew up with SMB1 and instantly fell in love with the controls, the music, the artstyle, everything. SMB2 was pretty good too, what else could be said. The series is also a staple amongst my friends, because everytime I boot up one of the two, everyone screams in horror because they know how cruel, yet insanely fun, Super Monkey Ball can be. Banana Blitz was the 3rd game I've bought from the franchise, but I initially hesitated back then because I already hated the new artstyle on the boxart, it looked way too stylized and childish compared to the more 'realistic' original games. Also back then, I already had a vague concept of what shovelware was, and closely associated with this new artstyle. Case in point, I wasn't wrong in the slightest: the game was dreadful, the level design on the first worlds was somehow both insufferably frustrating and boringly easy. Hell, I don't think I even touched the second world anyways after the absolute pain that was the first boss fight. The few minigames I tried were unsalvageable. It's kind of bewildering just how low you can get with Banana Blitz, and on the flipside I have quite fond memories of the few hours I played SMB3D, because to my younger self, it felt like such a step in the right direction compared to the absolute disaster that BB is.
It offends me on a personal level too and I didn't even have a huge attachment to the series until fairly recently! The original games definitely stood out a lot more, they were still cartoonish but it was so much more abstract and original than the Banana Blitz era of games. It just kind of became generic looking with all of the standard level themes you see in every game. The first boss that really irritated me was the octopus boss, that took me forever because of the really bad hitboxes on it's tentacles. So annoying. It seems our opinions line up pretty well because I also quite enjoyed SMB3D despite most people not really enjoying it!
"But here we are in the year 2020 and we've yet to see that new classic Monkey Ball game." Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania: *Allow me to Introduce Myself.*
@@PixelPursuit Being a fan of both the modern art style and the classic gameplay, I'm gonna be buying it in a heartbeat! Looking forward to your review !
The amount of rage this game fills me with is unreal lol, it's such a betrayal to monkey ball fans in every conceivable way, and the fact sega just stuck with this direction onward to this very day just is so disappointing. The original two games plus junior and adventure developed such an interesting world and aesthetic and we even started seeing some lore come together with adventure, only for it to all get thrown out.
I know! I have no idea why they've been so persistent with keeping this style when it's quite obviously not what the fanbase wants. Banana Blitz is such a shallow experience compared to any of the older games and it's incredible they were able to mess it up this bad.
@@PixelPursuit I look forward to the rest of your marathon, it only gets worse from here! Except the Vita game, I've heard that one's actually quite good if you can get past the modern art style haha
Thanks! I'm going into Step & Roll expecting it to be slightly better than Banana Blitz, but we'll see! I've heard the Vita one is one of the best games in the series too, I'm actually really looking forward to playing that one (that is, when I've got a Vita to play it on)! I actually watched your Super Monkey Ball 2 video earlier, it's good to know you dislike Banana Blitz as much as me haha!
Pixel Pursuit Hey It’s a monkey ball fan right of passage to hate banana blitz! Haha, I wish I had done SMB2 justice but back then I had 0 experience making videos 😂 maybe one day I’ll re-cover it in some way or another!
I remember when this game came out, I was hyped to play the Trombone minigame, since I was a trumpet player and a huge rhythm game fan. It was a disappointment, needless to say. However, I still don't think this game is as bad as people say it is. Unlocking worlds 9 and 10 was awful, but it was very satisfying when I finally pulled it off. The main concern was obviously the motion controls, but they're pleasant enough if you hold the remote with two hands and make tiny movements. The main issue I actually had was the replay value. None of the levels were all that distinct, so I didn't care enough to return to them. Honestly, if I wasn't already a huge Super Monkey Ball fan, I probably wouldn't have played through it.
I have absolutely no idea, all the other bits of gameplay were perfect and then this one section was distorted. It wasn't like that during the actual gameplay either! I figured I would still show it seeing as it was such a close call though haha!
it is actually mindblowing how bad this is compared to the first game on the GameCube. I wish Nagoshi would make more games instead of movie titles like Yakuza
A lot of people love Yakuza though and it's probably a lot more profitable than Monkey Ball! Even if he wanted to just work on Yakuza I just wish Sega would give a team of people with passion for the series a ton of money to just make a brand new really good entry.
Yeah that's true! We never saw the classic AiAi designs in any of the Sega All Stars games :( That is apart from the PS2 Sega Superstars game... But nobody remembers that one :D
@@PixelPursuit I’d be much more than happy to find a way to officially bring back the classic designs of the Super Monkey Ball characters (and even use them on the Super Monkey Ball characters that came after Touch and Roll) so they can be used a lot more frequently even after the latest time they’ve ever been used so far (which was in Tip ‘n Tilt in the late 2000s)!
It turns out that I'm not prepared... My Wii Balance Board's batteries leaked and it doesn't work anymore. I have two options to get hold of another one but with the lockdown going on at the moment I'm having to postpone Step and Roll. The next Super Monkey Ball video will be Touch and Roll for the DS instead!
The Vita version is going to be tricky. With the DS and 3DS ones I can at least play those even if I can't record my own footage, but with the Vita one I can't actually play it because I don't own a PS Vita. I'm thinking about maybe getting a PS TV and hacking it to be able to play Banana Splitz but I'm not 100% sure yet. I'll probably wait for the whole lockdown situation to be over before I jump into buying anything like that! Either way I will definitely be looking at it eventually. It might just take me a while to get the hardware to do it!
@@PixelPursuit yeah hacking PS TV is actually a pretty neat idea, you can play other Vita gems like Virtue's Last Reward, or even Oddworld Stranger's Wrath
Plus I would be able to play PSP games on a big screen and maybe even review a couple of them too. Stuff like MediEvil: Resurrection and maybe even MGS: Portable Ops (if I ever get around to reviewing MGS games haha!).
Nice video! Super Monkey Ball 1 and Deluxe are two of my favorite games, so I was very disappointed when I bought Banana Blitz HD and it was pretty bad. It certainly seems to be a lot better than this awful game you had to play for this review, though.
Thanks! You can't really go wrong with Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 or Deluxe (that is, so long as you're playing the Xbox version of Deluxe)! Yeah, the whole reason I started reviewing the Super Monkey Ball series is because I reviewed Banana Blitz HD and thought it was kinda lame, so wanted to experience what the series used to be like. But yeah! The original Banana Blitz is even worse than the HD version, by comparison it makes Banana Blitz HD look awesome!
@@PixelPursuit I first played Super Monkey Ball with Super Monkey Ball 2 on IOS in 2014. I really didn't like it, so I stopped playing after a few days, but when I saw your review of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, I thought it looked really fun, so I tried it out, along with Super Monkey Ball 1 on GameCube, and I really like them both. Also, I think it's interesting how SMB JR is the third highest rated Monkey Ball game on metacritic, even over SMB Deluxe on Xbox.
Was that the one that was re-released as Super Monkey Ball: Sakura Edition? If so I played that recently and it's pretty bad. You can't go wrong with the first two games or the Xbox version of Deluxe, they're awesome! I'm glad my video inspired you to try them out! That is really weird... I assume that the two highest scores are for the first two games though right? Otherwise something is wrong with the world!
@@PixelPursuit Yeah, Sakura Edition is basically the same as Super Monkey Ball 2 on IOS. Yeah, it is awful. I was playing it a few days ago, and it is pretty much like everything wrong with the later Monkey Ball games in one package. I don't know much about Sakura Edition, but Super Monkey Ball 2 on IOS was slow with bad controls and very easy levels. I have actually met a few people who have only played 1, 2, and Sakura Edition on IOS and think those are what I am talking about when I bring up Monkey Ball, which I find a little sad. I think Super Monkey Ball 1 and Deluxe have been my most played games of this year, and I really enjoy both of them, especially in multiplayer. Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 share the highest rating on metacritic at 87.
Yeah I thought so, I did a bit of research on it a while ago when I was looking at the mobile ones. It really is quite awful, although to be fair I didn't get very far. I found the controls really awkward with you having to move the whole phone to tilt the stages though and the constant adverts completely put me off. It's also sad that many people will only know of Super Monkey Ball because of Banana Blitz which isn't a very good impression of what the older games were like. That's awesome! They are great games to play multiplayer! My most played game of the year is easily the new Animal Crossing! It's good to know the highest ratings are the two best games. At least nothing is wrong with the world when it comes to Monkey Ball ratings!
This is one of many Wii games completely destroyed buy mandatory motion controls, when a game's difficulty curve is mainly based on the controls, instead of good level design, it's a total failure of the game devs part, SMB:BB is otherwise a respectable addition to the SMB series, a point made obvious when playing it on Dolphin with the terrible motion "controls" are mapped to an analogue stick for proper analogue directional controls, this makes the game a traditionally controlled SMB game, and revels a fairly decent quality game, if only they had offered the option to use the classic controller with analogue or even the Gamecube controller, SMB:BB would have been a great Wii launch game had they done this, on Dolphin with analogue stick controls, it goes from a 2 out of 10 game, to a 6.5 out of 10 game instantly, would be great if someone patched the Wii version of the game with analogue controls, as even with the simplified levels because they had to dub them down for the frustrating motion controls, it's a worthwhile game if you enjoy SMB, SMB 1 & 2 on the Cube remain the best by far entries into the series. So many Wii games ruined with forced motion "control", even Nintendo 1st party games were adversely effected, such as Skyward Sword's flying sections made really tedious and frustrating via forced motion control, again this could be fixed by playing on Dolphin, and now there is the much better Switch Skyward Sword HD version which has finally made the game playable and revealed a brilliant game, even worse, this horrible fad spread to the PS3 with Sony's move motion controller, and Sony force mandatory motion controls in games that gain, were also otherwise superb games, take LAIR for example, a game that was wrongly thought of as terrible, made by Factor 5, Sony forced Factor 5 to only offer motion controls to push sales of their move controller, something they later redacted and let Factor 5 release the proper controls via the Dual Shock 3 pad that they already had ready and waiting, as the game was original made with proper controls in mind all along, the 1.1 patch reverts the game to the proper version making the motion controls only optional, which no one would choose to use in their right mind, the later retail versions were already updated and fixed with this update as standard, the version of Lair I recommend, and it's a brilliant underrated gem of a game, if you like the Idea of Panzer Dragon crossed with Rogue Squadron rendered with typically stunning Factor 5 graphics, you will love it. I bring all that up because this was a typical scenario that repeated itself many theme during the whole motion control fad, to this day there are a few games that are otherwise brilliant gems but sadly still only have forced motion controls, some of these games were not fixable by playing them on Dolphin, the only option is if someone ports and updates them.
Yeah I would probably agree with that, it's probably one of the only ways that this is better than the HD version though. That and a few of the minigames in the Wii version are good and weren't put into HD. Like Monkey Wars! I thought that one was quite good.
@@PixelPursuit I do admit you were a bit harsh on the game. It's no SMB 1 or 2, but I at least think it was trying new things and I liked what I saw. Tho, Jam? Unlike YanYan and Doctor, who can be played in their debut game, you can't even play him in his first game!! While 3D was unremarkable and once again, Jet can't even be played in the main mode. Good thing Banana Mania let the two finally join the main fiesta, but it sucks they don't appear in the Party game section. Tho I saw worse takes on the game, so yours is still gentle in comparison (I mean, FLUSHING the game, really? It's no Superman 64 or Bubsy 3D, it's no Mario Galaxy either, but it doesn't deserve that treatment). I just think that some people acting like SMB1 & 2 being the only good Monkey Balls don't help the series. I'm not forcing them to like games they didn't but it feels a bit like elitism and that's a bit toxic for discussions. I want to talk about the entire series, not just the first two games.
another thing this game does not have - soul. First game had this incredible Japanese arcade atmosphere, you felt like in a 2000s arcade, you felt like playing in arcades somewhere and this (as I played the Switch demo) feels like just some kid rubbish.
I've heard of the Galgun series, it's supposed to be good isn't it? I've never given it a go myself though! You would think with a premise like that it would be really bad, but apparently not!
Now with 20% cuter monkey designs. 0:29 At this point, do you think you could do something else besides looking at the audience in befuddlement? 3:07 How is AiAi controlling the ball at that point when he's stuck to it? 3:14 Stuck the landing. 6:06 "I have no idea of 3D space." 6:54 Bring it on! I'll take on any challenge! 7:25 Jump down. 8:47 I could try. 11:44 For Fun? 13:16 I would say the motion controls would likely make for at least a more memorable experience. 14:48 "Instantly, I will not give the game the benefit of the doubt when it comes to unlocking levels." 16:12 Uh, bananas for lives? 16:37 No, it be more like clearing a world in Mario 64. 17:10 Sonic and the Secret Rings had a Party Mode too. Though there is the option for a GameCube controller. 20:43 At least try to have a rhythm. 23:10 Perhaps you can ask them for an answer.
That's a lot of critique you've given there haha! As for looking at the audience in befuddlement, I will try not to do that for a while, although I do think it's the perfect way of summing this game up! To respond to a couple of your points; If you want to put yourself through this game in an attempt to unlock all of the worlds then go ahead! But for me personally, it would take too long and I wouldn't get enough satisfaction out of it. The thing about unlockables is a bit tricky. While obviously some games are designed to be enjoyed without unlocking anything, I feel like the end goal of Super Monkey Ball has always been to unlock something, whether it be new minigames, extra lives and continues or the extra/master levels. If you took that away from the older games, then sure they would still be fun, but they wouldn't have the same sense of progression than what they do with the unlocks. Then as well you've got to consider that Banana Blitz isn't even fun to begin with, so without the unlocks, why are you playing it? You could say for the challenge, but it wouldn't be a fun challenge so I don't see that much value in it. I would agree with you on the motion controls. The gimmick of motion controls at least makes you remember this game as the one with motion controls, whereas Banana Blitz HD is kinda just, that bad unremarkable Super Monkey Ball game. I don't really agree with the Mario 64 comparison you made. Clearing a world in Mario 64 is a much bigger commitment than finishing a world in this game. Are any of the minigames in Sonic and the Secret Rings good? They've got to be better than the ones in this game surely! Anyway! I hope you enjoyed the video! I was going to respond to all of your points but my reply would have been even longer haha! :)
@@PixelPursuit I never back down from a challenge! Well, at the very least having a goal to achieve is something a game should have. With the lack of story in the first game, I can see why something else needed to act as a substitute. In my Mario 64 comparison, I didn't factor in the amount of frequency of the credits happening, so let's just say every few stars to balance things. They can be fun... when you're not dealing with the hardest, near perfect difficulty (which you might appreciate that you have to unlock) in the game. Because you almost always lose. See for yourself: czcams.com/video/7LqwVWuQLCo/video.html That was also the first time playing Party Mode in a while. A personal favorite is one where you have to determine the amount of treasure by using the sound coming from the Wii remote. A similar concept was used in Super Mario Party.
Haha, well then you should give it a go! The first game had no story mode but made up for it with the progression being tied to unlocking stuff instead but with Banana Blitz there's practically no story and nothing to unlock so it's the worst in both ways! Fair enough, I'll settle for every few stars! :) I do always appreciate a good unlockable difficulty! Woah, they were really trying to copy Mario Party with the whole board game thing weren't they! I didn't realise they copied it that much! Yeah, I remember that game from Super Mario Party with the HD Rumble gimmick. So Sonic did that before Mario but in a game that was copying Mario. What a weird situation!
@@PixelPursuit No, that board game statement should be more directed towards Sonic Shuffle.. At least in how that game's regarded. This is more akin to the various modes that Mario Party would have, where the modes would make various uses of the minigames in their own sections On another note, there is quite a bit of unlockable content in Secret Rings for what its worth.
I'm pretty sure that I've never ever seen gameplay of Sonic Shuffle. You seem to know a lot about Sonic! Are you still working on your Sonic Riders video?
This game sounds terrible! I think me paying £2 for this was a mistake, it's not even worth £2! This video is definitely the absolute opposite of terrible though! :D
@@PixelPursuit idk. Looking at the footage the physics in hd look a lot more weightless compared to the physics in the original though maybe that’s just me
0:23 that sound effects are a clear showing, that the game was not for gameplay enjoyment but for kids
Yeah the sound design and music is aimed towards a much younger audience in my opinion. Some of the tracks are pretty great though, but I feel like the music in the original games was much more complex. The character redesigns seem to be there to appeal to kids too come to think of it.
@@PixelPursuit Super Monkey Ball was clearly about using brilliant gameplay idea for all audiences. It is like Mario or Crash, you can be 10 or 100 and still enjoy those games, age does not matter in that case
@@PixelPursuit And that’s part of why Super Monkey Ball; Banana Blitz (SD, short for Standard Definition), despite being overrated, deserved a negative review from you (and more; Liam Triforce, for example m.czcams.com/video/HQQmtLT3s9k/video.html), because it’s average at best/infuriating at worst.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz was one of the first games I ever played,and I loved it. The artstyle was great,some mini games were fun,and I thought the levels were good as well. However,I never knew it was hated,and I'm kinda sad to see that it's as hated as it is. Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 are definitely my favorite Monkey Ball games,but Banana Blitz will always hold a special place in my heart for being practically the 4th or 5th game I ever played
With it being a Wii launch title, I imagine it holds a special place to a lot of people. It was probably a lot of people's first ever Wii game and if the Wii was your first console (as I imagine it was for a lot of people) this would have been one of the first games you played, so it's bound to harbour a lot of nostalgia!
The thing is, although this is the worst game in the series (at least in my opinion), you can still have a bit of fun with it because the core Monkey Ball concept is so fun! I just think they really lost the direction for the series with this one by adding boss fights, the jump mechanic and such a heavy reliance on motion controls.
The first games I ever played were Rayman 1 and V-Rally and I still consider Rayman to be one of my favourite games of all time, so I know how you feel with games having a special place like that. V-Rally is alright, but nothing special really haha!
@@PixelPursuit yeah I definitely think it's not a great monkey ball game. However I did like it more than Step and Roll because I thought it had a bit more character. But yeah,it's not in my top 10 games of all time, but I'll still never hate it
Even though i’ve played neither the original nor the remake along with the entire series, the remake definitely seems better then the original banana blitz
For sure, I went into it thinking that the original could have been better than the remaster, but no. It turns out the original is a lot worse than I imagined!
I just have a lot of nostalgia for the original so i like it a lot better. But I’m sure both are great
The jump button and bosses make this feel more like an easy 3D platformer.
The issue with the jump button and the bosses though is that they just don't blend very well with the normal gameplay, so it just ends up feeling clunky whenever you encounter them! I absolutely hate the final boss in this game, I always struggle so much with it because of how wonky everything feels.
4:44 this reminds me of that jumping level from Hugo 1 (the sound effects especially), haha do you remember that level had time limit when you could not move any faster that was so funny
Haha, yeah I know exactly what you mean! That's actually one of my favourite minigames from Hugo 1!
That trombone segment... pure gold
I'm glad that you appreciate my trombone skills!
While I don’t think this game is anywhere near as bad as you think it is, I think there is one simple thing they could have done to vastly improve the motion controls - design them around the wii remote being held horizontally. It would give you the feeling of holding an actual marble box as well.
You know what, yeah I think that might have worked better. It's a bit of a strain on the wrists holding it like a TV remote and rotating it constantly, so it would have been much more comfortable holding it horizontally for sure! Plus holding it with two hands would have given you a bit more stability too!
While I can agree with a lot of your points, especially with the boss fights and mini games, I genuinely feel this game is better than HD for two reasons. In one regard, speedrunning. In the wii version, the two best jumpers in the game, Yanyan and Baby, can gain you a lot of speed very quickly, and once you get a good feel on the controls, playing as one of those characters and completely breaking the game by using your jumps well feels just about as satisfying as the original games... Your jumps can be used to stop on a dime, or turn around quickly, and it helps a lot with the more imprecise controls. They completely broke jumping in HD by not allowing you to gain speed from it like you do in the original, and those stairs you were talking about in world 4 actually become quite fun with good timing while playing as either of the two characters I mentioned. And secondly, I just think banana blitz is a more visually and auditorily impressive game for the hardware it came out on... The menus are so full of life! Also the last 2 worlds are awesome. I'd love for you to return to this game, maybe just to play the levels and nothing else, and see if you can find something to love about the movement in it.
One more thing, I'd love it if someone developed a gamepad for the Wii with motion axis analogue sticks emulation built in, that is compatible with the Wii, this would really open up the game library of the Wii and make so many otherwise good games playable, all you need is the gyro motion axis on the left analogue stick and the pointer on the right.
Man, this game made me so frustrated ahaha - lost about 10 continues on the World 5 boss alone (the octopus), and the final 2 worlds were just super infuriating at times due to the lack of precision 😭 First SMB game where I was just glad it was over when I finished world 8, and like you, didn’t even bother with worlds 9 and 10 - I’ll just do them in BB HD 😂
Tell me about it! The only reason I didn't struggle really bad with the octopus boss was because I already knew how it worked because I played HD first! The World 8 boss though... He was still just as annoying to fight as he was in HD... For me Banana Blitz is easily the worst game in the entire series! I won't be going back to it!
Just a heads up... World 10 is very, very annoying even in BBHD! Haha!
Pixel Pursuit Oh no ahah, scared for world 10 now... thanks for the heads up! 😅
I got lucky with the world 8 boss, I managed to exploit it where if you stand under his legs, whenever he goes to do an attack he’ll lift up juuuust enough for you to hit him if you jump at the right time, so after a few continues, I figured that out and I managed to kill him within like 30 seconds 😅
You should be scared! There's one level inparticular that took me an ungodly amount of tries to beat. I have no idea how you're supposed to do the entire world without losing a continue haha!
Jeez, I wish that would have happened to me... I struggled so much with that boss and even when I finally managed to do it, it felt like a fluke! :D
This game kind of offends me on a personal level.
I grew up with SMB1 and instantly fell in love with the controls, the music, the artstyle, everything. SMB2 was pretty good too, what else could be said. The series is also a staple amongst my friends, because everytime I boot up one of the two, everyone screams in horror because they know how cruel, yet insanely fun, Super Monkey Ball can be.
Banana Blitz was the 3rd game I've bought from the franchise, but I initially hesitated back then because I already hated the new artstyle on the boxart, it looked way too stylized and childish compared to the more 'realistic' original games.
Also back then, I already had a vague concept of what shovelware was, and closely associated with this new artstyle. Case in point, I wasn't wrong in the slightest: the game was dreadful, the level design on the first worlds was somehow both insufferably frustrating and boringly easy. Hell, I don't think I even touched the second world anyways after the absolute pain that was the first boss fight. The few minigames I tried were unsalvageable.
It's kind of bewildering just how low you can get with Banana Blitz, and on the flipside I have quite fond memories of the few hours I played SMB3D, because to my younger self, it felt like such a step in the right direction compared to the absolute disaster that BB is.
It offends me on a personal level too and I didn't even have a huge attachment to the series until fairly recently!
The original games definitely stood out a lot more, they were still cartoonish but it was so much more abstract and original than the Banana Blitz era of games. It just kind of became generic looking with all of the standard level themes you see in every game.
The first boss that really irritated me was the octopus boss, that took me forever because of the really bad hitboxes on it's tentacles. So annoying.
It seems our opinions line up pretty well because I also quite enjoyed SMB3D despite most people not really enjoying it!
"But here we are in the year 2020 and we've yet to see that new classic Monkey Ball game."
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania: *Allow me to Introduce Myself.*
Haha, I am so so excited for Banana Mania! I'll definitely be reviewing it the moment it comes out!
@@PixelPursuit Being a fan of both the modern art style and the classic gameplay, I'm gonna be buying it in a heartbeat! Looking forward to your review !
The amount of rage this game fills me with is unreal lol, it's such a betrayal to monkey ball fans in every conceivable way, and the fact sega just stuck with this direction onward to this very day just is so disappointing. The original two games plus junior and adventure developed such an interesting world and aesthetic and we even started seeing some lore come together with adventure, only for it to all get thrown out.
I know! I have no idea why they've been so persistent with keeping this style when it's quite obviously not what the fanbase wants. Banana Blitz is such a shallow experience compared to any of the older games and it's incredible they were able to mess it up this bad.
@@PixelPursuit I look forward to the rest of your marathon, it only gets worse from here! Except the Vita game, I've heard that one's actually quite good if you can get past the modern art style haha
Thanks! I'm going into Step & Roll expecting it to be slightly better than Banana Blitz, but we'll see! I've heard the Vita one is one of the best games in the series too, I'm actually really looking forward to playing that one (that is, when I've got a Vita to play it on)!
I actually watched your Super Monkey Ball 2 video earlier, it's good to know you dislike Banana Blitz as much as me haha!
Pixel Pursuit Hey It’s a monkey ball fan right of passage to hate banana blitz! Haha, I wish I had done SMB2 justice but back then I had 0 experience making videos 😂 maybe one day I’ll re-cover it in some way or another!
I remember when this game came out, I was hyped to play the Trombone minigame, since I was a trumpet player and a huge rhythm game fan. It was a disappointment, needless to say.
However, I still don't think this game is as bad as people say it is. Unlocking worlds 9 and 10 was awful, but it was very satisfying when I finally pulled it off. The main concern was obviously the motion controls, but they're pleasant enough if you hold the remote with two hands and make tiny movements. The main issue I actually had was the replay value. None of the levels were all that distinct, so I didn't care enough to return to them. Honestly, if I wasn't already a huge Super Monkey Ball fan, I probably wouldn't have played through it.
I got lucky with unlocking World 9, but World 10? The levels in World 9 are too hard for me. Skill issue? Probably.
Just bought this but I'm getting HD as well. Still think Banana Mania is the best modern Monkey Ball game
6:29 why is that audio distorted bro haha
I have absolutely no idea, all the other bits of gameplay were perfect and then this one section was distorted. It wasn't like that during the actual gameplay either! I figured I would still show it seeing as it was such a close call though haha!
it is actually mindblowing how bad this is compared to the first game on the GameCube. I wish Nagoshi would make more games instead of movie titles like Yakuza
A lot of people love Yakuza though and it's probably a lot more profitable than Monkey Ball! Even if he wanted to just work on Yakuza I just wish Sega would give a team of people with passion for the series a ton of money to just make a brand new really good entry.
Well, we're getting a HD Remake of the OG GCN/Xbox Trilogy!
20:41 this is insulting to a musician xd
It was insulting to me and I'm not even a musician!
@@PixelPursuit shame you quit playing the bass
Yeah, I should pick it back up again really but I feel like I don't have the time recently!
@@PixelPursuit nah you play games bruh xd
@@PixelPursuit I have 2 pianist friends that stopped playing games because they took piano full time
that a's in the title screen look kinda sus
They actually do! I've never noticed that before!
Monkey race 2 icon: am I a joke to you?
What I also don't like is basically all the representation in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is based off of this game
Yeah that's true! We never saw the classic AiAi designs in any of the Sega All Stars games :(
That is apart from the PS2 Sega Superstars game... But nobody remembers that one :D
@@PixelPursuit I’d be much more than happy to find a way to officially bring back the classic designs of the Super Monkey Ball characters (and even use them on the Super Monkey Ball characters that came after Touch and Roll) so they can be used a lot more frequently even after the latest time they’ve ever been used so far (which was in Tip ‘n Tilt in the late 2000s)!
Wii version had better music imo
why are there hatching chicks as the cursor? O.o
I have absolutely no idea. It's one of the many mysteries of Banana Blitz!
Be prepared for step and roll
It turns out that I'm not prepared... My Wii Balance Board's batteries leaked and it doesn't work anymore. I have two options to get hold of another one but with the lockdown going on at the moment I'm having to postpone Step and Roll. The next Super Monkey Ball video will be Touch and Roll for the DS instead!
you are not reviewing the Vita version? I heard it is actually not bad, would be a positive end on this series
The Vita version is going to be tricky. With the DS and 3DS ones I can at least play those even if I can't record my own footage, but with the Vita one I can't actually play it because I don't own a PS Vita. I'm thinking about maybe getting a PS TV and hacking it to be able to play Banana Splitz but I'm not 100% sure yet. I'll probably wait for the whole lockdown situation to be over before I jump into buying anything like that!
Either way I will definitely be looking at it eventually. It might just take me a while to get the hardware to do it!
@@PixelPursuit that is awesome!
@@PixelPursuit yeah hacking PS TV is actually a pretty neat idea, you can play other Vita gems like Virtue's Last Reward, or even Oddworld Stranger's Wrath
Plus I would be able to play PSP games on a big screen and maybe even review a couple of them too. Stuff like MediEvil: Resurrection and maybe even MGS: Portable Ops (if I ever get around to reviewing MGS games haha!).
Step and roll is terrible
Nice video! Super Monkey Ball 1 and Deluxe are two of my favorite games, so I was very disappointed when I bought Banana Blitz HD and it was pretty bad. It certainly seems to be a lot better than this awful game you had to play for this review, though.
Thanks! You can't really go wrong with Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 or Deluxe (that is, so long as you're playing the Xbox version of Deluxe)! Yeah, the whole reason I started reviewing the Super Monkey Ball series is because I reviewed Banana Blitz HD and thought it was kinda lame, so wanted to experience what the series used to be like.
But yeah! The original Banana Blitz is even worse than the HD version, by comparison it makes Banana Blitz HD look awesome!
@@PixelPursuit I first played Super Monkey Ball with Super Monkey Ball 2 on IOS in 2014. I really didn't like it, so I stopped playing after a few days, but when I saw your review of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, I thought it looked really fun, so I tried it out, along with Super Monkey Ball 1 on GameCube, and I really like them both. Also, I think it's interesting how SMB JR is the third highest rated Monkey Ball game on metacritic, even over SMB Deluxe on Xbox.
Was that the one that was re-released as Super Monkey Ball: Sakura Edition? If so I played that recently and it's pretty bad. You can't go wrong with the first two games or the Xbox version of Deluxe, they're awesome! I'm glad my video inspired you to try them out! That is really weird... I assume that the two highest scores are for the first two games though right? Otherwise something is wrong with the world!
@@PixelPursuit Yeah, Sakura Edition is basically the same as Super Monkey Ball 2 on IOS. Yeah, it is awful. I was playing it a few days ago, and it is pretty much like everything wrong with the later Monkey Ball games in one package. I don't know much about Sakura Edition, but Super Monkey Ball 2 on IOS was slow with bad controls and very easy levels. I have actually met a few people who have only played 1, 2, and Sakura Edition on IOS and think those are what I am talking about when I bring up Monkey Ball, which I find a little sad. I think Super Monkey Ball 1 and Deluxe have been my most played games of this year, and I really enjoy both of them, especially in multiplayer. Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 share the highest rating on metacritic at 87.
Yeah I thought so, I did a bit of research on it a while ago when I was looking at the mobile ones. It really is quite awful, although to be fair I didn't get very far. I found the controls really awkward with you having to move the whole phone to tilt the stages though and the constant adverts completely put me off. It's also sad that many people will only know of Super Monkey Ball because of Banana Blitz which isn't a very good impression of what the older games were like.
That's awesome! They are great games to play multiplayer! My most played game of the year is easily the new Animal Crossing! It's good to know the highest ratings are the two best games. At least nothing is wrong with the world when it comes to Monkey Ball ratings!
This is one of many Wii games completely destroyed buy mandatory motion controls, when a game's difficulty curve is mainly based on the controls, instead of good level design, it's a total failure of the game devs part, SMB:BB is otherwise a respectable addition to the SMB series, a point made obvious when playing it on Dolphin with the terrible motion "controls" are mapped to an analogue stick for proper analogue directional controls, this makes the game a traditionally controlled SMB game, and revels a fairly decent quality game, if only they had offered the option to use the classic controller with analogue or even the Gamecube controller, SMB:BB would have been a great Wii launch game had they done this, on Dolphin with analogue stick controls, it goes from a 2 out of 10 game, to a 6.5 out of 10 game instantly, would be great if someone patched the Wii version of the game with analogue controls, as even with the simplified levels because they had to dub them down for the frustrating motion controls, it's a worthwhile game if you enjoy SMB, SMB 1 & 2 on the Cube remain the best by far entries into the series.
So many Wii games ruined with forced motion "control", even Nintendo 1st party games were adversely effected, such as Skyward Sword's flying sections made really tedious and frustrating via forced motion control, again this could be fixed by playing on Dolphin, and now there is the much better Switch Skyward Sword HD version which has finally made the game playable and revealed a brilliant game, even worse, this horrible fad spread to the PS3 with Sony's move motion controller, and Sony force mandatory motion controls in games that gain, were also otherwise superb games, take LAIR for example, a game that was wrongly thought of as terrible, made by Factor 5, Sony forced Factor 5 to only offer motion controls to push sales of their move controller, something they later redacted and let Factor 5 release the proper controls via the Dual Shock 3 pad that they already had ready and waiting, as the game was original made with proper controls in mind all along, the 1.1 patch reverts the game to the proper version making the motion controls only optional, which no one would choose to use in their right mind, the later retail versions were already updated and fixed with this update as standard, the version of Lair I recommend, and it's a brilliant underrated gem of a game, if you like the Idea of Panzer Dragon crossed with Rogue Squadron rendered with typically stunning Factor 5 graphics, you will love it.
I bring all that up because this was a typical scenario that repeated itself many theme during the whole motion control fad, to this day there are a few games that are otherwise brilliant gems but sadly still only have forced motion controls, some of these games were not fixable by playing them on Dolphin, the only option is if someone ports and updates them.
Banana Blitz Wii has the better soundtrack, tho.
Yeah I would probably agree with that, it's probably one of the only ways that this is better than the HD version though. That and a few of the minigames in the Wii version are good and weren't put into HD. Like Monkey Wars! I thought that one was quite good.
@@PixelPursuit I do admit you were a bit harsh on the game. It's no SMB 1 or 2, but I at least think it was trying new things and I liked what I saw.
Tho, Jam? Unlike YanYan and Doctor, who can be played in their debut game, you can't even play him in his first game!!
While 3D was unremarkable and once again, Jet can't even be played in the main mode.
Good thing Banana Mania let the two finally join the main fiesta, but it sucks they don't appear in the Party game section.
Tho I saw worse takes on the game, so yours is still gentle in comparison (I mean, FLUSHING the game, really? It's no Superman 64 or Bubsy 3D, it's no Mario Galaxy either, but it doesn't deserve that treatment). I just think that some people acting like SMB1 & 2 being the only good Monkey Balls don't help the series.
I'm not forcing them to like games they didn't but it feels a bit like elitism and that's a bit toxic for discussions. I want to talk about the entire series, not just the first two games.
another thing this game does not have - soul. First game had this incredible Japanese arcade atmosphere, you felt like in a 2000s arcade, you felt like playing in arcades somewhere and this (as I played the Switch demo) feels like just some kid rubbish.
Yeah I totally agree and you're basing that off of the Switch version which is quite a lot better than the Wii version too!
I would rather play Galgun Double Peace than this :D Which is surprisingly actually not bad at all hahahaha, also Pewdiepie played it it was so funny
I've heard of the Galgun series, it's supposed to be good isn't it? I've never given it a go myself though! You would think with a premise like that it would be really bad, but apparently not!
@@PixelPursuit i finished double peace on pc, yeah it is good haha exactly like House of the Dead arcade shooter but with japanese school girls lmao,
Now with 20% cuter monkey designs.
0:29 At this point, do you think you could do something else besides looking at the audience in befuddlement?
3:07 How is AiAi controlling the ball at that point when he's stuck to it?
3:14 Stuck the landing.
6:06 "I have no idea of 3D space."
6:54 Bring it on! I'll take on any challenge!
7:25 Jump down.
8:47 I could try.
11:44 For Fun?
13:16 I would say the motion controls would likely make for at least a more memorable experience.
14:48 "Instantly, I will not give the game the benefit of the doubt when it comes to unlocking levels."
16:12 Uh, bananas for lives?
16:37 No, it be more like clearing a world in Mario 64.
17:10 Sonic and the Secret Rings had a Party Mode too. Though there is the option for a GameCube controller.
20:43 At least try to have a rhythm.
23:10 Perhaps you can ask them for an answer.
That's a lot of critique you've given there haha! As for looking at the audience in befuddlement, I will try not to do that for a while, although I do think it's the perfect way of summing this game up! To respond to a couple of your points;
If you want to put yourself through this game in an attempt to unlock all of the worlds then go ahead! But for me personally, it would take too long and I wouldn't get enough satisfaction out of it.
The thing about unlockables is a bit tricky. While obviously some games are designed to be enjoyed without unlocking anything, I feel like the end goal of Super Monkey Ball has always been to unlock something, whether it be new minigames, extra lives and continues or the extra/master levels. If you took that away from the older games, then sure they would still be fun, but they wouldn't have the same sense of progression than what they do with the unlocks. Then as well you've got to consider that Banana Blitz isn't even fun to begin with, so without the unlocks, why are you playing it? You could say for the challenge, but it wouldn't be a fun challenge so I don't see that much value in it.
I would agree with you on the motion controls. The gimmick of motion controls at least makes you remember this game as the one with motion controls, whereas Banana Blitz HD is kinda just, that bad unremarkable Super Monkey Ball game.
I don't really agree with the Mario 64 comparison you made. Clearing a world in Mario 64 is a much bigger commitment than finishing a world in this game.
Are any of the minigames in Sonic and the Secret Rings good? They've got to be better than the ones in this game surely!
Anyway! I hope you enjoyed the video! I was going to respond to all of your points but my reply would have been even longer haha! :)
@@PixelPursuit I never back down from a challenge!
Well, at the very least having a goal to achieve is something a game should have. With the lack of story in the first game, I can see why something else needed to act as a substitute.
In my Mario 64 comparison, I didn't factor in the amount of frequency of the credits happening, so let's just say every few stars to balance things.
They can be fun... when you're not dealing with the hardest, near perfect difficulty (which you might appreciate that you have to unlock) in the game. Because you almost always lose. See for yourself: czcams.com/video/7LqwVWuQLCo/video.html
That was also the first time playing Party Mode in a while.
A personal favorite is one where you have to determine the amount of treasure by using the sound coming from the Wii remote. A similar concept was used in Super Mario Party.
Haha, well then you should give it a go!
The first game had no story mode but made up for it with the progression being tied to unlocking stuff instead but with Banana Blitz there's practically no story and nothing to unlock so it's the worst in both ways!
Fair enough, I'll settle for every few stars! :)
I do always appreciate a good unlockable difficulty! Woah, they were really trying to copy Mario Party with the whole board game thing weren't they! I didn't realise they copied it that much! Yeah, I remember that game from Super Mario Party with the HD Rumble gimmick. So Sonic did that before Mario but in a game that was copying Mario. What a weird situation!
@@PixelPursuit No, that board game statement should be more directed towards Sonic Shuffle.. At least in how that game's regarded. This is more akin to the various modes that Mario Party would have, where the modes would make various uses of the minigames in their own sections On another note, there is quite a bit of unlockable content in Secret Rings for what its worth.
I'm pretty sure that I've never ever seen gameplay of Sonic Shuffle. You seem to know a lot about Sonic! Are you still working on your Sonic Riders video?
This game sounds terrible! I think me paying £2 for this was a mistake, it's not even worth £2! This video is definitely the absolute opposite of terrible though! :D
Yeah it's pretty awful... And I paid more than £2 for it! But yeah it's probably not even worth that! Haha thanks, glad you enjoyed it! :)
Hmm. You know. I never played this game cuz too me, it just sounds like banana blitz hd. But even more insufferable!😡😡😡
Yeah, you aren't missing out on much haha! Banana Blitz HD has it's fair share of problems but it's quite a lot better than the Wii version!
Pixel Pursuit ikr! Also. Why do you always go “haha” in your replies to me?
I guess it's just a habit of mine to put that in comments. It's the equivalent of chuckling in real life!
Pixel Pursuit ok
@@PixelPursuit idk. Looking at the footage the physics in hd look a lot more weightless compared to the physics in the original though maybe that’s just me