Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

For the 2019 HD remake, see Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD.

For the game on the PlayStation Vita of a similar name, see Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Box Art.
Release Date	November 19, 2006
Platform(s)	Nintendo Wii
Publisher(s)	Sega
Genre	Platform

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is the eighth entry in the Super Monkey Ball Series following Super Monkey Ball Adventure. It is a Nintendo Wii exclusive and was released as a launch title for the system on November 19, 2006 in North America.

An HD remake was announced on July 16, 2019 for the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch as Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball in Japan and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD in USA and Europe.

Story

The story of Banana Blitz introduces the 6 monkeys gazing at the golden banana bunch when Captain Crabuchin stole the Golden Banana Bunch and the player must help the monkeys recover the scattered pieces of it.

There are eight worlds with eight stages each, along with a bonus stage and a boss. The player can complete in any order and can change the character anytime during gameplay. Despite there being a number of lives, it will not affect your progress. At the end of each stage, there is a boss battle in which you must pass to get to the next world.

Hidden worlds

If you complete the first eight worlds without using a continue, you unlock the 9th world, Sinking Swamp. Completing Sinking Swamp without using a continue unlocks the 10th world, Ultra Heaven. These two hidden worlds don’t have boss battles. Instead, they contain 9 normal stages and a bonus stage.

Characters

Main article: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz/Characters

Features

• This game uses motion controls to control the tilting of the stages with the Wii Remote, and can use the Nunchuck to control the camera.
• There a total of 100 main game stages and 50 mini-games that each use the controller in a different way (e.g. "Monkey Darts" has players simulate the action of throwing a dart using the Wii Remote).
• Unlike previous games in the Super Monkey Ball Series, this game features 8 boss battles, a feature new and exclusive to this game.
• Players are able to jump by either quickly flicking controller up whilst holding B or just pressing A, and jumping in this way allows one to potentially jump slightly higher than you could by simply pressing the A button.

Party Games

Main article: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz/Party Games

For Party Games in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD, see Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD/Party Games.

Worlds

1. Monkey Island
2. Jumble Jungle
3. Smooth Sherbet
4. Detritus Desert
5. Pirates Ocean
6. Cobalt Caverns
7. Volcanic Pools
8. Space Case
9. Sinking Swamp (complete the previous 8 worlds without using a continue)
10. Ultra Heaven (complete Sinking Swamp without using a continue)

Stages

Main article: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz/Stages

Animations

• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Character Chosen Animations
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Continue Animations
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Idle Animations
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Main Game Victory Animations
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Podium Animations

Reception

EGM awarded the game a 6.2, stating that the new Wii Remote-based control scheme made the game excessively difficult but enjoyed the large number of games, even if a few, were not fun, whereas IGN said the controls simply had a relatively steep learning curve, and once the player is used to them, are superior to control using an analog stick. GameSpot also praised the controls but criticized the single-player game for its brevity. All three found the new cel-shaded visuals a little simplistic, although noting that it was well-suited to the tone of the game. GameSpot also commented that Banana Blitz was one of the "best in the series". Hyper's Kosta Andreadis commends the game for its "standout party games, great use of Wii-mote for main game and its multiplayer mode". However, he criticizes it saying, "boss battles can get tedious [and] certain party games are atrocious".

Ratings:

• 8.5 by Nintendo Power
• 8.4 by IGN
• 8.3 by GameSpot
• 7.2 out of 10 by GameTrailers
• 4 out of 5 by GameSpy
• 8.0 by Games Radar
• 8.0 by Digital Entertainment News
• B by Underground Online
• 6.2 average by EGM
• 81% by Official Nintendo Magazine
• 84% by NGamer
• SKIP by the Wiiviewr

The game also achieved a high fanbase, ranking as one of the top best sellers for the Nintendo Wii and selling over 300,000 units in the United States region.

Trivia

• Although it is technically the only Super Monkey Ball game to have boss battles, the Party Game Monkey Shot from Super Monkey Ball 2 also has bosses at the end of each level.
• Although it is technically the only Super Monkey Ball game to have a jump ability, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania also has a jump feature but it's optional.
• This is the first game where the player has infinite continues by default.
• Some stages in this game have a 120-second timer, the longest in the entire series, while Sinking Swamp - Stage 2 has a 20-second timer, the shortest in the entire series.
• The soundtrack is almost entirely made up of remixes of songs from previous entries in the series.
• This game's worlds and music are reused in the two iPhone games, Super Monkey Ball and Super Monkey Ball 2 along with Super Monkey Ball Sakura Edition.
• The Heads-Up-Display is a modern update of the one used in Super Monkey Ball 2 and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe.
• Although this is the first game to have the characters redesigned, Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll had similar redesign elements implemented onto the characters.
• This is the first game where Baby never once puts full weight on his feet.