- For the HD remake coming in 2019, 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 is the eighth entry in the Super Monkey Ball series following Super Monkey Ball Adventure. It is a 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
Edit
The story of Banana Blitz introduces the 6 monkeys gazing at the golden banana bunch when Captain Crabuchin has stolen 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, totaling 80 stages altogether. 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.
If you complete the first eight worlds without using a continue, you unlock the ninth world (Sinking Swamp). Completing Sinking Swamp without using a continue unlocks the tenth world Ultra Heaven. These two hidden worlds are the Master stages, in which they don’t have boss battles. Instead, they contain nine normal stages and a Bonus Stage.
CharactersEdit
AiAiEdit
AiAi is an average character. He has average stats for each category and is the most basic character. Starting in this game, he wears a blue backpack.
MeeMeeEdit
MeeMee is slightly lighter than AiAi, and has a very good jump ability and speed. She is the best all-around character. Starting in this game, she wears a polka-dotted skirt (without red dress shoes).
BabyEdit
Baby has the smallest ball and the lightest weight, giving him the second best jump ability and acceleration. Because of his small size, he can fit into goals with ease and goes very fast. Starting in this game, his new appearance gives him a visor, bib, and a robot to use in Party Games.
GonGonEdit
GonGon has the biggest ball and the heaviest weight, but while he has the weakest acceleration and jumping, he makes up for in speed and power. He is the only character that can destroy bumpers that would be hazardous to other monkeys, due to his power. In this game onward, he wears a pink tank top with a white "G".
YanYanEdit
YanYan has the best jump ability in the game and good speed because of her small size, but all of the rest of her stats are somewhat below average. This is her debut to the Super Monkey Ball series.
DoctorEdit
Doctor has the best acceleration, but he is the slowest and has the lowest jump ability. He is somewhat the hardest to control than the other characters. This is his debut to the Super Monkey Ball series.
FeaturesEdit
- The game spans a total of 100 main game levels 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 the franchise.[3]
- This game uses motion controls to control the tilting of the floors with the Wii Remote, and can use the Nunchuck to control the camera.
- For the first (and only) time in a Super Monkey Ball 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.
Mini-GamesEdit
There are 50 mini-games in total in Banana Blitz. There is also a "party" mode where by players can choose tournament-type gameplay, selecting mini-games in an attempt to accumulate the most points. Recurring mini-games from previous titles include Monkey Target, Monkey Race, Monkey Bowling and Monkey Wars.
WorldsEdit
- Monkey Island
- Jumble Jungle
- Smooth Sherbet
- Detritus Desert
- Pirates Ocean
- Cobalt Caverns
- Volcanic Pools
- Space Case
- Sinking Swamp (complete the previous eight worlds without using a continue)
- Ultra Heaven (complete the ninth world without using a continue)
ReceptionEdit
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.
TriviaEdit
- The game has had mixed reactions from fans. Some claim that it is a revivial to the franchise, while others state that the game is too easy (with the exception of Ultra Heaven 5).
- 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 a level.
- The Heads-Up-Display is a very modern update of the one used in Super Monkey Ball 2 and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe.
- Not counting the canceled game Super Monkey Ball 3, this is the only Super Monkey Ball game where the player can jump in the main game.
- Many of this game's worlds and music are reused in the two iPhone games.
- Also, every single World in Single-Player has a remake of a song in Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll.
- Although this is the first game to have the characters redesigned, Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll has similar redesign elements.
- Some stages in this game have a 120-second (2 minutes) timer (longest in the Super Monkey Ball series), while a few stages have a 30-second timer (Cobalt Caverns 7 and Sinking Swamp 8) or 20-second timer (Sinking Swamp 2, shortest in the entire Super Monkey Ball series).
