Earlier this year Sega announced the return ofSuper Monkey BallwithSuper Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, a remake of the first three entries in the beloved classic franchise developed by none other than Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, the team behind the company’s recently successfulYakuzaandJudgmenttitles. The developer recently revealed that classic characters such asSonic the HedgehogandJet Set Radio’s Beat would be appearing in the game, and has now finally announced that RGG Studios' own Kazuma Kiryu will be a playable character inSuper Monkey Ball: Banana Mania.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Maniawas first hinted towards in mid-2020, when Brian Matt Ulh, the voice of the announcer for the original games, revealed that he had done work on a newMonkey Balltitle. The game later leaked earlier this year on various retail boards and was officially announced on June 15 as part of E3 2021.Banana ManiafollowsSuper Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HDas the second remake in the series, recreating all of the mechanics and courses fromSuper Monkey Ball,Super Monkey Ball 2, andSuper Monkey Ball Deluxe.
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Recently, Sega started to reveal thatSuper Monkey Ball: Banana Maniawill also be introducing new characters to the series for the very first time, namely guest characters from some of Sega’s other popular franchise such asSonic and Tails from theSonic the Hedgehogseries, Beat from theJet Set Radioseries, and now Kazuma Kiryu from theYakuzaseries. It has also been revealed that there will be three exclusive characters featured with the game’s deluxe edition that will be based on three classic Sega consoles, the Game Gear, the Sega Saturn, and the Sega Dreamcast. The designs for these characters have not yet been revealed.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Maniais seen as the first major return to form for the series sinceSuper Monkey Ball 2, as many have criticized later installments for relying on gimmicks and deviating from what made the original titles so special. It’s not yet known ifother characters from Sega’s past will make an appearance, although it seems likely that characters such asShenmue’s Ryu Hazuki andSpace Channel 5’s Ulala would be considered considering the characters that have been showcased so far. The new characters will join the game’s roster of four returning playable characters, along with characters featured in later entries in the series. The game will also feature over 300 remade levels from the first three entries.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Maniawill release on October 5 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
