Review: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz

I have many fond memories of my time spent living in Tokyo, but when it comes to gaming memories, most of them center around the GameCube (and in later years, the original Xbox). One of the games that I used to play with my inimitable housemates was Super Monkey Ball, a Sega launch title for the GameCube. We spent many hours playing that game — both individually and in drunken competition — and since then, the Super Monkey Ball series has had a special place in my heart. However, I never played any other game in the series – not even the ports released on iPhone in recent years. I guess a part of me didn’t want to taint my previous experiences.

When Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz (terribly confusing name considering the 2008 Wii release, which was titled Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz) was released recently for PlayStation Vita, something inside me screamed for joy. Perhaps it’s the gorgeous screen on the Vita — which I just KNEW would suit the bright visuals of Super Monkey Ball – or perhaps it was just the fact that enough time had elapsed since I last played the series. Whatever it was, I just HAD to get my hands on it.

For those not in the know, Super Monkey Ball indirectly puts you in control of a little monkey inside a ball (seriously). Players are then tasked with directing this ball through a labyrinthine pathway — one with no walls and (gulp) steep drops all around. Control is indirect in that, rather than controlling the ball directly, players tilt the environment AROUND the ball, essentially sending it rolling on its way. Inertia takes over, and this is where the fun begins, as you cautiously try to prevent said Monkey Ball from careening over the edge of sharp corners and precipitous… precipices.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz (which sucks to type, by the way) is no different. In fact, it’s no different to what I remember playing ten years ago. There’s no jump button (which was added in the Wii release), nothing tacky, no stupid storyline getting in the way — just 100 puzzles to figure out. And in this way – it’s BRILLIANT.

At its core, the puzzle mechanic of Super Monkey Ball is what has garnered fans for the series over the years, and here, it shines. The ball reacts how you would expect it to, and controls are well defined (you can use the Vita’s accelerometers if you choose, but I preferred the more traditional analogue stick). It also runs along at a silky smooth 60 frames per second — it really shows, and makes the game all the more pleasant to enjoy.

It’s colourful, the levels are extremely well crafted — and boy do they get frustratingly difficult. However, they are never game breaking. In fact, it has been a long while since I last played the same level over and over until I got it right, and that’s a feeling I was very pleased to experience again.

However, there’s more to the title than just the solo puzzle mode. Sure, you can choose to play multiplayer (both local and online), but you can also choose to play the party modes on your lonesome, and there is plenty there to beef up the game.

That said – most of them are fluff. Back again (and admittedly still immensely playable) is Monkey Target, which has you send your ball down a steep ramp and into a huge jump. From there, you can open up the ball and glide to a target while passing through hoops for points. Beyond that, there are some SOMEWHAT enjoyable mini-games — Monkey Bowling and Monkey Billiards immediately come to mind – and some really poorly implemented ones, such as Monkey Rodeo. This mini-game is a Vita exclusive (for obvious reasons), which has you tapping the rear touchscreen to bounce your monkey around a small environment collecting bananas. It works as poorly as it sounds, and it’s half as much fun. Steer clear.

Aside from all of this, I found yet another mode, which was hidden away and hard to find, for some unknown reason. I mention this because it was easily the best mini-game in the title, and really could have been a second “campaign” so to speak. I’m referring to Love Maze, which has players controlling TWO Monkey Balls (one with each analogue stick) and trying to navigate through two separate mazes, while maintaining a certain distance between the two. I enjoyed this almost as much as the main single player mode – more of this, please!

In terms of what doesn’t work, though? Well, I could take or leave the mini games, let’s be honest. Apart from Love Maze, I don’t think anything will capture my attention… ever again. Sure, I like Monkey Target, but it has nothing on the main puzzle component.

The navigation also leaves a lot to be desired. Considering how much effort has been put into crafting the gorgeous levels, I’m surprised that the menu navigation is so… ugly and hard to control. Sluggish animations and unresponsive controls really don’t help endear players to a title. Not being able to select a level to start from seems like an oversight as well — there are 30 levels in Normal mode, and should you decide to stop playing at level 25 to get a few rounds of Mortal Kombat in on your Vita, you’ll need to start again. It hardly seems fair.

I guess my final gripe is an aspect of in game control. It is beyond my comprehension to understand why the developers neglected to map camera control to the right thumbstick. No – let me clarify. They DID map camera control to the right thumbstick, but only when the Monkey Ball is stationary. This really blew my mind, and made things so much more frustrating. Weaving about while manipulating the camera at the same time would have been immensely satisfying.

For the most part, though, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz is a charmingly enjoyable experience; primarily because of my nostalgic love of the series, but also because, as a puzzler, it’s just dumb fun. Long gone are the days when so many games provided pure joy from simple mechanics, and it’s wonderful to experience that again. However, it gets really difficult about halfway through, and there is no save or level select function to help the player deal with this, which was something I found quite disappointing and limits its replayability. Still — it’s extremely fun to play, and comes highly recommended to fans of the action-puzzle genre.