I really hope that it does get put onto other platforms because having a more stable framerate or potentially even going beyond 60fps would be incredible! Even if they just made the online 60fps I would be happy!
Love Love Love this game! I've been having a blast, and to me, this plays almost the same, and at least the closets we've been with SMB 1/2. I also am relieved its on the switch. Perfect platform for it! The mini games are fun, I just wish the Lobby system was better but I have finished Season 1 already and am excited for Season 2! I was worried for the future of SMB but I now know we're in good hands
Me too! And yeah for sure this is the closest we've ever come to a true Super Monkey Ball 3! But yeah I imagine that the previous games sold way more on Switch too which probably explains why they'd want to focus on it for Banana Rumble. I was actually going to say in the review how it's weird how there's not other people rolling around with you in the lobby area. If you stayed with the players across multiple games it could eventually build up to have a full room of people. But either way, I've also finished Season 1 and got the sheep headband thing 😅
They took notes when making Banana Mania. I was pleased with the new additions they added to Banana Mania with the challenge modes offering a new kind of challenge that fits the series’s main appeal, but I was nervous on whether or not they’d be able to pull off a new game successfully. While there is a significant chunk of levels that are decently easy, I am very satisfied with what they’ve done with Banana Rumble. The Adventure Mode is some of the best of Super Monkey Ball that I’ve played in a very long time. A lot of the levels really understand what made the first 2 games so much fun to play, exemplified by the Spin Dash. The game is fairly beatable yet challenging when playing regularly to get to the goal of every level, but going for the missions honestly turns this game into one of the hardest in the franchise. It can be extremely difficult getting the right number of bananas in the EX levels especially, I had to plan and route my way through every EX level to see how I could get each banana the fastest. That challenge alone adds so much more depth to every level in the game that I haven’t seen in a long time, I’d argue that the mission system is an excellent source of optional difficulty for those who do want a harder Monkey Ball game. I legit started spending half an hour on certain levels past World 9 EX, it’s great. Battle mode could’ve been better… I do prefer it over them botching Monkey Target, but it doesn’t feel entirely like a suitable replacement for the Party Games. They’re okay, but I will say that the framerate affects about half of my enjoyment of them. Overall though… more games like this, please. I don’t think we’ll ever get to a point with this franchise where they fully make a game that recaptures the same essence, style, and feel of the original 2 games, but if they make something of their own and design good levels around it… That’s all I can ask for.
I was exactly the same as you. I honestly had such low expectations going into this and I honestly thought I wasn't going to like it, but I'm so happy that they proved me wrong! Yeah, I love what they did with the missions. It adds such a good amount of challenge to even the earlier levels and gives the more hardcore fans something to aim for. Going for the missions in the later levels can be absolutely brutal can't it! All they really needed to do was have the standard minigames alongside the battle mode but give them proper online multiplayer in the same way the battle mode does. So many of the old minigames would benefit from having 16 players. Like imagine Monkey Fight with 16 people, it'd be nuts! I think the originals will always be regarded as the best in the franchise. I think everything came together in just the right way with those games in a way that's impossible to properly replicate. This is definitely the closest they've ever come though!
I really wish Jam and Jet were playable, I think it’s weird how they’re the only characters from the modern era who were left out this time around, even after Banana Mania had them as playable characters for the first time
That is very weird isn't it... They could be waiting to drop them in a future season of the online mode though, especially since playing a match online is how you unlock Dr. Bad-Boon.
Yep! I'm back! And Super Monkey Ball is definitely the best way to make my return! That's awesome! I'm glad you've enjoyed all of the Monkey Ball videos!
I've been meaning to address that for ages in an update video but things have been pretty busy lately! Basically they started struggling a bit because of a massive Google update that affected their rankings in search results which obviously led to ad revenue dropping. Because of that they understandably needed to let go of some staff, with me being the last person to leave. They're now running as a team of two and hopefully they'll make a comeback in the future! Brandon did a video over on Retro Dodo talking about the Google stuff in more detail, but that's the gist! There's absolutely no bad feelings there at all though and no drama or anything behind the scenes! But yeah that's the reason you haven't seen me there for a while!
Which channel are we talking about? This is my main channel and I was also a video producer on Retro Dodo for the past year, so all of my recent videos are either on here or over there 😀
Ok so technically while the game does run at 60fps for the most part, from the vgc review it seems to suffer from a common unity issue that pac-man world re-pac at launch also had where every sixth frame you don’t move. Which would affectively make movement be 50fps. It’d probably explain the responsiveness issue of battle mode, as cutting 50fps in half would be 25fps for movement there. And that’s not even accounting for any additional frame drops. Doesn’t seem like something that’d be difficult to fix in a patch though, as pac-man world re-pac did (both run in unity), but we’ll see.
I think I agree with nearly all your opinions here, I'm loving my time with this game and am so glad traditional monkey ball-esque stuff has returned! I also agree the online does need some tweaking up, I find it annoying how there's so many bots in the online mode, I feel like there should be an option to not always have a full 16 player roster, as sometimes to me it felt a little TOO chaotic, however this could also be because of the delay in inputs. The only thing I would disagree with you on would be that I personally still found the levels before world 8 incredibly enjoyable and creative, however this is probably a subjective thing. Still, probably the best video I've seen covering the game so far, I really hope this game gets the more attention it deserves.
I couldn't agree more, it's so awesome seeing Monkey Ball making such an amazing comeback like this. I wasn't sure they'd be able to surpass Banana Mania but in a lot of ways they've done that here! But yeah, the online mode needs quite a bit of work. It's also strange how there's no way of only playing a certain game type. A lot of the time I'm in the mood for a race, but I'll just be getting Goal Rush or something. They could have added some kind of tournament mode too where you play a few different matches to see who is the overall winner across multiple games. The input delay situation absolutely needs addressing though, it's completely messed me up on multiple occasions now! I definitely still enjoyed all of the levels pre-world 8, but I was definitely ready for it to kick things up a notch and get a bit more intense. But when it does eventually do that, it's insanely good. It's like it goes from being a great Monkey Ball game to an incredible one at that point. Thank you so much though, that means a lot! I loved Jon's video covering it over on Good Vibes Gaming too if you haven't watched that one!
It's such an awesome way of making it feel distinct from the other games in the series too, but without taking away from the core of what makes the originals so good!
Thanks for subscribing! I'm glad you enjoyed the video! You should definitely look forward to Banana Rumble, it's the best the series has been in years! Plus, if your brother is still interested in the series, you could even do this one in co-op 😀
I love how banana rumble pays homage to smb1 and smb2 stages. I dont like the banana blitz like stages but its a good mix. Yeah the controls of the game is a bit frustrating but i love the stage designs. The EX stages have more wow factor but i love it. I cant put down the game.
Even the flatter more Banana Blitz-like levels feel a lot better here. I think the addition of the optional objectives really does them a favour because a lot of them have a surprising amount of depth even when they look really straight-forward. I actually haven't had any issues with the controls in the single player mode. What have you been finding annoying about them?
Also, I even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson, will he make a video of him asking illumination to make a super monkey ball movie, and he said "Yes". Another reason why because in 2019, he made a video of him finding an uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor named Brian Matt.
I really don’t see why they wouldn’t add a toggle in the settings to have lives? I had completely forgot this game released. Probably because: a) it’s only on Switch b) I almost never buy games at launch Your Monkey Ball videos are always great!
Yeah it's like my one little complaint about the single player mode is that I feel like an unlockable Challenge Mode could have been the cherry on the cake. I'm fairly sure that it'll eventually come out on other consoles, so hopefully you'll be able to get it soon! Thank you! I'm glad people have been enjoying them!
Such a good game such a shame jam and Jet can't get in on the fun although I have heard the online mode will have holiday events so maybe they'll have a jam and Jet event I love all the new characters I love doctor coming back easel and pallet are both super cool and A Team Rocket references always welcome and Doctor Badboon should I say more also I love the little Hub World area at the beach and when you change the outfits of any of the monkeys they will change their to
It is actually very strange how Jam and Jet aren't here despite them being in Banana Mania. Like you say it is possible that they'll be included in some kind of future season which would be amazing. You unlock Dr. Bad-Boon by playing online so it's definitely possible they could add more characters. Hopefully Future AiAi will make an appearance too!
Newcomer Plalette easily became one of my favorites she's adorable,and spindash I used way more then thought I would, glad it waant purely situational, and is fun speed running tool.
Yeah she's one of my favourites of the bunch too now! I probably prefer her to YanYan and Doctor honestly! But yeah, I was really worried that the spin dash was going to be a stupid gimmick when they first showed it off, but I should have had a lot more faith because it's legitimately so good!
When I saw that this game had proper co-op in the adventure mode, I thought to myself "Oh, Pixel Pursuit will probably love that!" lol. They finally did it! I came away from Banana Rumble really loving it. I think if you primarily care about Monkey Ball's singleplayer content, you could make a solid argument for it being the best in the series. In a weird sort of way, the added Spin Dash seems to give me a lot more confidence to try risky, goofy strategies. In earlier Monkey Ball games I've always played it a bit too safe, but now that I have this tool I'm way more eager to try stupid stuff... Ironically, this means I die way more now than I have in the past. It's worth it though! I really hope the Spin Dash sticks around in the future. Also, Baby in particular is crazy. He's so fast and brakes so quickly that playing as Baby is almost like playing a different game.
Haha! I have to admit I was quite excited when they announced that it had a proper co-op mode! Along with the spin dash, I think another thing that probably makes you a more confident player is that there's no real penalty for falling off. It just takes a second to restart the stage and you don't have lives, so you're much more free to be risky and just blast off and see what happens. But yeah, I think a new Monkey Ball without the spin dash would probably feel quite weird after Banana Rumble! I actually haven't played very much with Baby at all! I'll have to properly try out a few stages with him to see if I can improve my times!
Rob! Its so good to see you upload, love your videos! Are you still a member of the Retro Dodo team or are you focusing over on here now? Either way, i love your videos!
Hello there! And thank you! I'm not working at Retro Dodo anymore but there are another three videos going live over there soon that I made before I left. So you'll still be seeing me there for a little while! I'll have to do some kind of update video soon to properly acknowledge that and go through some other stuff too but yeah video-wise my focus is now entirely on this channel 😀
@PixelPursuit I am sorry about the departure from Retro Dodo, you did a great job, the quality of your videos were great. I imagine you've learnt quite a lot aswell. I look forward to your future content here Rob... oh, and Oddtober!!
Thank you! There's no need to be sorry though, I parted ways from them on amazing terms and they're an incredible team over there. And yeah I definitely have learned a lot working there and I'll be able to bring some of it into my own videos here! I'm not too sure I'll be doing Oddtober this year though. In all honesty I feel like I've exhausted all of the video ideas I could possibly have until a new game comes out! That being said, a second Scooby-Doo-a-Thon could be a very real possibility. I'll need to see how busy I am closer to the time though!
That could be the case. I wouldn't be surprised if Banana Blitz HD and Banana Mania sold way more numbers on the Switch too which probably affected their decision too.
This game does take while to ramp up,but when it does it's easily most fun had in Monkey ball game since GameCube. I think it topping GameCube games fighting uphill battle they set bar,so high early on. I'm glad with confidence that can say we have good original Super monkey game again. As someone who plays these games for Single player I'm glad they nailed that compontnat. I can see why people that are solely init for Party games are disappointed. That this title leans more into online battle Royale style most games do. I'm just beyond happy as long time fan this game didn't disappoint me. Nice to bump into you online as well. Last thing I think that level design being so solid,and much more creative then previous entry's is due to one of ogs from first game coming back to do level's in this game. It was brought up in interview with game director.
I totally agree! Even the earlier levels are pretty great and going for the time side missions really make you appreciate how many advanced things you can do even on the straight-forward levels. But yeah, this is definitely the best single player mode that we've had outside of the original games. I think that they probably shouldn't have outright removed the minigames but maybe attempted to implement them into the battle mode instead. The idea of playing stuff like Monkey Golf with 15 other people sounds amazing! I actually remember playing with you! I probably should change my Switch name to be Pixel Pursuit so it's more obvious that it's me haha! Huh, I didn't know about the level designer coming back from the original games, that totally makes sense though!
@@PixelPursuitI did get the whole playlist finished! even watched some of them twice. so glad to have another good monkey ball game here. it's truly unbelievable!!
Nice! Thanks for watching them! I'm super glad you've enjoyed me rambling about monkeys in balls for so long haha! I was wondering when someone was going to mention the cats :D They were posing for the camera for this video!
Great review! I'm really enjoying the game - and even though it's not what most people wanted I think the multiplayer could have been half decent. But that frame rate though! Sheesh. I thought it was because it was multiplatform and they hadn't optimised properly for the Switch. I was flabbergasted when I found it this is a Switch exclusive! Poor effort there.
Thank you! Even with the 30fps online gameplay I've still been having quite a lot of fun. If they just fixed the weird controller delay it would be much better even at 30. I'm almost certain that it wasn't developed entirely with the Switch hardware in mind. Surely it would be a consistent 60fps across the board if it was.
Hey Baldie! What's up, mate, how u been? I noticed ur absence from retro dodo videos recently, it's all Brandon now, are u on a break or smth? Are you coming back? I would love to see more of ur videos, mate, I think they are really good and I absolutely adore ur narration coz of ur snazzy northern accent, mate! Anyway, hope u r doing aight, and I also hope to see more videos with u soon. Good luck and take care.
Will illumination will ever make a super monkey ball movie, OR EVEN BETTER "THE SUPER MONKEY BALL BANANA MOVIE" and they WHOULD add Yanyan and Doctor too (and even Palette from banana rumble since she was debut as a newest member of the gang) and probably Easel, Fes, Val, and Tee and maybe added the main villian DR. Bad-Boon and his assistant, I not sure if they add Jam and Jet in the movie since they officially no longer canon since since Banana splitz/super monkey ball bounce, and they both really are parts of the main Super Monkey Ball gangs like Aiai, Meemee, Baby, Gongon, Yanyan, Doctor, (and Palette) and really suppose to be 8 or 9 main super Monkey Ball characters and that is Aiai, Meemee, Baby, Gongon, Yanyan, Doctor, Jam, Jet, (and Palette) just like 3d, banana splitz, and bounce, and probably added the other villians like yoko and the other banana blitz boss fights and added the monkey ball adventure monkey characters like papa, princess Dee Dee, prince AbeAbe and more monkey characters added in the movie and also even better in the super monkey ball movie add the monkey ball mini games scenes in the movie like add the monkey race scene, monkey fight scene, monkey target scene, and maybe the monkey dog fight scene from super monkey ball 2 like in the super mario movie they added the mario kart scene and they're eyes will have actuall regular eyes like Dr. Bad-Boon, Fes, and Tee or theyre eyes will still be cartoon eyes, and all of the monkey ball characters will actually talk including Dr. Bad-Boon and the characters design will be base off of Banana Rumble design (including Jam and Jet) and jet will be wearing pants like the rest of the monkeys and jam pretty much wears pants by default. like mee mee has a ponytail with a pink bow on her head her bang her stuby tail and Baby has a stuby tail and bang too and doctor has a beard now and all of the monkeys wear pants and will aiai will have his blue backpack like in most of the modern monkey ball games and will meemee will have a flower on her dress like her classic designs and will meemee will have polka-dots on her dress or even better white flower patterns on her dress and will the monkeys will have actuall feet like they're classic designs has, but I think they wouldn't do it tho because people did just thought monkey ball is a ball simulator game and people who doesn't really know much about it just say like "oh all monkey ball is about is just a game we're you just play as a monkey in a ball" that's it and people didn't even know about the monkey ball characters story and even if they heard there's a monkey ball 2 game that has the cutscenes people said "all of cutscenes is about the monkeys having they're bananas stolen from a evil baboon and the monkeys have to stop it from stilling they're bananas" thats it and maybe Iillumination is thinking the same thing about it that why there isn't a modern monkey ball toy with yanyan or doctor toy or modern happy meal toy or even a super monkey ball cartoon, and Illustration probably don't know more about monkey ball and the characters story of how aiai meets meemee and how baby is aiai and Meemees son? how aiai and meemee were married? how aiai meets gongon, YanYan, Doctor Jam and jet (and Palette), and show how Dr.Badboon becomes a villan and how aiai and his friends finds a magical ball that they get inside and roll fly, run, and bounce, and more (and even spindash) and people didn't know that aiai and meemee were adults and didn't know baby was there son because baby is a white monkey and not a brown monkey like he is in touch and roll maybe he's a alabama monkey, and Super Monkey Ball is a cool popular game then the other sega games like samba de amigo, crazy taxi, billy hatcher, house of the dead, Alex kid, Nights into dreams and more and again Illumination probably don't know more about monkey ball and the characters story of how aiai meets meemee and how baby is aiai and Meemees son how aiai and meemee were married how aiai meets gongon, how Gongon used to be a rival to Aiai but later became friends with each other, how Aiai meets YanYan, Doctor, Jam, and jet ( and Palette and yoko even tho yoko never became a good member and follow theyre new lead since shes a villian in banana blitz) and show how Dr.Badboon becomes a villan and how aiai and his friends finds a magical ball that they get inside and roll fly, run, and bounce, and more and again people didn't know that aiai and meemee were adults mistaking that they're kids and didn't know baby was they're son because baby is a white monkey and not a brown monkey like he is in touch and roll maybe And also aiai and gongon or doctor or jet doesn't have a visible stomach under they're shirts and meemee doesn't have her lower part of her stomach eitherand even tho her skirt covers up her lower body that don't mean they don't add the visible butt a stuby tail and a lower stomach even though her skirt covers her lower body that doesn't really matter because we can see her lower body when she runs shake her butt or other victory animations or when she rolls when she runs too fast seeing her lower body that easy and she even nolonger has a ponytail or a stuby tail like her classic designs until banana rumble even doctor don't have a visible butt but has a stuby tail and Yanyan don't have a visible butt either and is it because she's a Lemur do lemurs have visible skin butts like monkeys, gorillas, and baboons has and not only that Jet the yellow monkey from monkey ball 3D or yoko the black monkey from banana blitz or what ever monkeys they both are because they both not just the regular monkeys like aiai meemee baby and doctor are, but Jet and yoko both dont have a bare butt either and also Jam from step and roll also have his body fully covered because he wears shorts and has his stuby tail sticking out through his shorts. In banana rumble baby has a stuby tail for the first time and Aiai in banana rumble still doesn't wears a blue backpack, also I'm glad that they got redesign in banana rumble since they never got redesign again since banana blitz and i like how they all wear pants! Their movie design is probably gonna be slightly a banana rumble design but slightly different and make it a 2-hour movie. I even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson will he make a video of him asking illumination studios to make a super monkey ball movie and he said "yes". Another reason why I ask him that question because in 2019 he made a video of him traveling to different states and asking someone who was a uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor and finding a uncredited Super Monkey Ball VA name Brian Matt.
Woah, you clearly have a lot of ideas for a Monkey Ball movie right there! Maybe you should write it! I think Jam and Jet are still a part of the series, they were playable in Banana Mania which was only the last game before Rumble. I'm hoping that we see them added to Rumble in an update but we'll have to wait and see if that happens! I doubt that Illumination would be the ones to make a Monkey Ball movie though, I think they're a little bit too big to tackle a more niche property like Monkey Ball. What I would like to see is a series of animated shorts kinda like they did for Pikmin. Maybe it could be in the same style as the release trailer for Banana Rumble too, that'd be pretty cool!
@@PixelPursuit Also, I even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson, will he make a video of him asking illumination to make a super monkey ball movie, and he said "Yes". Another reason why because in 2019, he made a video of him finding an uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor named Brian Matt.
@@PixelPursuit and also even better in the super monkey ball movie add the monkey ball mini games scenes in the movie like add the monkey race scene, monkey fight scene, monkey target scene, and maybe the monkey dog fight scene from super monkey ball 2 like in the super mario movie they added the mario kart scene
@@PixelPursuiti even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson will he make a video of him asking illumination studios to make a super monkey ball movie and he said "yes". Another reason why I ask him that question because in 2019 he made a video of him traveling to different states and asking someone who was a uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor and finding a uncredited Super Monkey Ball VA name Brian Matt
That's actually a really good question. I think it is otherwise I'm fairly sure I would have noticed, especially with how jarring it is in the online mode. If it is 30fps in the split-screen, it's way more consistent than the online to a point where it doesn't even feel like 30fps.
So, it’s 60fps if you’re playing Online in the Adventure Mode, or if you’re playing split-screen with 2 players in Adventure Mode. The game drops to 30fps if you have 3 or more players in split-screen during Adventure Mode, or if you play Battle Mode in any capacity.
@@PixelPursuit Also, I even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson, will he make a video of him asking illumination to make a super monkey ball movie, and he said "Yes". Another reason why because in 2019, he made a video of him finding an uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor named Brian Matt.
i enjoy the updated character designs however sounds like another half baked monkey ball. exclusive, online focused, because switch is known for having best online/multiplayer, 🤣. same ol' blurred ugly hazy/fog pastel stage art from the recent games. mind boggling how lazy the music was handled. then they have the monkey balls to say "if enough people buy our cash grab we can release another cash grab"
I really like the redesigns too! I am kinda surprised that there's no unlockable classic outfits for the original cast though. Banana Mania even had the full on retro skins for them (although I guess that makes more sense with it being a remake). As much as it is kinda half-baked because of the online stuff, the single player is the best that Monkey Ball has been since the originals which makes me highly recommend it even with its flaws. But yeah, the whole thing they keep doing where they keep threatening the future of the series based on how well the new game performs sucks. They should really stop that.
This is a great one to start with, it eases you into the more difficult levels a lot slower than some of the other games do which is great for newcomers!
This is easily the closest Sega's ever got to a proper Super Monkey Ball 3, all it needs is a PC version running at a higher framerate.
wait it is not 60, yeah what a joke
I really hope that it does get put onto other platforms because having a more stable framerate or potentially even going beyond 60fps would be incredible!
Even if they just made the online 60fps I would be happy!
@@agamaz5650Everything is 60 except online like explained in the video
Is the game not 60fps in single player?
I think Reddit was going on about something with the frame rates. Something like it stutters here or there. @@legoboy7107
Love Love Love this game! I've been having a blast, and to me, this plays almost the same, and at least the closets we've been with SMB 1/2.
I also am relieved its on the switch. Perfect platform for it! The mini games are fun, I just wish the Lobby system was better but I have finished Season 1 already and am excited for Season 2!
I was worried for the future of SMB but I now know we're in good hands
Me too! And yeah for sure this is the closest we've ever come to a true Super Monkey Ball 3!
But yeah I imagine that the previous games sold way more on Switch too which probably explains why they'd want to focus on it for Banana Rumble.
I was actually going to say in the review how it's weird how there's not other people rolling around with you in the lobby area. If you stayed with the players across multiple games it could eventually build up to have a full room of people. But either way, I've also finished Season 1 and got the sheep headband thing 😅
They took notes when making Banana Mania. I was pleased with the new additions they added to Banana Mania with the challenge modes offering a new kind of challenge that fits the series’s main appeal, but I was nervous on whether or not they’d be able to pull off a new game successfully.
While there is a significant chunk of levels that are decently easy, I am very satisfied with what they’ve done with Banana Rumble. The Adventure Mode is some of the best of Super Monkey Ball that I’ve played in a very long time. A lot of the levels really understand what made the first 2 games so much fun to play, exemplified by the Spin Dash.
The game is fairly beatable yet challenging when playing regularly to get to the goal of every level, but going for the missions honestly turns this game into one of the hardest in the franchise. It can be extremely difficult getting the right number of bananas in the EX levels especially, I had to plan and route my way through every EX level to see how I could get each banana the fastest. That challenge alone adds so much more depth to every level in the game that I haven’t seen in a long time, I’d argue that the mission system is an excellent source of optional difficulty for those who do want a harder Monkey Ball game. I legit started spending half an hour on certain levels past World 9 EX, it’s great.
Battle mode could’ve been better… I do prefer it over them botching Monkey Target, but it doesn’t feel entirely like a suitable replacement for the Party Games. They’re okay, but I will say that the framerate affects about half of my enjoyment of them.
Overall though… more games like this, please. I don’t think we’ll ever get to a point with this franchise where they fully make a game that recaptures the same essence, style, and feel of the original 2 games, but if they make something of their own and design good levels around it… That’s all I can ask for.
I was exactly the same as you. I honestly had such low expectations going into this and I honestly thought I wasn't going to like it, but I'm so happy that they proved me wrong!
Yeah, I love what they did with the missions. It adds such a good amount of challenge to even the earlier levels and gives the more hardcore fans something to aim for. Going for the missions in the later levels can be absolutely brutal can't it!
All they really needed to do was have the standard minigames alongside the battle mode but give them proper online multiplayer in the same way the battle mode does. So many of the old minigames would benefit from having 16 players. Like imagine Monkey Fight with 16 people, it'd be nuts!
I think the originals will always be regarded as the best in the franchise. I think everything came together in just the right way with those games in a way that's impossible to properly replicate. This is definitely the closest they've ever come though!
I'm in the same camp of wishing for Simultaneous multi-player since Monkey Ball 1. Very glad that it's finally arrived.
They've overlooked how much fun a co-op mode would be for so long! I hope it stays for every future entry now!
I really wish Jam and Jet were playable, I think it’s weird how they’re the only characters from the modern era who were left out this time around, even after Banana Mania had them as playable characters for the first time
That is very weird isn't it... They could be waiting to drop them in a future season of the online mode though, especially since playing a match online is how you unlock Dr. Bad-Boon.
Omg you’re back! And with a monkey ball video! I remember finding this channel through the monkey ball retrospective
Yep! I'm back! And Super Monkey Ball is definitely the best way to make my return!
That's awesome! I'm glad you've enjoyed all of the Monkey Ball videos!
What happened to Retro Dodo? Aug 29th you're no longer on the site.
I've been meaning to address that for ages in an update video but things have been pretty busy lately!
Basically they started struggling a bit because of a massive Google update that affected their rankings in search results which obviously led to ad revenue dropping. Because of that they understandably needed to let go of some staff, with me being the last person to leave. They're now running as a team of two and hopefully they'll make a comeback in the future! Brandon did a video over on Retro Dodo talking about the Google stuff in more detail, but that's the gist!
There's absolutely no bad feelings there at all though and no drama or anything behind the scenes! But yeah that's the reason you haven't seen me there for a while!
@@PixelPursuitthat’s unfortunate. I hope things work out.
No way.... I got notified Rob is uploading again on his channel? Oh my god how I missed this.
Yep, I'm back! And what better way to return than with a Super Monkey Ball game!
@@PixelPursuitDid you delete your other channel? Because i cant found it 😢
Which channel are we talking about? This is my main channel and I was also a video producer on Retro Dodo for the past year, so all of my recent videos are either on here or over there 😀
@@PixelPursuit Oh! Retro Dodo was! I forgot the name 😁
Ok so technically while the game does run at 60fps for the most part, from the vgc review it seems to suffer from a common unity issue that pac-man world re-pac at launch also had where every sixth frame you don’t move. Which would affectively make movement be 50fps. It’d probably explain the responsiveness issue of battle mode, as cutting 50fps in half would be 25fps for movement there. And that’s not even accounting for any additional frame drops. Doesn’t seem like something that’d be difficult to fix in a patch though, as pac-man world re-pac did (both run in unity), but we’ll see.
I think I agree with nearly all your opinions here, I'm loving my time with this game and am so glad traditional monkey ball-esque stuff has returned! I also agree the online does need some tweaking up, I find it annoying how there's so many bots in the online mode, I feel like there should be an option to not always have a full 16 player roster, as sometimes to me it felt a little TOO chaotic, however this could also be because of the delay in inputs. The only thing I would disagree with you on would be that I personally still found the levels before world 8 incredibly enjoyable and creative, however this is probably a subjective thing. Still, probably the best video I've seen covering the game so far, I really hope this game gets the more attention it deserves.
I couldn't agree more, it's so awesome seeing Monkey Ball making such an amazing comeback like this. I wasn't sure they'd be able to surpass Banana Mania but in a lot of ways they've done that here!
But yeah, the online mode needs quite a bit of work. It's also strange how there's no way of only playing a certain game type. A lot of the time I'm in the mood for a race, but I'll just be getting Goal Rush or something. They could have added some kind of tournament mode too where you play a few different matches to see who is the overall winner across multiple games.
The input delay situation absolutely needs addressing though, it's completely messed me up on multiple occasions now!
I definitely still enjoyed all of the levels pre-world 8, but I was definitely ready for it to kick things up a notch and get a bit more intense. But when it does eventually do that, it's insanely good. It's like it goes from being a great Monkey Ball game to an incredible one at that point.
Thank you so much though, that means a lot! I loved Jon's video covering it over on Good Vibes Gaming too if you haven't watched that one!
I got it and Im really enjoying it. The Spin dash is amazing, it really unlocks a new way of playing and its really fun!
It's such an awesome way of making it feel distinct from the other games in the series too, but without taking away from the core of what makes the originals so good!
Just stumbled across your channel! New subscriber, and thank you for your content!
Thanks for subscribing! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
You should definitely look forward to Banana Rumble, it's the best the series has been in years! Plus, if your brother is still interested in the series, you could even do this one in co-op 😀
I love how banana rumble pays homage to smb1 and smb2 stages. I dont like the banana blitz like stages but its a good mix.
Yeah the controls of the game is a bit frustrating but i love the stage designs.
The EX stages have more wow factor but i love it. I cant put down the game.
Even the flatter more Banana Blitz-like levels feel a lot better here. I think the addition of the optional objectives really does them a favour because a lot of them have a surprising amount of depth even when they look really straight-forward.
I actually haven't had any issues with the controls in the single player mode. What have you been finding annoying about them?
Also, I even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson, will he make a video of him asking illumination to make a super monkey ball movie, and he said "Yes". Another reason why because in 2019, he made a video of him finding an uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor named Brian Matt.
I really don’t see why they wouldn’t add a toggle in the settings to have lives?
I had completely forgot this game released. Probably because:
a) it’s only on Switch
b) I almost never buy games at launch
Your Monkey Ball videos are always great!
Yeah it's like my one little complaint about the single player mode is that I feel like an unlockable Challenge Mode could have been the cherry on the cake.
I'm fairly sure that it'll eventually come out on other consoles, so hopefully you'll be able to get it soon!
Thank you! I'm glad people have been enjoying them!
Such a good game such a shame jam and Jet can't get in on the fun although I have heard the online mode will have holiday events so maybe they'll have a jam and Jet event I love all the new characters I love doctor coming back easel and pallet are both super cool and A Team Rocket references always welcome and Doctor Badboon should I say more also I love the little Hub World area at the beach and when you change the outfits of any of the monkeys they will change their to
It is actually very strange how Jam and Jet aren't here despite them being in Banana Mania. Like you say it is possible that they'll be included in some kind of future season which would be amazing. You unlock Dr. Bad-Boon by playing online so it's definitely possible they could add more characters. Hopefully Future AiAi will make an appearance too!
Newcomer Plalette easily became one of my favorites she's adorable,and spindash I used way more then thought I would, glad it waant purely situational, and is fun speed running tool.
Yeah she's one of my favourites of the bunch too now! I probably prefer her to YanYan and Doctor honestly!
But yeah, I was really worried that the spin dash was going to be a stupid gimmick when they first showed it off, but I should have had a lot more faith because it's legitimately so good!
When I saw that this game had proper co-op in the adventure mode, I thought to myself "Oh, Pixel Pursuit will probably love that!" lol. They finally did it!
I came away from Banana Rumble really loving it. I think if you primarily care about Monkey Ball's singleplayer content, you could make a solid argument for it being the best in the series. In a weird sort of way, the added Spin Dash seems to give me a lot more confidence to try risky, goofy strategies. In earlier Monkey Ball games I've always played it a bit too safe, but now that I have this tool I'm way more eager to try stupid stuff... Ironically, this means I die way more now than I have in the past. It's worth it though! I really hope the Spin Dash sticks around in the future.
Also, Baby in particular is crazy. He's so fast and brakes so quickly that playing as Baby is almost like playing a different game.
Haha! I have to admit I was quite excited when they announced that it had a proper co-op mode!
Along with the spin dash, I think another thing that probably makes you a more confident player is that there's no real penalty for falling off. It just takes a second to restart the stage and you don't have lives, so you're much more free to be risky and just blast off and see what happens.
But yeah, I think a new Monkey Ball without the spin dash would probably feel quite weird after Banana Rumble!
I actually haven't played very much with Baby at all! I'll have to properly try out a few stages with him to see if I can improve my times!
Hey, glad to see you back. Glad to see Monkey Ball continuing too
Thanks, it feels very good to be talking about Monkey Ball again! It feels like it's been ages since the last one!
Rob! Its so good to see you upload, love your videos! Are you still a member of the Retro Dodo team or are you focusing over on here now? Either way, i love your videos!
Hello there! And thank you!
I'm not working at Retro Dodo anymore but there are another three videos going live over there soon that I made before I left. So you'll still be seeing me there for a little while!
I'll have to do some kind of update video soon to properly acknowledge that and go through some other stuff too but yeah video-wise my focus is now entirely on this channel 😀
@PixelPursuit I am sorry about the departure from Retro Dodo, you did a great job, the quality of your videos were great. I imagine you've learnt quite a lot aswell. I look forward to your future content here Rob... oh, and Oddtober!!
Thank you! There's no need to be sorry though, I parted ways from them on amazing terms and they're an incredible team over there. And yeah I definitely have learned a lot working there and I'll be able to bring some of it into my own videos here!
I'm not too sure I'll be doing Oddtober this year though. In all honesty I feel like I've exhausted all of the video ideas I could possibly have until a new game comes out! That being said, a second Scooby-Doo-a-Thon could be a very real possibility. I'll need to see how busy I am closer to the time though!
I'd like to imagine the Switch was choose as the Switch as a nod to how Monkey Ball was originally a GameCube exclusive.
That could be the case. I wouldn't be surprised if Banana Blitz HD and Banana Mania sold way more numbers on the Switch too which probably affected their decision too.
Great video! You really deserve more attention.
This game does take while to ramp up,but when it does it's easily most fun had in Monkey ball game since GameCube. I think it topping GameCube games fighting uphill battle they set bar,so high early on. I'm glad with confidence that can say we have good original Super monkey game again. As someone who plays these games for Single player I'm glad they nailed that compontnat. I can see why people that are solely init for Party games are disappointed. That this title leans more into online battle Royale style most games do. I'm just beyond happy as long time fan this game didn't disappoint me. Nice to bump into you online as well. Last thing I think that level design being so solid,and much more creative then previous entry's is due to one of ogs from first game coming back to do level's in this game. It was brought up in interview with game director.
I totally agree! Even the earlier levels are pretty great and going for the time side missions really make you appreciate how many advanced things you can do even on the straight-forward levels.
But yeah, this is definitely the best single player mode that we've had outside of the original games.
I think that they probably shouldn't have outright removed the minigames but maybe attempted to implement them into the battle mode instead. The idea of playing stuff like Monkey Golf with 15 other people sounds amazing!
I actually remember playing with you! I probably should change my Switch name to be Pixel Pursuit so it's more obvious that it's me haha!
Huh, I didn't know about the level designer coming back from the original games, that totally makes sense though!
omg it's the video I was waiting for
I told you it was coming! It was probably just in time for you finishing my other Monkey Ball videos too!
@@PixelPursuitI did get the whole playlist finished! even watched some of them twice. so glad to have another good monkey ball game here. it's truly unbelievable!!
ALSO BEAUTIFUL CAT
Nice! Thanks for watching them! I'm super glad you've enjoyed me rambling about monkeys in balls for so long haha!
I was wondering when someone was going to mention the cats :D They were posing for the camera for this video!
Great review! I'm really enjoying the game - and even though it's not what most people wanted I think the multiplayer could have been half decent. But that frame rate though! Sheesh. I thought it was because it was multiplatform and they hadn't optimised properly for the Switch. I was flabbergasted when I found it this is a Switch exclusive! Poor effort there.
Thank you! Even with the 30fps online gameplay I've still been having quite a lot of fun. If they just fixed the weird controller delay it would be much better even at 30.
I'm almost certain that it wasn't developed entirely with the Switch hardware in mind. Surely it would be a consistent 60fps across the board if it was.
now they only need to interpolate the physics to the 60hz camera
I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I like the sound of it!
@@PixelPursuit look up the Digital foundry clip for this game, you'll see what I mean :)
Hey Baldie! What's up, mate, how u been? I noticed ur absence from retro dodo videos recently, it's all Brandon now, are u on a break or smth? Are you coming back? I would love to see more of ur videos, mate, I think they are really good and I absolutely adore ur narration coz of ur snazzy northern accent, mate! Anyway, hope u r doing aight, and I also hope to see more videos with u soon. Good luck and take care.
Will illumination will ever make a super monkey ball movie, OR EVEN BETTER "THE SUPER MONKEY BALL BANANA MOVIE" and they WHOULD add Yanyan and Doctor too (and even Palette from banana rumble since she was debut as a newest member of the gang) and probably Easel, Fes, Val, and Tee and maybe added the main villian DR. Bad-Boon and his assistant, I not sure if they add Jam and Jet in the movie since they officially no longer canon since since Banana splitz/super monkey ball bounce, and they both really are parts of the main Super Monkey Ball gangs like Aiai, Meemee, Baby, Gongon, Yanyan, Doctor, (and Palette) and really suppose to be 8 or 9 main super Monkey Ball characters and that is Aiai, Meemee, Baby, Gongon, Yanyan, Doctor, Jam, Jet, (and Palette) just like 3d, banana splitz, and bounce, and probably added the other villians like yoko and the other banana blitz boss fights and added the monkey ball adventure monkey characters like papa, princess Dee Dee, prince AbeAbe and more monkey characters added in the movie and also even better in the super monkey ball movie add the monkey ball mini games scenes in the movie like add the monkey race scene, monkey fight scene, monkey target scene, and maybe the monkey dog fight scene from super monkey ball 2 like in the super mario movie they added the mario kart scene and they're eyes will have actuall regular eyes like Dr. Bad-Boon, Fes, and Tee or theyre eyes will still be cartoon eyes, and all of the monkey ball characters will actually talk including Dr. Bad-Boon and the characters design will be base off of Banana Rumble design (including Jam and Jet) and jet will be wearing pants like the rest of the monkeys and jam pretty much wears pants by default. like mee mee has a ponytail with a pink bow on her head her bang her stuby tail and Baby has a stuby tail and bang too and doctor has a beard now and all of the monkeys wear pants and will aiai will have his blue backpack like in most of the modern monkey ball games and will meemee will have a flower on her dress like her classic designs and will meemee will have polka-dots on her dress or even better white flower patterns on her dress and will the monkeys will have actuall feet like they're classic designs has, but I think they wouldn't do it tho because people did just thought monkey ball is a ball simulator game and people who doesn't really know much about it just say like "oh all monkey ball is about is just a game we're you just play as a monkey in a ball" that's it and people didn't even know about the monkey ball characters story and even if they heard there's a monkey ball 2 game that has the cutscenes people said "all of cutscenes is about the monkeys having they're bananas stolen from a evil baboon and the monkeys have to stop it from stilling they're bananas" thats it and maybe Iillumination is thinking the same thing about it that why there isn't a modern monkey ball toy with yanyan or doctor toy or modern happy meal toy or even a super monkey ball cartoon, and Illustration probably don't know more about monkey ball and the characters story of how aiai meets meemee and how baby is aiai and Meemees son? how aiai and meemee were married? how aiai meets gongon, YanYan, Doctor Jam and jet (and Palette), and show how Dr.Badboon becomes a villan and how aiai and his friends finds a magical ball that they get inside and roll fly, run, and bounce, and more (and even spindash) and people didn't know that aiai and meemee were adults and didn't know baby was there son because baby is a white monkey and not a brown monkey like he is in touch and roll maybe he's a alabama monkey, and Super Monkey Ball is a cool popular game then the other sega games like samba de amigo, crazy taxi, billy hatcher, house of the dead, Alex kid, Nights into dreams and more and again Illumination probably don't know more about monkey ball and the characters story of how aiai meets meemee and how baby is aiai and Meemees son how aiai and meemee were married how aiai meets gongon, how Gongon used to be a rival to Aiai but later became friends with each other, how Aiai meets YanYan, Doctor, Jam, and jet ( and Palette and yoko even tho yoko never became a good member and follow theyre new lead since shes a villian in banana blitz) and show how Dr.Badboon becomes a villan and how aiai and his friends finds a magical ball that they get inside and roll fly, run, and bounce, and more and again people didn't know that aiai and meemee were adults mistaking that they're kids and didn't know baby was they're son because baby is a white monkey and not a brown monkey like he is in touch and roll maybe And also aiai and gongon or doctor or jet doesn't have a visible stomach under they're shirts and meemee doesn't have her lower part of her stomach eitherand even tho her skirt covers up her lower body that don't mean they don't add the visible butt a stuby tail and a lower stomach even though her skirt covers her lower body that doesn't really matter because we can see her lower body when she runs shake her butt or other victory animations or when she rolls when she runs too fast seeing her lower body that easy and she even nolonger has a ponytail or a stuby tail like her classic designs until banana rumble even doctor don't have a visible butt but has a stuby tail and Yanyan don't have a visible butt either and is it because she's a Lemur do lemurs have visible skin butts like monkeys, gorillas, and baboons has and not only that Jet the yellow monkey from monkey ball 3D or yoko the black monkey from banana blitz or what ever monkeys they both are because they both not just the regular monkeys like aiai meemee baby and doctor are, but Jet and yoko both dont have a bare butt either and also Jam from step and roll also have his body fully covered because he wears shorts and has his stuby tail sticking out through his shorts. In banana rumble baby has a stuby tail for the first time and Aiai in banana rumble still doesn't wears a blue backpack, also I'm glad that they got redesign in banana rumble since they never got redesign again since banana blitz and i like how they all wear pants! Their movie design is probably gonna be slightly a banana rumble design but slightly different and make it a 2-hour movie. I even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson will he make a video of him asking illumination studios to make a super monkey ball movie and he said "yes". Another reason why I ask him that question because in 2019 he made a video of him traveling to different states and asking someone who was a uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor and finding a uncredited Super Monkey Ball VA name Brian Matt.
Woah, you clearly have a lot of ideas for a Monkey Ball movie right there! Maybe you should write it!
I think Jam and Jet are still a part of the series, they were playable in Banana Mania which was only the last game before Rumble. I'm hoping that we see them added to Rumble in an update but we'll have to wait and see if that happens!
I doubt that Illumination would be the ones to make a Monkey Ball movie though, I think they're a little bit too big to tackle a more niche property like Monkey Ball. What I would like to see is a series of animated shorts kinda like they did for Pikmin. Maybe it could be in the same style as the release trailer for Banana Rumble too, that'd be pretty cool!
@@PixelPursuit Also, I even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson, will he make a video of him asking illumination to make a super monkey ball movie, and he said "Yes". Another reason why because in 2019, he made a video of him finding an uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor named Brian Matt.
@@PixelPursuit and also even better in the super monkey ball movie add the monkey ball mini games scenes in the movie like add the monkey race scene, monkey fight scene, monkey target scene, and maybe the monkey dog fight scene from super monkey ball 2 like in the super mario movie they added the mario kart scene
@@PixelPursuit btw Pikmin wasn't even made by SEGA tho
@@PixelPursuiti even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson will he make a video of him asking illumination studios to make a super monkey ball movie and he said "yes". Another reason why I ask him that question because in 2019 he made a video of him traveling to different states and asking someone who was a uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor and finding a uncredited Super Monkey Ball VA name Brian Matt
Is the Adventure Mode Co-Op 60FPS?
That's actually a really good question. I think it is otherwise I'm fairly sure I would have noticed, especially with how jarring it is in the online mode. If it is 30fps in the split-screen, it's way more consistent than the online to a point where it doesn't even feel like 30fps.
So, it’s 60fps if you’re playing Online in the Adventure Mode, or if you’re playing split-screen with 2 players in Adventure Mode. The game drops to 30fps if you have 3 or more players in split-screen during Adventure Mode, or if you play Battle Mode in any capacity.
Thanks for clarifying, that's good to know. I figured that I probably would have immediately noticed if it was 30fps but I wasn't 100% sure!
we are so back
Absolutely we are :D It feels like we're entering Monkey Ball's second golden era with Banana Mania and now Rumble!
Hey
Hello!
@@PixelPursuit Also, I even ask a youtuber name Nick Robinson, will he make a video of him asking illumination to make a super monkey ball movie, and he said "Yes". Another reason why because in 2019, he made a video of him finding an uncredited Super Monkey Ball voice actor named Brian Matt.
i enjoy the updated character designs however sounds like another half baked monkey ball. exclusive, online focused, because switch is known for having best online/multiplayer, 🤣. same ol' blurred ugly hazy/fog pastel stage art from the recent games. mind boggling how lazy the music was handled. then they have the monkey balls to say "if enough people buy our cash grab we can release another cash grab"
I really like the redesigns too! I am kinda surprised that there's no unlockable classic outfits for the original cast though. Banana Mania even had the full on retro skins for them (although I guess that makes more sense with it being a remake).
As much as it is kinda half-baked because of the online stuff, the single player is the best that Monkey Ball has been since the originals which makes me highly recommend it even with its flaws.
But yeah, the whole thing they keep doing where they keep threatening the future of the series based on how well the new game performs sucks. They should really stop that.
I never play monkey Ball games befor ❤❤😂😢😮😅🤫🤩🤩🐮🍇😒 11:08
This is a great one to start with, it eases you into the more difficult levels a lot slower than some of the other games do which is great for newcomers!
Hi sir I am video editor and thumbnail maker I need work plz give me a chance I give you demo
Hello! Sorry, I'm not quite at the stage where I need an additional editor yet, but thanks for offering! Good luck with finding work!