I was totally vibin' with this and considering it a perfectly satisfying portable Monkey Ball experience (note: I have not played the original GCN games) up until the first level of the "advanced" courses completely filtered me. If it takes 5 continues to beat Level 1-1 then I simply do not care to experience the rest of those levels!
Side note: this era of gaming gives me serious "dead mall" vibes at times. For instance, the top-level menu of this game has a dedicated Facebook icon that, when selected, tells you that its functionality, whatever that used to be, is no longer supported. Had the same experience with Touch My Katamari and its "near"-powered Buddy Plaza. Feelin' like a ghost in the machine with how many Vita features just no longer work in 2024.
Side note: this era of gaming gives me serious "dead mall" vibes at times. For instance, the top-level menu of this game has a dedicated Facebook icon that, when selected, tells you that its functionality, whatever that used to be, is no longer supported. Had the same experience with Touch My Katamari and its "near"-powered Buddy Plaza. Feelin' like a ghost in the machine with how many Vita features just no longer work in 2024.
as an avid ps vita fan, what the hell is this
A far cry from the GameCube originals. Banana Splitz's level design is dull, simplistic, and uninspired. The difficulty has been watered down immensely, with most stages just requiring you to lean semi-carefully in one direction for 20 seconds.
Most of the difficulty comes from poor camera and object placement. There are many instances where it's difficult to make a calculated movement because the player's view is obstructed (e.g., the first level in expert mode). It always felt like my fault when I died in SMB 1 and 2, but that isn't the case here.
I'll never forgive SEGA for how they've mishandled this franchise.
Most of the difficulty comes from poor camera and object placement. There are many instances where it's difficult to make a calculated movement because the player's view is obstructed (e.g., the first level in expert mode). It always felt like my fault when I died in SMB 1 and 2, but that isn't the case here.
I'll never forgive SEGA for how they've mishandled this franchise.
I see why some people say this one isn't that bad but unfortunately it really does not control that well at all... it gets creativity points though, felt like it was actually trying to be a Monkey Ball game
Wonky control scheme, but some interesting levels. Nothing particularly mindblowing, but entertaining enough.
Not the best monkey ball game out there but it’s still fun! Lots of vita games I own are multi plat so it’s cool owning this one which is exclusive
Disclaimer: Didn't finish the game, only finished the Beginner and Standard levels without using a continue.
Honestly? Not a bad game at all (at least, the Monkey Ball part). The game's level design actually feels like a nice blend between the uninspired, flat stages of Super Monkey Ball 3D, and the more thoughtful, interesting stages of the Amusement Vision games.
Music is surprisingly easy to vibe to, and you can hear bits and pieces of the original Super Monkey Ball's OST being remixed in there too. The game's visuals feel like a fascinating and colorful diorama. I think "time travel" is supposed to be this game's very loose theme, but it doesn't really come through.
The party games are interesting for a grand total of 5-10 minutes, afterwards they become complete throwaway extras. The "level creator" is unfortunately extremely half-baked. You take a picture of something, shake your Vita, and it randomly generates a stage for you to play. That's it. All stages generated this way use similar, simple, cookie-cutter layouts. Even if no two stages are alike, they sure all feel alike.
However, if you're only interested in the single-player Super Monkey Ball gameplay, this game actually may hold your interest well. I'd say it's the best non-Amusement Vision monkey ball game. Shame it's eternally imprisoned on the Playstation Vita.
Honestly? Not a bad game at all (at least, the Monkey Ball part). The game's level design actually feels like a nice blend between the uninspired, flat stages of Super Monkey Ball 3D, and the more thoughtful, interesting stages of the Amusement Vision games.
Music is surprisingly easy to vibe to, and you can hear bits and pieces of the original Super Monkey Ball's OST being remixed in there too. The game's visuals feel like a fascinating and colorful diorama. I think "time travel" is supposed to be this game's very loose theme, but it doesn't really come through.
The party games are interesting for a grand total of 5-10 minutes, afterwards they become complete throwaway extras. The "level creator" is unfortunately extremely half-baked. You take a picture of something, shake your Vita, and it randomly generates a stage for you to play. That's it. All stages generated this way use similar, simple, cookie-cutter layouts. Even if no two stages are alike, they sure all feel alike.
However, if you're only interested in the single-player Super Monkey Ball gameplay, this game actually may hold your interest well. I'd say it's the best non-Amusement Vision monkey ball game. Shame it's eternally imprisoned on the Playstation Vita.
sadly this is probably the best modern monkey ball game not that it's saying a lot. physics feel okay, but with the vita's smaller and more awkward control stick it's hard to get that pinpoint precision required in the harder levels. mandatory touch controls for menuing and shit is lame and intrusive. has the same look/vibe issues I have with most modern monkey ball. level design is okay sometimes but the difficult levels don't have that same excitement to them, they feel more frustrating and poorly designed to me. idk, newer monkey ball just kinda bums me out. i was so obsessed with the first 2 games as a kid and it's sad how often they've tried and just not even come a little close to those.
The structure to this game is really weird, why is it split into 4 difficulties you have to beat individually, with the world themes being the same? Eh anyways, I did enjoy the challenge mode to this and will probably check out the other modes! It would definitely be nice to see this get a port as being locked to the PSVita is something I wish on no game at all. I imagine playing this with motion controls makes this a 1/5 game but I played with joysticks and it was enjoyable! Definitely not perfect, especially the Advanced levels but a well worth game for any Monkey Ball fan to try, if they can that is.
As a PlayStation Vita exclusive, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz launched in 2012 with the intent to make full use of all of the Vita's several touch and gyroscopic features. While this made sense given the gaming landscape at the time and the games exclusivity on the Vita, touch and motion controls are not the way to experience the Super Monkey Ball series on a handheld. The left analog stick is far superior to any motion control, regardless of console, and allows for more control over the speed and location of the ball. Furthermore, the required integration of touch controls to nearly ever menu in the game makes menu navigation a chore rather than a snappy and easy process. Overall, the touch and motion controls in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz are fine additions, but are ultimately unwarranted and make little impact when the best way to play the game is still with an analog stick.
As I have never played any other Super Monkey Ball game, I don't believe I have much to say regarding level design in this game. I have nothing to compare the levels to, so I can only say that the levels seemed fair and were a fun challenge.
Overall, I'm not sure Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz was the best way to finally give this series a try, but my time with this game was well spent and served as a great time waster on an otherwise long and boring flight.
As I have never played any other Super Monkey Ball game, I don't believe I have much to say regarding level design in this game. I have nothing to compare the levels to, so I can only say that the levels seemed fair and were a fun challenge.
Overall, I'm not sure Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz was the best way to finally give this series a try, but my time with this game was well spent and served as a great time waster on an otherwise long and boring flight.
Ah yes my favorite Monkey Ball character
Cardboard Baby
Cardboard Baby
I love Super Monkey Ball. I remember playing this back on the PS2 and having a blast being OCD about collecting every banana in every stage. The GameBoy Advance version was probably my favorite of them all, but when I found out there was one for Vita I was quite intrigued.
Sadly, the fun didn’t last long. The game, for starters, hasn’t evolved one bit with the same tiled textured levels and blurry backgrounds. While the game looks decent on Vita it looks quite boring and bland. Outside of that, the controls feel somewhat off and the gyroscope and thumbstick controls just don’t feel right. Even the D-Pad controls on Super Monkey Ball Jr. worked well on a 16-bit handheld system, what happened? When using the thumbstick the levels move around so fast and is so jumpy it was nauseating just getting through a level. On top of that, the levels may seem challenging, but they just aren’t that well designed. It almost feels as if they were randomly generated and slapped into the game. You get 60 seconds to complete each level and get higher scores by collecting all the bananas or you can be brave and find a shortcut on some levels and jump down to the goal.
On top of all this, the mini-games are bland and boring and make no sense, and then the course editor doesn’t actually let you save courses and create your own from scratch so it feels pointless. Multiplayer is fun as always, but playing by yourself should always be enjoyable. I’m not sure if I’m just burnt out on SMB’s overall design that has stayed the same for nearly 2 decades or this is just a not so great version.
Banana Splitz could have been a definitive version of the series culminating nearly 2 decades of SMB into one fantastic game or reboot the series into something different. The game is somewhat enjoyable, but it always feels like something is missing or wrong with the game. The series is really stale at this point and unless something drastically changes I won’t be rolling around Sega’s classic series again.
Sadly, the fun didn’t last long. The game, for starters, hasn’t evolved one bit with the same tiled textured levels and blurry backgrounds. While the game looks decent on Vita it looks quite boring and bland. Outside of that, the controls feel somewhat off and the gyroscope and thumbstick controls just don’t feel right. Even the D-Pad controls on Super Monkey Ball Jr. worked well on a 16-bit handheld system, what happened? When using the thumbstick the levels move around so fast and is so jumpy it was nauseating just getting through a level. On top of that, the levels may seem challenging, but they just aren’t that well designed. It almost feels as if they were randomly generated and slapped into the game. You get 60 seconds to complete each level and get higher scores by collecting all the bananas or you can be brave and find a shortcut on some levels and jump down to the goal.
On top of all this, the mini-games are bland and boring and make no sense, and then the course editor doesn’t actually let you save courses and create your own from scratch so it feels pointless. Multiplayer is fun as always, but playing by yourself should always be enjoyable. I’m not sure if I’m just burnt out on SMB’s overall design that has stayed the same for nearly 2 decades or this is just a not so great version.
Banana Splitz could have been a definitive version of the series culminating nearly 2 decades of SMB into one fantastic game or reboot the series into something different. The game is somewhat enjoyable, but it always feels like something is missing or wrong with the game. The series is really stale at this point and unless something drastically changes I won’t be rolling around Sega’s classic series again.
If you've read my reviews, you'll note that on Step n' Roll I pointed out a fatally crippling shift in level design philosophy that began there. Then it hit 3DS. Banana Splitz is that philosophy at its absolute worst, and it's no wonder the series went dormant after this complete flop.