Super Monkey Ball is a very dear series to me, I've played a lot of SMB 1 & 2 as a child back in the GameCube days, and for some reason I never got to play Banana Blitz on the Wii, and I am hyped for Banana Mania, saw this on sale and decided to give it a try, and well this game is just... frustrating. As the first game in the series to add the jump ability, I don't think this helps at all in the design of the stages, and it's weird cause I tought the game is good up until world 4, then the rest is just hell, the bosses are not fun either. But one thing I liked is that you can strategize because characters have different stats, the stage has thin platforms? Choose Baby and you'll have an easier time, GonGon bigger size and weight helps not falling for certain platforms and so on. I also didn't like finding out they replaced the soundtrack with a new one in this HD version, even if the new one isn't exactly bad I'd like the original experience. The game has character skins that you unlock just by playing normally and I appreciated this very much, but in conclusion, most of the stages are not fun and the designed with just thin platforms for you to fall off and the physics are very bumpy, making it extremely frustrating. If you want to play a Monkey Ball game, just wait for Banana Mania and I'm sure you'll have a better time;