Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD

 Switch
Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 23
  3. Negative: 2 out of 23
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  1. Nintendo Insider
    Nov 11, 2019
    40
    Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is a substandard remaster of a game that quite frankly didn’t need it in the first place. The disappointing level design, frustrating boss battles and shallow party games are a sore reminder of just how much this series has fallen since the glory days of the GameCube pair. I want the series back just as much as any fan, but not like this.
  2. Vooks
    Oct 29, 2019
    40
    I wanted to love Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD so much, but ultimately, I walked away with a bitter taste in my mouth. The Super Monkey Ball franchise is one that deserves to thrive again, and it’s sad to say that I think today isn’t the day that happens.
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  1. Eurogamer
    Oct 29, 2019
    The motion controls of the Wii original are stripped out for this remaster, leaving an entertaining if not quite excellent outing.

Awards & Rankings

93
#93 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019

User Reviews

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User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 42 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 42
  3. Negative: 18 out of 42
  1. PlatWarpstar
    Nov 7, 2019
    7
    Well, This definitely isn't the Super Monkey Ball game that most people wanted, the original game was received... positively... when it wasWell, This definitely isn't the Super Monkey Ball game that most people wanted, the original game was received... positively... when it was first released, but now people are quite mixed on the game due to its mandatory motion controls, horrible boss fights, and mediocre Party Games. But I think the reason why SEGA decided to remake Banana Blitz of all games is because it ended up being the best-selling Super Monkey Ball game to date, so they see it as high praise for the game.

    So here we are, SEGA is trying to revive the Super Monkey Ball series with a remake of Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, now titled Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD, released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and soon to be Steam on the PC. So... with a remake of a mixed bag of a game... is Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD a bad game? No, not at all, but it sure doesn't live up to the excellence of the original 2 games on GameCube, as well as Deluxe for Xbox and PlayStation 2.

    There are a total of 100 stages to play through, and that is including the 10 bonus stages and 8 boss fights. The main thing they did regarding to the remake is that they ditched the motion controls entirely. You can use full analog control to blast your way through the 100 stages, now with gorgeous graphics, the original Wii game looked good for a Wii launch title, but now it looks especially good on the 8th gen consoles, even the Switch version (which is the version I played) looks pretty great.

    The problem with a remake of this Wii game is that the original game was designed with motion controls in mind, so when adding full analog controls on the player now, it controls great, but it makes the game incredibly easy when starting out. You should be able to breeze through worlds 1-4. The level design isn't very creative in the first few worlds of the game, so it's not as fun either, it's just a bit of a slog to get through. But I think world 5 is a bit better, and worlds 6-10 are where the game really shines. A decent chunk of the levels in Banana Blitz HD I found to be really fun. The ladder half of the game gets really challenging, but it's MOSTLY fair in its difficulty. I say mostly fair, because I won't spoil the stage itself, but World 10-5 is the hardest stage in the entire series and it is unforgiving, it isn't fair, very cheap, and it really should've been cut from the game.

    The boss fights still suck, they did try buffing and nerfing some of them, but all of them (except for Boss 4, I like the concept of that one) are really bad. Monkey Ball really isn't a series meant for engaging boss battles. Stage hazards are as far as I'd go in terms of enemy encounters.

    They cut 40 of the 50 Party Games from the original Banana Blitz to "enhance" the 10 most memorable ones in SEGA's mind. Problem is that a) that's subjective, and b) they didn't enhance them entirely too much, Monkey Target now has extra targets around the stage, Monkey Snowboarding has extra bananas for boosting along with jumping perfectly off a red jump ramp will give you a boost. Not much was changed from all of them except for the simpler controls. Kinda unfortunate, personally I miss Monkey Race and Monkey Bowling, those would've been great to add back in.

    2 new modes were included with the remake too, Time Attack and Decathlon. Time Attack actually somewhat reminded me of the Classic Monkey Ball Modes, you play through a Casual, Standard, or Expert Course, I'll sum each up for you:
    Casual: World 1
    Standard: Worlds 1-5
    Expert Worlds 1-10
    You can only beat them in one set of lives, so you have to be fast but careful, and I really enjoyed it! After finishing a run, you can post them to the Online Rankings to see where you are on the leaderboard, this honestly gives me a reason to replay the game to see if I can get the best time!

    Decathlon is going through all 10 Party games in one sitting, and adding up your total score from all 10 games to get an overall score. You can upload these overall scores to the Online Rankings as well to give you a reason to replay them to get good at them, not my cup of tea personally, since I don't like most of the Party games in the remake, but great for those that do and don't have friends to currently play with.

    There are unlockables for the Main Game, but I'm not going to spoil them for you, I'll let you get them on your own.

    Banana Blitz HD is okay, it's super unfortunate that we couldn't get remakes of the original 2 games, but judging this game critically, it's not a bad game, I wouldn't recommend buying it at $40, but it's a fun game nonetheless, and I do think it's worth checking out on discount, but if you do, keep in mind that this is not what made the franchise special in the first place, I hate saying proceed with caution, but there may be things you like and dislike about this one.    … Full Review »
  2. Chrislee1982
    Nov 1, 2019
    0
    Super disappointing. Game cube version, how I miss thee. No monkey punch, monkey target is a joke (you can't gain altitude by gaining speedSuper disappointing. Game cube version, how I miss thee. No monkey punch, monkey target is a joke (you can't gain altitude by gaining speed and pulling back. Pulling back only slows you down. You're consistently dropping out of the sky regardless of your speed) and the rest of the game just feels so lazy. Soooooo wish they would just reissue the original game cube version on switch. Super disappointed. Wish I hadn't gotten my hopes up or wasted 40 bucks. Booooo.… Full Review »
  3. CrimKat
    Dec 1, 2019
    0
    One of the worst excuses of a "remaster" I've ever seen. They made it pretty, gave it a fresh UI, but changed nothing about the game that madeOne of the worst excuses of a "remaster" I've ever seen. They made it pretty, gave it a fresh UI, but changed nothing about the game that made it so poorly received in the first place. The bosses are still garbage. The levels are still dull. The sad thing is that SEGA will see these reviews and trash the SMB series all together. Why they didnt remaster SMB2, the perfect SMB game, is beyond comprehension.....… Full Review »
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