Strangely though, the most difficult levels (for me anyway) are those with slopes and inclines that require precise movements and speed control. They’re still pretty hard, like the rest of the game. I remember these big, obtuse levels with dread, and not without reason too. Throughout the game’s roster of levels, there’s so many intricate contraptions and machines that make for elaborately designed levels, with trampolines, moving platforms and others all included. Where the rose-tinted glasses come into play for me is how the level design leads to some interesting, almost paradoxical moments. The twist is that the monkey is trapped in a ball, and you move them by titling the stage, allowing gravity to do the work for you. If you’ve never played a Super Monkey Ball game before, the premise couldn’t be simpler: you control a monkey, or in Banana Mania’s case, a monkey/hedgehog/Dragon of Dojima, as you navigate them through a platforming level. There’s very little mercy to be found here, but you can’t stop yourself from having just one more go, which quickly and often turns into an hour of beating your head against the same wall until either it breaks or you do. All those cutesy characters, vibrant worlds and mellow soundtrack betray the reality that Super Monkey Ball will chew you up and spit you out the first chance it gets. I remember being good at the game, but that clearly must have been a lie.įor as much as I love Super Monkey Ball and have fond memories of growing up with it, especially those first three games, there’s no escaping the fact that it’s a devious little bastard of a game. The rose-tinted glasses refer to my memories of Super Monkey Ball. Now, I know that’s a worrying opening sentence for a review about Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, which is ostensibly a HD re-do of the first two Super Monkey Ball games with Deluxe thrown in for good measure, but worry not: Banana Mania is a great game. Rose-tinted glasses just aren’t what they’re cracked up to be.