Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz

by Sega

Product Features

• 1-4 Player
• 50 Party Games
• Puzzle levels lead to bosses waiting to meet their match!
• Boss Levels: After completing puzzle levels the game heats up with some serious boss battles. Each of the bosses will challenge you to find their weakness to defeat them.
• Monkey Jump: For the first time in the Super Monkey Ball universe AiAi and his friends will be able to jump using an upward flick motion with the Wii Remote.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GHLBUA
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: June 4, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,429 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #52 in Video Games > Wii > Adventure
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com

Super Monkey Ball fanatics rejoice!

AiAi and all his friends have rolled their way onto Nintendo's new console with new mind-blowing puzzle levels and a wealth of new and exciting Party Games specifically designed to fully exploit the innovative Nintendo Wii controller. Other titles will have a difficult time matching the multitude of possible variations in game control as presented in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz.

The Wii launches with one of the most popular Sega franchises!

Colorful new levels allow for jumping with the Wii remote. View larger.

Party Games can be played alone or with friends. View larger.

Collect bananas to unlock game modes and new levels. View larger.

In Party Games, use the Wii remote in new and exciting ways. View larger.

Revolutionary control

You've never played Super Monkey Ball like this before! Tilt, twist, roll, and jump all with the revolutionary Wii controller. The Wii's remote sensor picks up your every move as you slip and slide through colorful environments with the same tricky gameplay moves and colorful environments you know and love from the Monkey Ball series.

The single-player puzzle levels in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz have been innovatively designed to challenge gamers' skills like never before. For the first time in Super Monkey Ball, AiAi and his friends will have the ability to jump when players flick the Nintendo Revolution controller in an upward motion. The ability to jump has given game designers another dimension in which to expand the Super Monkey Ball gameplay experience and allows gamers a whole new way to interact with the franchise; this time in true three-dimensional fashion. Unlockable multiplayer games support one to four players and offer stiff competition. Think you've mastered the Wii controller? Put your money where your mouth is as you take on three friends in various match-based games of skill and familiar sports favorites.

Many many mini-games

The Party Games, for which the Super Monkey Ball franchise is famous, return with more variety than ever and over 50 total. As an added bonus, all of the Party Games are unlocked the first time you spin up the game in your Wii. An abundance of new Party Games have been creatively designed to take advantage of the Revolution controller in a multitude of ways. Gamers will find themselves competing in a traditional game of ring toss, fighting aliens in space with "Alien Attack," or even smacking pesky moles in a game of "Whack-a-Mole." With each mini-game, players use the Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz's large library of Party Games is sure to inspire friendly competition anytime.

New characters roll onto the scene

AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon, and Baby will be joined by new characters YanYan; a young, vivacious female monkey and Doctor; an older monkey with a past steeped in mystery due to his acute case of amnesia. The addition of YanYan and Doctor also marks another first for the Super Monkey Ball franchise, differing skill-set levels for each character. Each character will have strengths and weaknesses in categories such as acceleration, speed, and jumping ability. Even the size of the monkey ball and its weight will play a role in a character's performance in the game.

Doctor is a mysterious old that drifted down to Monkey Island from an unknown origin. He suffers from amnesia and doesn't even remember his own name. However, he is a well-liked, smart inventor, and everyone in town knows him as Doctor. Doctor has the highest acceleration out of the whole gang, but it's probably aided by some sort of contraption he invented. Being a bit on the old side his jumping skills aren't what they used to be as well, but he is still a good monkey to play with.

YanYan is a young girl that recently moved close to AiAi's neighborhood. She is a fearless girl, a master of the mightiest Monkey martial art of pugilism, Hachi-en-Ken. She might have fallen in love with AiAi and sometimes becomes very shy around him. YanYan is the highest jumper of the entire group. Her vivatious energy allows her to reach heights that are unusual for her size. If you like to jump, YanYan is the monkey to choose.

Product Description

AiAi and all his friends have rolled their way onto Nintendo's new console with new mind-blowing puzzle levels and a wealth of new and exciting Party Games specifically designed to fully exploit the innovative Nintendo Wii controller. Other titles will have a difficult time matching the multitude of possible variations in game control as presented in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun but a Mite Tricky for Tykes, December 17, 2006

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz (Video Game)

The problem with games like Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz is that you have rabid fans of the series - some who love them no matter what, and others who hate any slight change, no matter how small.

That means that no matter how well or poorly the Wii version was, those who loved the game on previous platforms will either hate it for changing - or love it because it has the same theme.

Let me first say that I love the Super Monkey Ball series in general. I grew up playing the actual marble game - Labyrinth - that this is based on. In the Monkey Ball games, there is a marble (holding a monkey) that rolls around on a surface. You tilt that surface via the controls, to move the marble. Your aim is to gather up bananas, avoid obstacles, stay on course and reach the goal. There are both the main game path, which involves trickier and trickier courses to navigate, as well as mini-games.

With the Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz version for the Wii, you get an entirely new level of interactivity. In essence it's becoming more "real". In previous versions you pressed buttons to tilt the board - but now you are actually *tilting* the controller. You're in essence playing with a real board, with a real marble. You tilt your controller forward, the marble rolls forward. It is incredibly intuitive.

For some people, like me, this is great. It's no longer a button press "translating" into motion. Your hand is causing the motion. I can hand the controller to anybody that comes into my house, show them the game, and they get it immediately. It's physics, it's beautiful.

While this is great, it also means that it gets challenging for really little kids. They don't have great hand-eye coordination yet. While they might be OK with button pressing, they aren't wonderful at holding a controller steady to guide a marble along a path. They probably aren't playing professional soccer either. I'm not saying this is "bad" - but I'm saying it's something you have to accept. The challenge level of this game is fine for kids in the intro levels, but the later levels are meant to challenge talented gamers. Little kids might feel stumped here. They can always replay those earlier levels to try to get all the points there, and practice their skills until their bodies catch up.

In addition to the main gameplay path, there are 50 mini-games. This is of course a huge number, but as with any new release, some are upset that their previous favorites are altered. That's going to be true with any new game. I have to agree that some mini-games here aren't my favorites. I specifically don't like the games like the "harpoon" games that make me "thrust" my spear into fish. I don't find that thrusting motion with the Wii to be very accurate. On the other hand, I love some of the other games. That's why they give you 50 of them - you'll like some, dislike others. I'm sure other people love the fish game and hate some of my favorites. If you're fond of some of the previous GameCube mini-games, heck, stick the GameCube game into the Wii to play them. The Wii takes the older discs, after all.

In general the graphics are quite nice, bright and colorful. The music also strikes the right note of fun and casual gameplay. The real beauty of this series - and the Wii controllers - is that you can get anybody to walk into your house and within minutes they grasp what is going on and play along. You can't say that for most XBox 360 or PS3 titles, or even for several other of the Wii games we own. I really do give Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz great kudos for what they have here. If I had any complaint, it's that they might have wanted to add a "super easy" mode so that little kids could play through the entire game even if they lacked coordination. This is one of those super-kid-friendly games and while it could allow adults to cheat, I think the benefit to little tykes to "get through the game" and be happy would be worth it.

59 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST Wii EXPERIENCE SO FAR!!, November 29, 2006

By 

A.C.E. (Seattle) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz (Video Game)

Man, I never write reviews, but this game is just too cool. Especially once I saw that people were dissing it, I had to throw my two cents in. I don't understand how someone could say something negative (or even neutral) about this game! It is so much fun! Yes, a few of the mini-games (like Trombone) are awesome in theory, but don't really work in practice. But there are FIFTY of them!! AND - they are all UNLOCKED from the get go! That is SO awesome! Some of the games require you to get really into it as well. I love that! One of the mini-games has you flying like a bird through rings, and I couldn't get the controls to work right until I started flapping my arms like a bird. Yes, FLAPPING MY FREAKING ARMS LIKE A BIRD!! I'm a 30 year old man with two kids and a hot wife and I own businesses and I'm flapping two controllers like a bird in my living room. NINTENDO Wii IS THE GREATEST THING EVER!!
***A WORD TO THE CURIOUS***
Almost all of the negativity I've heard about the Wii and/or its games comes from hardcore gamers. They are used to pushing buttons to hit a homerun, and getting their thumbs to do everything. But with Wii (and Super Monkey Ball and its mini-games), if you want a better backhand, you've got to practice your backhand! My videogame-illiterate wife picked up this game and is just having a blast with it! It is very intuitive, especially to those that have little experiences to marr their Wii adventures. New wine fits better in new bottles, to paraphrase a biblical passage.
Also, I should point out that the regular Monkey Ball game is better than ever, too. It takes a second to adapt if you're familiar with the old games, but using the Wii controller is so much more fun. Also, you can jump now! In closing, my favorite mini-game is a racing game in which you turn your Wii controller sideways and drive it like a steering wheel!! It really changes the whole game experience. Once everybody gets used to this way of gaming, Xbox and Playstation don't stand a chance. Who cares if the graphics are great if you still hit a button with your thumb to swing your sword? And this game is the best game to experience Wii that I've played (which I realize only includes Zelda and Wii Sports, but still). If you have doubts, rent it first. But don't listen to the skeptics - you'll love it once you get a taste. Trust me. I usually sell games a week after buying them, but this one isn't for sale.

47 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A little disappointed, November 25, 2006

By 

Jack (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz (Video Game)

I was a little disappointed with Super Monkey Ball. It has a main game, and 50 mini-games. The main game is quite fast paced and fun, however, it is a little too simplistic to justify the cost of a full game. Supposedly the 50 mini-games should make up for it. However, these mini-games are so difficult to control to be any fun. After playing Wii Sports, I just cannot get used to the awkward gaming experience Super Monkey Ball has to offer.