Fun and joyous more than ever, and tries to introduce something new in series of games too similar one another. Still, it's not perfect and costs way too much.
If you are looking for a monkey ball game to rival the originals, this is the game to play. You can play with the joystick and the levels are challenging and well made. Don't play it for the minigames though, they are pretty bad.
In metascore I would give this a 90 cause this game is almost like banana blitz and this game is fun cause you can play almost anywhere you want to play it.
Gone are the wide beams and lovely safety fences around the edges of levels that we'd grown used to. They're replaced with a brand of fiendishness that'll have you tearing your hair out, punching objects and hurling your Vita across the room. Only to pick it up and have another, begrudging, go. [December 2012, p74]
Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz does exactly what you expect it to do, but nothing else. The gameplay is as addicting and challenging as it's been for years and uses the Vita's tilt-sensor. The quality of the mini-games it comes with isn't as consistent as the main game, but the good ones form the majority here. It's not a 'must have', not by a long shot. But it does expand the Vita's library by adding onto it with yet another good game.
Sega tries to go back to the original formula with cleaner and simpler gameplay. That's the right way to go, but there's still too much that just feels off in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz.
It's probably quite fitting that anyone who wants to recreate Monkey Ball's past in this way will be left a little disappointed. Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz sees Marvelous AQL and Sega attempting much the same trick and earning much the same result. This does enough to stop the rot, but it can never quite turn back the clock.
I'm a former Monkey Ball master, having completed 100% of the first two games for the Gamecube, and again on the Xbox. I was disappointed with the other handheld and Wii versions of these games, as they moved away from the hardcore tough-as-nails rewarding ball-rolling madness, and more into kiddie mini-game fests with weird controls and uninspired levels. Banana Splitz brings back the classic formula, with a regular game sure to challenge even the most seasoned Monkey Ball fans, using the same classic analog controls of old. The mini games aren't amazing, but are par for the course. Buy the game for the tough single player normal mode! Another feature I liked was the ability to generate a random level from a photo. Initially these random levels are far too easy, but if you buy a cheap downloadable upgrade, it adds some crazy variety to it that can make some of the random levels nearly impossible. Add to all this the ability to share replays and levels directly through the game itself, and you have a Monkey Ball title finally worthy of the original two.
A return to form for the series, but the hard mode takes things to far and is borderline impossible. You have to play as baby and even then I’ve never got through to the extreme difficulty. Even so this looks good and feels great, it’s the best SMB since the second GameCube game. It’s a huge plus that you can play multiplayer with one vita; passing it back and forth, but there are only a couple of modes for this. Far better than the 3ds outing: which was too easy and the 3ds analog stick just couldn’t deliver adequate control.
This game was unexpectedly good. I never was interested in the Monkey Ball series, but thanks to this one, I have more of an interest in it now. This wasn't my first one, but I wish I would've started with this one. Very fun mini games, the main game is alright, and it's just got a lot to it. If the other Monkey Ball games are this good or better (except the one on 3DS, the one I first played), then I'm pretty excited to see what they're like.
This is the game players wanted but didn't add anything new but it does still do good. And, it's a good improvement over Step and Roll. Overall, it's a fun game but doesn't keep the series on a good and original road.
Some of the most infuriating level design in the history of the medium, using a lives system that should have died with the NES (and it did with the second game in this series, for the record). Even after cheating to get unlimited lives, the game often feels intentionally malicious towards the player and, when not, tedious as all hell (and level gimmicks are lazily re-used often). Levels often have less to do with skill and more to do with sheer patience and luck. This is especially true of the levels that incorporate the previous background objects. Many of them were simply not designed to be interacted with, but are for some reason being used anyway (the dinosaurs and trains being particularly bad examples). The Vita's control stick often is ill-suited for the game's levels, especially later on, since it lacks the control needed for small adjustment (it's usually all or nothing) and can be difficult to get angles specific. I fail understand why they thought a console with controls like this needed the hardest (and most obnoxious) SMB game ever made, but it was the incorrect decision.
I'd started playing this game looking forward to a return to form for the series. Instead, I'm just mad now. It's not worth your time or energy,
SummaryThe puzzling primates return with all-new worlds, original mini-games and updated graphics adding a fresh new vibrancy to Super Monkey Ball for PlayStation Vita. Players can manage each monkey's momentum to navigate narrow ledges, moving platforms and loads of challenging obstacles. Roll your chosen ape to the goal by taking full advanta...