Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD Image
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews What's this?

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5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 25 Ratings

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  • Summary: "Hold onto your bananas, because Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is rolling your way! Experience the magic of one of the most beloved titles in the series, now remastered in HD!

    Head back into the fantastical world of Super Monkey Ball and take back your bananas from the space alien
    "Hold onto your bananas, because Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is rolling your way! Experience the magic of one of the most beloved titles in the series, now remastered in HD!

    Head back into the fantastical world of Super Monkey Ball and take back your bananas from the space alien pirate king, Captain Crabuchin. Race through over 100 colorful stages and challenge your friends and family to 10 fan-favorite Party Games! Feeling like the fastest, most maneuverable monkey around? Try out Time Attack mode or the grueling Decathlon endurance run! Will you make it onto the scoreboard?"
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 16
  2. Negative: 3 out of 16
  1. Dec 20, 2019
    90
    Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is exactly what one wants from an arcade game. It's simultaneously pithy and filled with content, fun and challenging, and energetic and thoughtful. Like the little monkey you control, Banana Blitz HD has mastered the art of balance, and it shows.
  2. Oct 29, 2019
    81
    After nearly 14 years Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz is still an entertaining piece of software despite some minor flaws.
  3. Oct 29, 2019
    70
    By straightening out some distortions of the original game and rationalizing the offer on the content front, the development team produced a version of Banana Blitz in every way better than the previous one, so much so that giving it a chance today would certainly not be wrong.
  4. Oct 30, 2019
    60
    Quotation forthcoming.
  5. Oct 29, 2019
    59
    Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is one of the most disappointing video game remasters ever. Although the core game is still a ton of fun, the amount of frustrating elements and missing content is simply unacceptable.
  6. Oct 29, 2019
    50
    Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD has a novel concept, but the incredibly fidgety camera puts a ghastly stain on the overall package.
  7. Oct 29, 2019
    40
    Unfortunately, the minigames – a selling point for the first two entries in the franchise – flop harder than a gorilla on a trampoline. Their ranks – down from 50 in the original to 10 of the “best” here – include snowboarding and a terrible version of Monkey Target, but not even considerable effort can salvage these irritating alternative activities. The package is rounded out with various Time Trial options and the minigame-powered Decathlon, but not even the addition of online leaderboards can make the title’s awful adaptation of Whack-a-Mole entertaining.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Negative: 2 out of 5
  1. Jul 30, 2021
    9
    An excellent game with challenging levels that keep you (or at least me) entertained.
  2. Nov 4, 2019
    7
    Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD
    More like Super Monkey Soap
    Bana Blitz was originally released on wii nearly 15 years ago, now its back
    Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD
    More like Super Monkey Soap
    Bana Blitz was originally released on wii nearly 15 years ago, now its back in hd without the frustrating tilt controls.
    Banana Blitz HD features 100 levels across its 8 different stages including bonus levels and boss battles, and if you have the patience to get through this campaign youll even unlock a bonus character sonic…
    Youll start by choosing your character all with different stats, and youll get to bana collecting and trying to reach the end goal, chasing scores, trying to not have to use a continue throughout the worlds levels…
    As you could imagine, super monkey ball banana blitz gets more challenging as the game progresses, however it isn’t really a steady challenge…
    infact towards the end of the game, it starts being a bit random with its difficulty and this is where the flaws of super monkey ball start coming out.
    The game starts great, you feel challenged and engaged, no matter how many times you die you feel like with a little practice, patience, or maybe a different monkey you can get through this stage.. and this is true for most of the game…
    however from world 5 onward, Banana Blitz throws in what I call a progress blocker…
    a level that feels practically impossible.. this is where skill and patience fly out the window…
    here youll be having to go across narrow beams with nothing but luck as they demand certain angles, momentum, and timing.. that again you need luck to set up and execute….
    Because when it comes down to it, super monkey ball feels less about controlling a ball with diferent speed, weight, size or bounce as the stats suggest.. and more about trying to control a slipper bar of soap in a bathtub… there is just no friction here… theres just no control, you cant hop on a narrow beam and inch forward, even if you could, you have no control over camera angles, so you have that working against you as well… you instead have to hop on with certain momentum at a certain angle or youll instantly fall off, turning this into a game of muscle memory rather than trying to roll a ball on a table of obstacles into a goal… at least in these progress blocker levels…
    Because this is the only time this flaw shows so apparently… don’t get me wrong, its there from start to finish.. but at least in the majority of this games levels, you have room to play with these slipper soap mechanics… These progress blockers bring down the overall enjoyment of the campaign, and I feel should be reserved for a challenge mode…
    Outside of campaign there are competitive score chasing and time chasing modes, as well as a handfew of party games that can be played with up to 4 players…
    These party games are pretty mediocre though, but do add a little local multiplayer side content to this game
    overall I really loved Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD
    But its not without its frustrating levels that will make you want to walk away
    I give Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD
    a 7.5/10
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  3. Nov 2, 2019
    6
    While it's certainly not the best in the Monkey Ball series, Banana Blitz is still a worthwhile entry in the franchise, despite its flaws. TheWhile it's certainly not the best in the Monkey Ball series, Banana Blitz is still a worthwhile entry in the franchise, despite its flaws. The graphics and controls have obviously been improved significantly from the original which is nice, trying to play this game with tilt controls would have been painful. Significant changes to the structure of the game have been made setting it apart from previous instalments, you now have to complete eight levels per world as well as a boss fight, and you can use as many continues as you like, no more arcade style gameplay. This makes the game feel more like a traditional platformer, the ability to jump solidifies this feeling even more. The first four worlds are very easy, and I was worried that the notorious Monkey Ball difficulty was lost, but world five onward delivered pretty challenging and highly enjoyable levels. These later levels were definitely the best parts of the game, the easy levels got kind of boring. It was only when these levels came around that the highly creative and insane level design that the series is known for went on full display, shame there couldn't have had this level of quality throughout the whole game. I also thought that the boss fights varied in quality greatly, bosses were either so easy I'd beat them on my first try or so difficult and impossibly hard to predict and read that I would have to attempt them upwards of forty times. These boss fights were generally pretty dull, they all feel very similar to one another. Half of the time I found myself being launched off the stage at warp-speed because of strange hit boxes on the boss, or attacks knocking me WAY further than the game lets on. Like the giant squid boss whose slow moving tentacles would sometimes nudge me slightly and other times would send me flying to my doom without warning. Speaking of quality, the multiplayer mini-games are genuinely awful and tacked together pieces of **** why the devs even bothered making these is beyond me, they should have brought back the classic multiplayer modes instead of this rubbish. All of the games feel cheap and boring, there is absolutely no originality to be found in this games and should be disregarded entirely if I'm being totally honest. The lack of actual co-op or versus modes in general is pretty disappointing, as my favourite parts of the original were playing the main-game with friends. But all things considered, I realise this game was intended more for kids and newcomers to the series, and if it gets more people into the originals then by all means go for it. If you've wanted to give the series a chance, maybe start with this one - just don't expect the quality you've probably heard about the series. Expand
  4. Jan 14, 2022
    4
    If you are someone who has played other games in the Monkey Ball franchise, you have probably also noticed how this specific game does notIf you are someone who has played other games in the Monkey Ball franchise, you have probably also noticed how this specific game does not live up to the expectations set by others in the franchise. I started with Monkey Ball 2 as a child and loved the game, I thought I would buy another Monkey Ball game and this is what I ended up with. The level design for the campaign isn't bad (although I didn't enjoy the boss fights very much). it's the same old same old kind of thing. The main issue I had with this game was the party games. They suck... really badly. I tried out each party game once and will never try them again. They are frustrating, simple, and not very fun to play. Monkey Ball 2 had racing, baseball, an arcade shooting game, etc. This game just had a bunch of simple boring games that had no replay value. That along with outdated mechanics made it a game not worth buying for me at least. Expand
  5. Jun 21, 2020
    1
    I truly made this account for the sole purpose of warning you not to buy this frustrating nightmare game. If you really hate yourself, though,I truly made this account for the sole purpose of warning you not to buy this frustrating nightmare game. If you really hate yourself, though, go ahead. Expand