This was a cathartic watch lol, all fantastic points 🙏 It's bizarre how averse Sega is to the original two games, despite those being well-regarded and popular classics 20+ years later. I've waited my entire life for a follow-up to those titles, and I'll probably continue waiting for the rest of my life at this point.
Unpopular opinion: Banana Rumble’s battle mode is some of the most fun I’ve had with the series in a long time. Figuring out the best strats for each game mode is super fun, and I wish more people were online besides maybe one or two other people. Tails gang ftw
I'm very much a casual fan, so the lack of a challenge mode doesn't bother me, but I totally get it. There’s no reason for them to not include it. I haven't played it yet, but I will at some point, and I'll probably like it.
the monkey ball franchise is like pikmin if it got 10 games during the time from pikmin 2 to 3. but they were universally concerted worse then 1 2 or 3 and nintendo decides to follow in the steps of those games instead of the 1and 2 during the wii u /switch era
i kind of assumed that they changed the monkey ball characters to attempt to pander to a japanese audience, though their clothes only really exist to justify cosmetics. i honestly never felt a similar vibe with the 16-player mode anymore than Mario Party Jamboree's 20player party mode. like the original monkey ball game was an arcade game and floated on by, but as soon as it got onto the gamecube, it gave an absolutely-massive boost in interest. like the difficulty is a massive thing, but the premise of monkeys running in balls in floating worlds just has that aesthetic. again, it's kind of weird that they started to add non-monkey characters to the series. again, almost seems like they're just shaping up to use the character's species as a form of customization, if that means anything? with a Caracal, Sheep and a Lion. i think they're just trying to change the franchise to be more approachable than it actually is; both from gameplay and aesthetics. collaborations also has a bit of strangeness, it took them less than a year before they crammed in Dole items, and Sonic Superstars had LEGO and IHOP collabs for some reason. SEGA scared and wants to secure some guaranteed paybacks somehow. 🤷♂ ...it kind of also feels like Chocobo GP, though that game arguably could've started off as a mobile game before they attempted to scale it up slightly.
As a casual SMB fan I'm sorry but I find this fanbase really confusing, I really don't understand what so exceptionnal in the first two games than the recent entries didn't achieved (or, imo, surpassed). But you do you I guess
as someone who grew up with all the monkey ball games I think the second one is one of the most undeserving recipients of "best game ever"-dom. people laud it because its easier and more sanded down than the first's brutal arcade difficulty. flat floors. forgiving rooms. buttons everywhere to trivialize stages or to run down the timer in an arcade game. it really isn't any different philosophy wise to a ""bad game"" like banana blitz going hard on guard rails in many early stages. i love the first one and I really liked banana rumble, and I think most monkey ball fans will simply have to die miserable.
Monkey Ball fans are like Sonic Fandom’s cousin they don’t actually like their games they just like to bitch about them, I find the first super monkey ball game overrated while 2 has a cool story the later stages is where the game stops being fun
as a recent monkey ball speedrunner (and longtime monkey ball fan since 1), this game is absolutely the most fun i've had with the monkey ball franchise since 2. with every character having different stats, it adds so much replay value. plus the spindash makes for so many satisfying skips its nuts. been having an absolute blast trying to 100% banana rumble. Also don't get me wrong, i'm not opposed to them bringing back the arcade style gameplay, i'd love for them to possibly consider adding it in some future update. the thing monkey ball needs most right now in my opinion is just to give the player more options of play (whether it be arcade style or casual style) (P.S. this was a fun watch, absolutely sub worthy, good luck on 10k my guy :] )
I hope the arcade-style game isn't dead. I still play old Sega arcade classics to this day. It's a shame Sega doesn't seem to value their arcade innovations as much as the fans do.
I've been a HUGE SMB fan for years, I have nearly all the games and have 100% in the first two, and although nothing beats the originals, I actually quite enjoy Banana Rumble. It could definitely use some new levels, tweaking to add more mini games to the online selection, etc etc, but I've been playing it nearly weekly just for the sole purpose that it's fun. I think that the mashup of old and new is a good combo (other than some reused sega models but we can skip past that) for new players, and effects like moving the camera separate to your ball really makes a difference. The lack of mini games and poor online connection are really my biggest criticisms, but otherwise its a solid 7.5/10 in my book. Great video and analysis, you never see much Monkey Ball content these days. I'll be sure to watch more, I loved it!
The fact that you say you do the levels once then move on makes it seem like you refused to engage with the game on it's own terms. The game clearly wants you to replay the stages to do all the challenges. It's not the same as Monkey Ball 1 and 2's way of handling replayability, but that doesn't make it automatically bad. I'd like an old school Challenge mode sure, but on it's own terms the game is really solid. I'd rather play most of the stages in this game than SMB2's story mode any day.
Man, your nostalgia is really messing with you. I have different opinions than you on most things, which I can respect... but saying "these designs are worse than the originals"-it's hard for me to believe you actually think that xD
"super monkey balls last chance" and the game is selling and being recieved incredibly well by everyone who isnt stuck in 2001, move on already and stop glazing the first 2 games.
I do have a genuine question : did you try to complete each series of secondary objectives for the levels? I do think it's the main replay value of the story mode. I did gave up at around world 8 myself (I'm not a good monkey ball player to be honest), and didn't manage to finish all levels from these last few worlds, but having to try 10, 20 or even 100 times the same level to finish the speed or banana challenge is enough content for me without having to do all these levels with limited lives. Sure, it's sad for arcade loving folks like you, but I would argue it's a decent compromise.
I did in Banana Mania and did not get too much enjoyment out of it. Admittedly I did not try it too much in Rumble though, so if there is a major difference I’m not sure.
@@JeffCompass Speaking as someone who did try them, it's really not too different from the stage missions in Banana Mania. Managing your Spin Dash charge is at least marginally more interesting for the speed challenge, but that's about it. Honestly, if anything, the character stats make this worse too, since if you don't pick Baby, some of the speed missions and, shockingly, even some special banana missions are seemingly impossible.
I do personally like the more Super Meat Boy like approach to levels. You still need to learn how to perfect them to do the 3 optional objectives. I'm not a good monkey ball player, I don't think I ever finished normal in the first game (did finish the DS one thought). There's still the speed run mode with all of the levels in a row for more expert players, but at least all levels can be accessible (and made even harder) through this choice. I do agree for the lackluster story thought, it's a shame, I do think it could have some potential... With proper gameplay elements linked to the story (proper boss levels, like races with the other thief gang, or proper battles... You know, like the multi-player mode they added...)
No Monkey Ball game without Challenge Mode & Turn Based Multiplayer will match the Original 2 games.. Where’s the party style gameplay gone what made them classics
I grew up with the first game it was such a amazing game even tough i got it for the sonic heroes bundled with it but surprised with this games too bad the new ones took out all the great parts of the first games i do love the redesign but wish they did the phisics right and the gameplay and mini games
It's either about aiming Monkey Ball at little kids or girls. I hate to sound sexist like that, but that's Sega of Japan, not me. That's the reason it went in that cutesy wootsy direction. They think they won't get sales from hardcore fans.
I actually think both games have some similiarities with feeling “corporate”. But it doesn’t really bother me with Pikmin since the game 95% still feels like a Pikmin game at its core.
Pikmin 4 might notl be to your tastes specifically but it’s a great Pikmin game, I would prefer them to take big swings like Pikmin 4 than incremental update style games like Pikmin 3 every ten years. I say that as Pikmin 3 is probably tied for first as my favorite in the series, but objectively I think Pikmin 4 is just a better game in terms of pacing, level variety, structure, design, etc. the one issue I think I really had with Pikmin 4 was that it’s too easy but that was a problem with Pikmin 3 as well, people forget but Pikmin 3 is honestly even easier and more forgiving than 4 unless you play on ultra spicy mode which was added for Deluxe. I wish Pikmin 4 included a harder difficulty option at launch or at least hoped they’d add it in an update or dlc but unfortunately that never came. I will concede that the game should’ve given more reasons to not ride oatchi everywhere because a lot of players definitely played that way and that led to less of the management / control aspect of prior Pikmin games but eventually once you unlocked oatchi’s abilities to function similar to the characters in Pikmin 3 (full control, commands using the map, etc) then I really didn’t find myself riding oatchi that often because it was just more efficient to use oatchi to be in two places at once or round up stray Pikmin. The level design in Pikmin 4 and pacing are just kind of on a different level, especially going back to 2 and 3 recently, where 3 introduces flying Pikmin which essentially break the game then the game just sort of ends right after that. I think giving you high utility Pikmin like flying/ice Pikmin pretty early on in 4 but not giving you their onions (until much later) was a great move to avoid the issue that 3 and 2 both had with their respective broken Pikmin. Pikmin 4 definitely still has broken Pikmin but they give you the onions to them in the post-game or in the case of the flying Pikmin, on the last level in the main story, so you value them a lot more when you come across them in the main story. That’s just one of so many improvements they made in 4, I really think it would be perfect if they added a hard mode and if they added any other incentives to not ride oatchi constantly in the early hours of the game Pikmin 4 is a great Pikmin game; it’s okay to not like something but saying it’s not a Pikmin game because it doesn’t gel with you is just weird gatekeepy language imo especially since it really isn’t that big of a change in the grand scheme of things, the change in camera and oatchi are the biggest changes and you can still play top down or not ride oatchi around and I often found myself playing it like Pikmin 3 in a way. Imagine if I just said Pikmin 2 is “a good game just not a good Pikmin game” because I don’t like the randomly generated dungeons, that would be silly, let developers try new things and let people enjoy shit without trying to make them feel like they’re not in some exclusive club of people who play “real” Pikmin games.
I dont have any recording proof cuz I was a preteen&at my cousin house playing 1 of the monkey ball it was on the play station 2 is all I can remember but I got stuck&broke the game someHOW but I think thats my little niche (I think thats how u spell it) :3 basilcally wat Im saying is Im a content creator that somehow will find away how to either find a bug or break a game I have a couple of clips on twitch/RUclips on it xd after I got stuck I try rebooting the game on the ps2 UM I was stuck forevr idk if my cousin EVER fixed it but xd ya (also I just found ur channle today
A game that does a good job of bridging the new and classic is touch and roll. A frutiger metro style and cute/charming low poly visuals that are unnecessarily detailed for what i think is an early ds game. Levels that remix 1&2 and great stand alone levels of a similar quality. Best of all its not ultra expensive if you want a "new" copy get it for your ds while you can.
This was a cathartic watch lol, all fantastic points 🙏 It's bizarre how averse Sega is to the original two games, despite those being well-regarded and popular classics 20+ years later. I've waited my entire life for a follow-up to those titles, and I'll probably continue waiting for the rest of my life at this point.
Nagoshi made the first two games. He's no longer with the company.
Unpopular opinion: Banana Rumble’s battle mode is some of the most fun I’ve had with the series in a long time. Figuring out the best strats for each game mode is super fun, and I wish more people were online besides maybe one or two other people. Tails gang ftw
monkey ball is like fzero. old franchises that require absurd skill that modern companies are terrified to follow what's needed bare minimum.
I'm very much a casual fan, so the lack of a challenge mode doesn't bother me, but I totally get it. There’s no reason for them to not include it. I haven't played it yet, but I will at some point, and I'll probably like it.
There is a Challenge mode you gotta finish story mode to unlock it
the monkey ball franchise is like pikmin if it got 10 games during the time from pikmin 2 to 3. but they were universally concerted worse then 1 2 or 3 and nintendo decides to follow in the steps of those games instead of the 1and 2 during the wii u /switch era
i kind of assumed that they changed the monkey ball characters to attempt to pander to a japanese audience, though their clothes only really exist to justify cosmetics. i honestly never felt a similar vibe with the 16-player mode anymore than Mario Party Jamboree's 20player party mode. like the original monkey ball game was an arcade game and floated on by, but as soon as it got onto the gamecube, it gave an absolutely-massive boost in interest. like the difficulty is a massive thing, but the premise of monkeys running in balls in floating worlds just has that aesthetic.
again, it's kind of weird that they started to add non-monkey characters to the series. again, almost seems like they're just shaping up to use the character's species as a form of customization, if that means anything? with a Caracal, Sheep and a Lion. i think they're just trying to change the franchise to be more approachable than it actually is; both from gameplay and aesthetics. collaborations also has a bit of strangeness, it took them less than a year before they crammed in Dole items, and Sonic Superstars had LEGO and IHOP collabs for some reason. SEGA scared and wants to secure some guaranteed paybacks somehow. 🤷♂
...it kind of also feels like Chocobo GP, though that game arguably could've started off as a mobile game before they attempted to scale it up slightly.
monkey ball fans really hate bananna rumble.
Tbh they hate any game that isn’t 1 or 2 😂
@@RyanRhino Didn’t Banana Rumble get positive reception though?
As a casual SMB fan I'm sorry but I find this fanbase really confusing, I really don't understand what so exceptionnal in the first two games than the recent entries didn't achieved (or, imo, surpassed). But you do you I guess
as someone who grew up with all the monkey ball games I think the second one is one of the most undeserving recipients of "best game ever"-dom. people laud it because its easier and more sanded down than the first's brutal arcade difficulty. flat floors. forgiving rooms. buttons everywhere to trivialize stages or to run down the timer in an arcade game. it really isn't any different philosophy wise to a ""bad game"" like banana blitz going hard on guard rails in many early stages. i love the first one and I really liked banana rumble, and I think most monkey ball fans will simply have to die miserable.
Also what i mostly feel
Only thing i agree with them is the physics. The original duology did have a lot better physics
Monkey Ball fans are like Sonic Fandom’s cousin they don’t actually like their games they just like to bitch about them, I find the first super monkey ball game overrated while 2 has a cool story the later stages is where the game stops being fun
as a recent monkey ball speedrunner (and longtime monkey ball fan since 1), this game is absolutely the most fun i've had with the monkey ball franchise since 2. with every character having different stats, it adds so much replay value. plus the spindash makes for so many satisfying skips its nuts. been having an absolute blast trying to 100% banana rumble. Also don't get me wrong, i'm not opposed to them bringing back the arcade style gameplay, i'd love for them to possibly consider adding it in some future update. the thing monkey ball needs most right now in my opinion is just to give the player more options of play (whether it be arcade style or casual style) (P.S. this was a fun watch, absolutely sub worthy, good luck on 10k my guy :] )
I hope the arcade-style game isn't dead. I still play old Sega arcade classics to this day. It's a shame Sega doesn't seem to value their arcade innovations as much as the fans do.
I've been a HUGE SMB fan for years, I have nearly all the games and have 100% in the first two, and although nothing beats the originals, I actually quite enjoy Banana Rumble. It could definitely use some new levels, tweaking to add more mini games to the online selection, etc etc, but I've been playing it nearly weekly just for the sole purpose that it's fun. I think that the mashup of old and new is a good combo (other than some reused sega models but we can skip past that) for new players, and effects like moving the camera separate to your ball really makes a difference. The lack of mini games and poor online connection are really my biggest criticisms, but otherwise its a solid 7.5/10 in my book. Great video and analysis, you never see much Monkey Ball content these days. I'll be sure to watch more, I loved it!
Thank you!!!
The fact that you say you do the levels once then move on makes it seem like you refused to engage with the game on it's own terms. The game clearly wants you to replay the stages to do all the challenges. It's not the same as Monkey Ball 1 and 2's way of handling replayability, but that doesn't make it automatically bad. I'd like an old school Challenge mode sure, but on it's own terms the game is really solid. I'd rather play most of the stages in this game than SMB2's story mode any day.
Man, your nostalgia is really messing with you. I have different opinions than you on most things, which I can respect... but saying "these designs are worse than the originals"-it's hard for me to believe you actually think that xD
"super monkey balls last chance" and the game is selling and being recieved incredibly well by everyone who isnt stuck in 2001, move on already and stop glazing the first 2 games.
It did give us the Jonii MeeMee fancam though.
Holy moly this video's so sub worthy don't you all agree I mean look how close he is to 10k that helps too just saying....
👀
Great job on the video Jeff! Cant wait to see you hit 10K soon!
Thank you :)
I do have a genuine question : did you try to complete each series of secondary objectives for the levels?
I do think it's the main replay value of the story mode. I did gave up at around world 8 myself (I'm not a good monkey ball player to be honest), and didn't manage to finish all levels from these last few worlds, but having to try 10, 20 or even 100 times the same level to finish the speed or banana challenge is enough content for me without having to do all these levels with limited lives.
Sure, it's sad for arcade loving folks like you, but I would argue it's a decent compromise.
I did in Banana Mania and did not get too much enjoyment out of it. Admittedly I did not try it too much in Rumble though, so if there is a major difference I’m not sure.
@@JeffCompass Speaking as someone who did try them, it's really not too different from the stage missions in Banana Mania. Managing your Spin Dash charge is at least marginally more interesting for the speed challenge, but that's about it.
Honestly, if anything, the character stats make this worse too, since if you don't pick Baby, some of the speed missions and, shockingly, even some special banana missions are seemingly impossible.
@@JeffCompass maybe if you engaged with what the game offers instead of marking the game down for what its not youd enjoy it more
I do personally like the more Super Meat Boy like approach to levels. You still need to learn how to perfect them to do the 3 optional objectives.
I'm not a good monkey ball player, I don't think I ever finished normal in the first game (did finish the DS one thought).
There's still the speed run mode with all of the levels in a row for more expert players, but at least all levels can be accessible (and made even harder) through this choice.
I do agree for the lackluster story thought, it's a shame, I do think it could have some potential... With proper gameplay elements linked to the story (proper boss levels, like races with the other thief gang, or proper battles... You know, like the multi-player mode they added...)
No Monkey Ball game without Challenge Mode & Turn Based Multiplayer will match the Original 2 games.. Where’s the party style gameplay gone what made them classics
I grew up with the first game it was such a amazing game even tough i got it for the sonic heroes bundled with it but surprised with this games too bad the new ones took out all the great parts of the first games i do love the redesign but wish they did the phisics right and the gameplay and mini games
Oh nvm you did thank u bro I love you
It's either about aiming Monkey Ball at little kids or girls. I hate to sound sexist like that, but that's Sega of Japan, not me. That's the reason it went in that cutesy wootsy direction. They think they won't get sales from hardcore fans.
Zelda Echoes of Wisdom has the same problems. It's too casual, too slow, too bland, and too cutesy wootsy. It's too easy.
Sega half assed the Panzer Dragon and House of The Dead remakes too.
Sega didn't make those remakes. They gave the license to Forever Entertainment to make them.
“I don’t actually think this game is bad. It’s just a bad monkey ball game” that’s how I feel about Pikmin 4 in a nutshell
@@theghostwiththemost789 Yeah, Pikmin 4 is not a good Monkey ball game...
I actually think both games have some similiarities with feeling “corporate”. But it doesn’t really bother me with Pikmin since the game 95% still feels like a Pikmin game at its core.
I thought that was Hey Pikmin.
Pikmin 4 might notl be to your tastes specifically but it’s a great Pikmin game, I would prefer them to take big swings like Pikmin 4 than incremental update style games like Pikmin 3 every ten years. I say that as Pikmin 3 is probably tied for first as my favorite in the series, but objectively I think Pikmin 4 is just a better game in terms of pacing, level variety, structure, design, etc. the one issue I think I really had with Pikmin 4 was that it’s too easy but that was a problem with Pikmin 3 as well, people forget but Pikmin 3 is honestly even easier and more forgiving than 4 unless you play on ultra spicy mode which was added for Deluxe. I wish Pikmin 4 included a harder difficulty option at launch or at least hoped they’d add it in an update or dlc but unfortunately that never came. I will concede that the game should’ve given more reasons to not ride oatchi everywhere because a lot of players definitely played that way and that led to less of the management / control aspect of prior Pikmin games but eventually once you unlocked oatchi’s abilities to function similar to the characters in Pikmin 3 (full control, commands using the map, etc) then I really didn’t find myself riding oatchi that often because it was just more efficient to use oatchi to be in two places at once or round up stray Pikmin. The level design in Pikmin 4 and pacing are just kind of on a different level, especially going back to 2 and 3 recently, where 3 introduces flying Pikmin which essentially break the game then the game just sort of ends right after that. I think giving you high utility Pikmin like flying/ice Pikmin pretty early on in 4 but not giving you their onions (until much later) was a great move to avoid the issue that 3 and 2 both had with their respective broken Pikmin. Pikmin 4 definitely still has broken Pikmin but they give you the onions to them in the post-game or in the case of the flying Pikmin, on the last level in the main story, so you value them a lot more when you come across them in the main story. That’s just one of so many improvements they made in 4, I really think it would be perfect if they added a hard mode and if they added any other incentives to not ride oatchi constantly in the early hours of the game
Pikmin 4 is a great Pikmin game; it’s okay to not like something but saying it’s not a Pikmin game because it doesn’t gel with you is just weird gatekeepy language imo especially since it really isn’t that big of a change in the grand scheme of things, the change in camera and oatchi are the biggest changes and you can still play top down or not ride oatchi around and I often found myself playing it like Pikmin 3 in a way. Imagine if I just said Pikmin 2 is “a good game just not a good Pikmin game” because I don’t like the randomly generated dungeons, that would be silly, let developers try new things and let people enjoy shit without trying to make them feel like they’re not in some exclusive club of people who play “real” Pikmin games.
same...but change bad to.. somehow mid dispite being more ambitious than any other pikmin game before. it.....I think it maybe tried...TOO hard?
I dont have any recording proof cuz I was a preteen&at my cousin house playing 1 of the monkey ball it was on the play station 2 is all I can remember but I got stuck&broke the game someHOW but I think thats my little niche (I think thats how u spell it) :3 basilcally wat Im saying is Im a content creator that somehow will find away how to either find a bug or break a game I have a couple of clips on twitch/RUclips on it xd after I got stuck I try rebooting the game on the ps2 UM I was stuck forevr idk if my cousin EVER fixed it but xd ya (also I just found ur channle today
nice facial hair jeff. i like it.
Thank you!
🍌
watch The LUG!!L
Super Monkey Ball tm Banana Blitz
I just don't get why we can't go back to the glory of the gamecube. Why are they incapable of that
I hate pikmin 🙁
12:04 Rectification, it's the package the US got. In France and I think most of Europe, no legendary banana edition.
A game that does a good job of bridging the new and classic is touch and roll.
A frutiger metro style and cute/charming low poly visuals that are unnecessarily detailed for what i think is an early ds game.
Levels that remix 1&2 and great stand alone levels of a similar quality. Best of all its not ultra expensive if you want a "new" copy get it for your ds while you can.
Oh yeah some fun minigames boxing racing and i think bowling