Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

The physics are a bit off from the classic games, but it is still a ton of fun. Pro tip: To get it to control like the old games, right click the game in Steam -> Properties -> Controller -> Enable Steam Input. Then go to the game's library page and click on Controller Configuration -> Left Stick -> Additional Settings; Change the following: Dead Zone Shape: Square Dead Zone Inner: 20~30% depending on your preference Enjoy not accidentally falling off edges because you moved your analog stick a single degree to the left or right!

Excellent and almost faithful recreation of the original game.

A faithful recreation to Monkey Ball 1&2 and I couldn't ask for more.

The game is certainly good, but it lacks in many aspects. Three stars feels harsh, but four feels wrong. The physics just feel a bit imprecise, but the core gameplay is otherwise great, and the levels, though perhaps not paced the best, but this is a remake we're talking of, are solid all around. There's plenty of ways to go through any level, my only complaint being that restarting a level should be quicker. The minigames don't reach their former glory but are fun still. The worst part of the game in my opinion was how atrocious the UI can be. The game is aggressively beginner-friendly. If you fail a level multiple times, it will bombard you with messages to turn on the assist mode. I found no way to turn this off, and it hampered my experience as it became annoying. Compounding onto that is how confusing the UI can be. When you're presented with a menu offering two choices one bright yellow and one bright red it is very difficult to discern which option you're picking. The starting menu layout also is far from the best, and it felt like the UX just got in the way of the otherwise very good game.

This is a great package well worth a purchase. It features all the stages from the first 2 Super Monkey Ball games on the Gamecube as well as the stages added for Deluxe on the PS2 & Xbox. This is a remake, not a remaster so the controls & physics aren't quite the same as the original versions. For the most part this is ok once you get used to it, though some of the mini games were more fun in their original form. Overall I'm glad this was made & I'll come back to it again & again just like the Gamecube originals!