The time has come to take the banana back in hand. At Gamescom in Cologne we recently had the opportunity to try out an almost final version of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD, high definition modernization of the playful production of the same name, originally released on the Nintendo Wii way back in 2006.
Beyond the veiled sexual references expressed in the almost perverted introduction to the article, needless to say the look and feel of the digital creature born from the divine Toshihiro Nagoshi remains that of ten years ago. While it was possible to juggle your curled fingers in a small set of levels, the tested code faithfully reflected our furry expectations.
The graphic impact, needless to say, maintains that overwhelming tendency towards simplicity which - at least in the version tested for PlayStation 4, but we do not find it hard to imagine that this finding could also be true for the other SKUs of the game - it is enhanced by the greater definition and cleanliness of the image compared to the original release.
Grabbing the DualShock 4 and guiding AiAi and company along the paths designed by the twisted minds of Japan has never seemed so damn fun. The analog stick of the pad seems to undoubtedly adapt better to the mood of the work if compared to the motion controls implemented in the release destined for Nintendo Wii, exalting the gamer, placing him perpetually in the balance between the most unbridled exaltation and the curse for the minimal mistake.
The hundred levels through which the rambling playful skein of the Sega work will gradually unravel will obviously offer increasing difficulty and, although the first playful glimpses may seem like a walk of health, the latest diabolical traces promise to force the expulsion of a quantity of sweat that would exceed what theoretically would be sufficient to evaporate every molecule constituting Maurizio Costanzo's mighty neck. An oceanfront, in short.
Between an apotropaic gesture and another, the ataraxic homo ludens is then guided in the discovery of every little crevice of the binary code of which Super Monkey Ball Blitz HD is direct expression, while some bosses make their appearance in the truly banalotto attempt to interrupt the rolling forays of the gamer with blows.
And how to (re) relieve the soul of the user, with respect to the pains suffered between one snuff and another? The response of the software house that gave birth to that curly Sonic hedgehog can be summarized in a single lexeme: minigames.
Ten, to be precise, taken from the original Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, which they should be playable in local multiplayer up to a maximum of four players.
Although this last feature was not directly experienced by Epic Videogames Guide, it was nevertheless possible for us to test every minigame inserted in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD. Far from wanting to express a definitive opinion on each of them, we can certainly affirm that overall the proposed selection manages to satisfy, even if it does not make one cry out to a miracle.
Those who have certainly caught our attention during this hands on are Seesaw Ball, where you need to ferry your monkey along a vertical descent based on bananas and platforms to be tilted using the analog stick of the pad, as well as Dangerous Route, in which to lead the primate within a path characterized by a very high difficulty coefficient.
Sega will also exploit the online connectivity of the hardware to which the production refers, specifically inserting one Time Attack mode specially designed to stimulate the various primates arranged on the earth's surface to commensurate their performance with those shown off by the rest of the world by encouraging them, at the same time, to improve their own, as well as the Decathlon mode, through which to select some of the minigames present, in an attempt to create a top score that can project one's ego at the top of the global chart.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD will see the light on October 29th on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. As usual, we give you an appointment at the review for a definitive, very definitive judgment on the product.
► Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is a Puzzle-running game developed and published by Sega for the Nintendo Wii, the video game was released on 19/11/2006
