Published , by Shack Staff
Published , by Shack Staff
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is releasing this fall, bringing us back to some of the earliest entries in the franchise. Leading up to its launch, the developers have revealed a number of new characters coming to the game as DLC, including Hello Kitty, Morgana from Persona 5, and an actual Dreamcast. It got us wondering, what characters would we like to see in a Monkey Ball?
Question: What character should be DLC in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania?
After all of the years that Nintendo and Sega have been friendly with one another, this one only makes sense. We've seen Sonic cameo in three straight Super Smash Bros. games, which has proven to be a big hit for all parties. We've also seen Mario and Sonic come together to celebrate the Olympics. So, really, why shouldn't Nintendo's mascot get a chance to roll around in one of Sega's other premiere franchises, especially one on the verge of rejuvenation?
It’s only right that we get some Pokemon representation in Super Monkey Ball, and what better option than the franchise mascot? Pikachu would also be incredibly fast, zipping past other players and bouncing off of the walls like pinball.
I don’t care if it’s Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Bulma, or the actual Dragon Balls themselves; I want to see some Monkey Balls with Dragon Balls inside of them. It’s not only meta, it makes a lot of sense considering we’ve already got Hello Kitty in there. Why not trap some of Japan’s most iconic anime characters in Monkey Balls and let them have at it? Could you imagine an SSBSS Goku going full-on Ultra-Instinct on a level? All that screaming and eyebrow twitching would look amazing!
I’d love to see ToeJam & Earl featured as DLC characters in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. These two have been kicking it for… 30 years. THIRTY YEARS. That came as a shock. Regardless, I want to see these two on another wacky adventure, this time trapped in a little ball working their way through difficult levels. If I can’t have that, give me more Jet Set Radio Future characters. Please and thank you.
Just fill up the balls with Joe Exotic, Carol Baskin, Jetski Narc guy, and all of your favorites. They could record new dialogue or just recycle lines from the Netflix series, it probably would make no difference to the final quality of the end product. Monkey Ball is already a pretty air-tight concept that’s hard to goof up or improve upon, but I think hearing more Joe Exotic rants as his ball gets shoved around the play area would really raise the stakes.
If there is any character from the Destiny universe that could pull off being in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, it’s Cayde-6. He wouldn’t just pull it off, though, he’d nail it. Cayde-6 is the funniest character from Destiny and universally loved by the community. Bring Cayde in and you will pull a whole bunch of Destiny fans with him. Before you ask, no, I didn’t put any thought into the likelihood of this happening or licensing or any of that nonsense. I just decided Cayde was the way to go.
When I look at the current slate of characters that have been confirmed for Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, it’s so mind blowing to see so much of Sega’s all-star franchise there, as well as Hello Kitty and Suezo from Monster Hunter. This is really a who’s who of selectable characters. However, one character that I’ve always felt is thematically cute enough to be here hasn’t made the cut yet. Ulala has been a part of a lot of Sega all-star goodness over the years, including Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. Why isn’t she here?
Ulala is just a fun character in general. A pop queen news reporter capable of dancing alien threats into submission, Ulala’s cute nature seems like a perfect fit for the similarly cute and musical Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. The fact that she’s somehow been left off so far when her fellow Sega All-Stars like Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails, Kiryu from Yakuza, and Beat from Jet Set Radio have joined the party just makes me want her in there even more. Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania could use a splash of style and dance.
With Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania coming soon, it gets you thinking what characters should be DLC for the game? There have already been appearances by Sonic and other Sega characters. That being said, the game is coming to Switch so there are two names that come to mind for me. One has to be Mario, as he has been turned into a ball for Mario Pinball Land so that makes too much sense. The other is Samus Aran, another Nintendo hero that can transform into a ball and move around. You could also splash Kirby into this group as well for the same reasons. Since Nintendo and Sega are on good terms, one of these would be a no-brainer to work.
I would like to see Viewtiful Joe inside a monkey ball and hopefully the cameo helps lead to the franchise being relevant again. It would be awesome if there were slow mo and fast forward powers for his monkey ball. You could also switch it up with some cosmetic options to make him look more like his partner in crime. I just think it would be a cool lil collab between Sega and Capcom while not having to be an entire line of monkey balls like a Street Fighter situation. The cool poses he could do inside the ball would totally sell me on the cameo too.
Those are the characters we would like to see in a Monkey Ball. Is there anybody you would love to see in the game as DLC? Let us know in the Chatty!