Topic: Sega Announces New Monkey Ball for Revolution

[Jonnyboy117]

Banana Blitz is made up of puzzle levels and new party games.  The monkeys can now jump as well as roll.

SEGA ANNOUNCES 'SUPER MONKEY BALL: BANANA BLITZ' FOR NINTENDO'S REVOLUTION CONSOLE    

New Controller Revolutionizes Ways to Have Fun with AiAi and the Super Monkey Ball Gang    

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (April 26, 2006) - SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced Super Monkey Ball™: Banana Blitz developed by SEGA Studios for the Nintendo Revolution system. AiAi and all his friends have rolled their way onto Nintendo's new console with new mind-blowing puzzle levels and a wealth of new and exciting Party Games specifically designed to fully exploit the innovative Nintendo Revolution controller. Other titles will have a difficult time matching the multitude of possible variations in game control as presented in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz.    

"The Nintendo Revolution presents a totally unique avenue for our developers to explore the art of game design," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz will present a mind-boggling array of gameplay innovations that will excite and challenge gamers while pushing the boundaries of imagination forward."    

The single-player puzzle levels in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz have been innovatively designed to challenge gamers' skills like never before. For the first time in the Super Monkey Ball franchise, AiAi and his friends will have the ability to jump when players flick the Nintendo Revolution controller in an upward motion. The ability to jump has given game designers another dimension in which to expand the Super Monkey Ball gameplay experience and allows gamers a whole new way to interact with the franchise; this time in true three-dimensional fashion.    

The Party Games, for which the Super Monkey Ball franchise is famous, return with more variety than ever. An abundance of new Party Games have been creatively designed to take advantage of the Revolution controller in a multitude of ways. Gamers will find themselves competing in a traditional game of ring toss, or even smacking pesky moles in a game of "Whack-a-Mole." Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz's large library of Party Games is sure to inspire friendly competition anytime.    

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is currently being developed by SEGA Studios. For more on SEGA's Road to E3, please visit www.sega.com/e3.

[Mario]

Great news!

This is basically the Super Monkey Ball 3 some of us have been waiting for forever.

[Infernal Monkey]

Super Monkey Ball: Sorry about Deluxe and Touch & Roll! BLIIIIITZ

[wandering]

The ability to jump sounds good. Though I'm not sure I like the sound of "puzzle levels." I'm hoping the main game isn't like Monkey Ball 2, is what I'm saying.

[Mario]

I think by puzzle levels they just mean the normal levels... oh and I agree that i'd rather they be like the original SMB than some of the trial and error gameplay of SMB2.

[blackfootsteps]

Hello hundred switches level!

[Nephilim]

man going down those 1mm thin lines will be imossable if u have to keep ur hand straight

[ShyGuy]

Oh man... this is gonna rock

[nemo_83]

1up interview

[couchmonkey]

YAY!  What's  up with every game having stupid subtitles these days though?  I miss the good old days of Mega Man 4 and Final Fantasy III.

Quote

Toshihiro Nagoshi: "It almost feels like the Revolution was created for Monkey Ball to be played on."

- quoted for truth.

[UltimatePartyBear]

Quote
What's up with every game having stupid subtitles these days though?

Clearly this title is evidence against the Revolution being named the Nintendo RS, as that would have required Sega to name this game Rhesus Sphere*.

I think we were all expecting this game, but it's nice to have it confirmed.  I may find it more playable than I did Super Monkey Ball 1, since I never could get the hang of moving the world instead of the monkey with the analog stick.

(*not to be confused with the rhesusphere, the layer of the atmosphere made entirely of monkeys.)

[Ian Sane]

I think this is an ideal game to use the remote with.  Though I find it odd that this is the game where they thought of having a jump button.  It's not something that needs the remote to work after all.  They could have added that in Super Monkey Ball 2.

One concern I have with flicking the controller to jump is how the game knows to differentiate between that and just moving the controller quickly.  If the board starts going all over the place your hand movements are going to get more erratic as you try to keep the monkey from falling.  I'm concerned that in a situation like that you might accidently jump when you don't want to.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I think the jumping relates to how you move the world around, not the monkey ball.  If the ground suddenly jerked up under you, you'd be thrown into the air.  Sine the rev controller represents the level itself, this scheme makes that much more workable than it would have been before.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I will be using 2 hands for this game.

[Jensen]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
I think this is an ideal game to use the remote with.  Though I find it odd that this is the game where they thought of having a jump button.  It's not something that needs the remote to work after all.  They could have added that in Super Monkey Ball 2.

One concern I have with flicking the controller to jump is how the game knows to differentiate between that and just moving the controller quickly.  If the board starts going all over the place your hand movements are going to get more erratic as you try to keep the monkey from falling.  I'm concerned that in a situation like that you might accidently jump when you don't want to.

put a marble on a DVD case, roll it around.
Make the marble jump.
That wasn't so hard, was it?
Have you played Kirby's Tilt&Tumble?  It works the same way.  The advantage with T&T is that you are moving the whole screen, not just a picture of the screen.  The disadvantage is that it only works on non-backlit screens that you can only see from one direction anyways.