Earlier today, a new Super Monkey Ball game titled Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania was listed on The Australian Classifications board, seemingly indicating a new entry in the long-running franchise is coming. If this leak follows the same timeline as the last entry in the Super Monkey Ball series–which was rated by the board on July 16, 2019 and released only three months later–it’s possible game could be just around the corner. The news comes nearly a year after the game was teased by voice actor Matt Brian, who has shared multiple Instagram posts indicating that a new game is in development.
If confirmed, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania will be the first original Super Monkey Ball game released on consoles in nearly a decade, a welcome sight for weary Sega fans who might have been a bit let down by 2019’s Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD. Despite Banana Blitz HD’s reception, its release could mean something exciting for the next entry in the series: a release across all consoles and PC.
For those unfamiliar with the first entry in the series, simply titled Super Monkey Ball, it was the first Sega title published on a Nintendo console due to the failure of the Dreamcast. The puzzle game received high praise from critics, with GameSpot’s review stating “GameCube owners couldn’t ask for a better party game to play with friends.” In addition to providing a fun multiplayer experience with mini-games such as Monkey Target, the series also boasts a challenging single-player campaign.
It’s also worth mentioning game director Masao Shirosaki expressed interest in including Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima in the series’ next entry back in a 2019 interview with Crunchyroll.