Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble launches for Nintendo Switch on June 25. In addition to racing down the track as a variety of apes in spheres, players who own the Sega Pass can also break the sound barrier as Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends.
Sonic the Hedgehog comes to Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble
The publisher announced the Sonic Team’s arrival in Banana Rumble’s Sega Pass with a trailer on Wednesday. Players can challenge courses as Sonic the Hedgehog, Tales, Amy Rose, or Knuckles the Echidna. Each character has different stats and is available in both Adventure and Battle mode. The game also switches all pickups for gold rings when the player is controlling a Sonic character.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble’s Sega Pass is available separately and included in the game’s Digital Deluxe Edition. Sonic fans who don’t care for Knuckles, or vice versa, can also choose to purchase each character as individual DLC. However, it doesn’t appear that the Sonic characters will be available at launch, with Sega saying, “All content is scheduled to be released over the coming months.”
Notably, the game’s website shows six Sega Pass characters, so fans are still waiting on the reveal of two more.
Super Monkey Ball debuted in 2001 as a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube. The previous game, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, launched cross-platform in 2021. However, Banana Rumble is back to being a Nintendo exclusive.
The new game features four-player local multiplayer and an online 16-player mode based on minigames. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble also boasts extensive character customization, featuring over 300 hats, outfits, accessories, and balls.
