Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is having a field day adding new playable characters to its roster. There was a time where fans simply expected a reunion of AiAi and his fans, but now, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania has an increasingly surprising list of unlockable characters and DLC guests that freshen up the classic platforming game. Since Sega publishes Super Monkey Ball, it has plenty of great IPs that it can offer as crossovers, like Sonic the Hedgehog and Persona. However, the latest Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania guest blows everyone else out of the water: to the surprise of many, Sanrio's Hello Kitty will be a playable DLC character in the game.
There couldn't be a more perfect Super Monkey Ball guest character than Hello Kitty. Just like the franchise's actual stars, she's a tiny, adorable anthropomorphic animal who has won over the hearts of fans around the world. Even so, Banana Mania's Hello Kitty invitation is a huge deal that should get the attention of fans everywhere. Sanrio's treasured mascot is one of the most valuable mascots out there, generating billions of dollars in revenue every year. There's really no comparing Hello Kitty's influence to any of the other Banana Mania characters, so her inclusion in the game opens the floodgates for any number of surprising guests to appear.
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Hello Kitty's Tremendous Influence
It's hard to summarize just how prolific Hello Kitty's career with Sanrio is. She first cropped up in 1974, helping Sanrio sell its cute lifestyle brand, but she was a way bigger success than anyone could've predicted—likely even Sanrio. Today, she's internationally beloved, and she's much more than a Sanrio mascot. Beyond clothes and stationery stylized after her, Hello Kitty stars in everything from TV shows to video games. There are even theme parks based on Hello Kitty and Sanrio's other adorable characters. She's been at the forefront of Sanrio for nearly 50 years and shows no sign of slowing down.
That's why it's stunning to see Hello Kitty get in on Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. Fans thought it was exciting for Jet Set Radio's Beat and Persona 5's Morgana to join Banana Mania, but compared to Hello Kitty, these beloved characters are tiny and obscure. Only Sonic can truly contest Hello Kitty's international acclaim. In a way, it's baffling that Banana Mania could get the rights to Hello Kitty at all, but fans of Hello Kitty and Super Monkey Ball alike certainly won't complain. In spite of the scale of her fame, her aesthetic and personality make her a perfect fit for the lighthearted Super Monkey Ball.
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Who Could Join Super Monkey Ball Next?
Now that fans know Hello Kitty will be in the game, the next big question is what other characters Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio could announce that could possibly top her. It'd take a video game industry giant like Mario or Link to really compare to Hello Kitty. It's worth noting that Hello Kitty's origins as a mascot for a company far outside the game industry imply that just about anybody could join in on Banana Mania's DLC list. Maybe there are other beloved corporate mascots that Sega has in store that'll match Hello Kitty in cultural clout.
Regardless of who joins Banana Mania next, it's great to see how seriously Sega is taking Super Monkey Ball's next big game. The franchise isn't quite as influential as it used to be, so it deserves a dramatic return to form if Sega wants to keep making Super Monkey Ball games. The surprising and exciting characters chosen to celebrate Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania are just what the franchise needed to turn heads and bring back old fans as it starts building some momentum again. Hopefully, Super Monkey Ball has some more character reveals on the way that'll delight fans just as much as Hello Kitty and her fellow guests.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania releases on October 5, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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