If the past few weeks of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania announcements have proven anything, it's that any character can be put into a monkey ball. With no end in sight, the latest character coming to Banana Mania is Hello Kitty, proving that the Super Monkey Ball cast is growing larger and larger.
At E3 2021 a few months ago, Sega announced Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania in celebration of the series' 20th anniversary. This game is a remastered compilation including three of the franchise's earliest games: Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. To many fans' surprise, the features did not stop there, as a plethora of guest characters are coming to the game. Just last week it was revealed at Gamescom 2021 that Morgana from Persona 5 was headed to Banana Mania.
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Earlier today, Sega released a new trailer for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania revealing that the iconic Hello Kitty is "joining the gang." Besides the original Super Monkey Ball cast, Hello Kitty is joining the likes of Sonic and Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog and Beat from Jet Set Radio in Banana Mania, who are available as unlockable characters from the game's start. Unlike them, though, Hello Kitty is not a part of the base game, but is a DLC character like Morgana, being available for purchase on October 5 for $4.99.
The quick 30-second trailer provides a clear glimpse at what players can expect from rolling around as Hello Kitty. Dressed in her simple blue overalls, yellow long-sleeve shirt, and red bow, the developers gave Hello Kitty a classic look that fits right in alongside the rest of the cast. Like the classic renditions of Sonic and Tails in Banana Mania, Hello Kitty emotes while she rolls, scrunching her eyes once things get too fast, and dancing after crossing through the goal post. It is a character likely many did not expect to see in the game, but still a welcome one at that.
With Hello Kitty's introduction into the game, following the litany of other guest character announcements, Sega is in a pretty interesting position with Super Monkey Ball. While the games themselves are somewhat niche, the inclusion of characters outside of the series is naturally going to attract people to try the game. Sega is operating within the wheelhouse of its own properties right now—Sonic the Hedgehog, Yakuza, Persona—but imagine if the company starts crossing over with other companies' series and including outside characters. Before long, Banana Mania may just become the Smash Ultimate of ball rolling games.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania launches for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 5.
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