Before the surprise announcement of Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania during Nintendo's E3 2021 showcase, there hadn't been very much for fans of the Super Monkey Ball series to sink their teeth into over the past several years. While the upcoming Monkey Ball title is only an HD rerelease of the first three Monkey Ball games, it's still proof that the series is alive and well in the mind of SEGA. What's more, the colorful cast of guest characters that have been announced for the game since its reveal has fans hoping that the game will continue to receive support and new characters in a similar way to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
So far in the two months following Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania's E3 announcement, SEGA has revealed five guest characters across four discrete franchises. With new reveals coming what feels like every few weeks, the game's roster is beginning to resemble that of Super Smash Bros. and other major video game crossover titles. This is exciting for fans of the series as new characters are always welcome, but it's hopefully, also drawing new fans to the title as they want to see their favorite characters roll around in little capsule balls.
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There Will Always Be More Characters to Add to Monkey Ball
Although crossovers aren't entirely new to the Super Monkey Ball series, there haven't been quite as many announced before launch as with Banana Mania. Similar to the Smash Bros. core roster originally consisting of only Nintendo IPs, Banana Mania is sticking with some of the biggest SEGA characters from today such as Kiryu from the Yakuza series as well as older popular characters like Beat from Jet Set Radio. If Monkey Ball creates the biggest SEGA crossover game by adding new characters every few months, then it could start branching out by including other non-SEGA IPs.
The possibilities for who could be included are seemingly limitless. Obviously, characters like Sonic and Tails were shoo-ins, but including Persona 5's Morgana alongside someone as serious as Kiryu means that Monkey Ball isn't afraid to get a little weird with its picks. It could be interesting to see characters from other major publishers like Capcom or Komani be added. Imagine Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil running inside a ball right next to Alucard from Castlevania. It would be wild, but it would also draw plenty of new fans to the Monkey Ball series for its nature as a crossover alone.
The Joy of Monkey Ball Crossovers
At the end of the day, people enjoy seeing their favorite characters featured in crossover events because it causes new fans to become invested in both franchises. Plus, with something as fun as Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, it's nice to see serious characters like Kiryu be involved with something a little bit more lighthearted. It's a similar reason why games like Mario Kart are fun to think about in the fiction of the Mario world: all the characters bury their differences for a good time driving around some go-carts.
Hopefully, more characters are announced to be coming to Banana Mania soon to bring even more IPs, SEGA or otherwise, to the table for some Monkey Ball fun. Crossover games like Super Smash Bros. are fun when new characters are added, but because of the silly nature of Monkey Ball, it's bound to draw even more fans in to see which gaming icons are loosening their ties and getting fit for a capsule-like Monkey Ball.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania launches for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 5th, 2021.
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