Simple is Best: An Ode to Monkey Ball
By Adam Leif
I think it’s fair to say that “all a video game needs to be fun is for you to have fun” is a relatively tepid take at this point — I don’t personally read a lot of video game news and reviews, but I can say with confidence that every time a studio does something state-of-the-art, groundbreaking, or particularly creative, someone at some publication somewhere espouses that age-old quote. And I get the sentiment! Fancy schmancy mechanics or fan-accelerating graphics aren’t always what makes a game good, (though they’re certainly welcome when done well): sometimes, simple is best.
With Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 having recently occurred, I’ve found myself digging through the VODs for some speedruns that could be interesting. Much to my surprise (and my delight), I came across a Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania race done by PetrisInc and Helix13_. Now, I’m not sure what the general age demo of this zine’s readers is, but Monkey Ball is a franchise that’s been around since just barely before I was alive — and as such, I’ve grown up with it. While I can’t say I’ve been a particularly active fan for the past… ever, I do have some fond memories of playing it on the GameCube while waiting to get a haircut at my local Cool Cuts 4 Kids. And so, when I clicked on the VOD, I immediately fell in love with the absolute clusterfuck of a speedrun that is Banana Mania.
It’s not like there’s anything super unique about the run: in fact, it’s maybe one of the most speedrun speedruns that I’ve seen in a while. There aren’t any massive glitches, warps, or anything of the sort, much of which has greatly defined the speedrunning world in recent years (ignoring, of course, glitchless categories). All you have to do is make monkey go as fast as possible — albeit with the muscle memory to pull off some bananas tricks and an encyclopedic knowledge of levels’ cycles.
To make a short story long, I watched the run, felt nostalgic, and both my roommate and I bought Banana Mania Deluxe on our Switches; and honestly? Even though I hadn’t played the game for something like a decade, I didn’t even think twice about clicking that purchase button. Let me just say, the game welcomed me back with open arms. Now I’m no master speedrunner, but the game practically begs for you to do your best to ignore level design that some poor guy must’ve spent hours testing. It truly gives you so many opportunities to manipulate the physics and routing for the sake of saving time; hell, they’ve even got a frame perfect timer running at the top of the screen. And if that’s not your cup of tea, there’s still so much to love about the game — the controls are as simple as can be (pretty much just hold “up”); the levels are straightforward, challenging, and engaging; and there’s a bunch of unlockable customization options and modes that you don’t need to struggle to get. SEGA clearly went out of their way to prioritize players’ experience more than anything else — be they grizzled veterans or newcomers to the franchise. Sure, the camera control is pretty wonky, and sometimes you’ll want to spike a JoyCon at the ground when you’ve been so close to beating a level for 20 minutes, but at the end of the day, the game is pure and simple fun.
While I love to see a game break the mold or go against the grain every now and then, sometimes simple is best.