After five minutes of play time, we were honestly wondering if the game was more difficult because of the Wii controller. Some of the maneuvers that would have proven easy with an analog stick felt somehow more challenging when performed via gestures. But two hours later, we found ourselves flying through stages, attempting shortcut after shortcut without even thinking about how to use the Wii-mote, and roaring and cheering or laughing depending on whether or not our attempts were amazing successes or embarrassing failures. The title actually encourages pros to go for the shortcuts, as certain banana clumps can only be reached by daredevils who bounce off ledges and go for the quickest time to the goal. We've posted a wealth of new direct-feed movies and we think viewers will agree that there are some absolutely thrilling stages in the game -- and the control mechanics quickly transform from pretty good to damn near excellent as soon as Ballers learn to rewire the way they play.
All-new to Banana Blitz are boss battles, which take place at the end of each world. These unfold in a pretty straightforward manner, but they are actually kind of fun and a good break from the more traditional In one boss battle, a gigantic hippo/ape/abominable snowman creature sits in the middle of an icy arena. The monster shows what appears to be an enormous inflamed pink bellybutton -- at least, we hope that's what it is -- and it's up to gamers to avoid his spinning attacks long enough to bounce into the phallic appendage. It's pretty easy, but the battles become increasingly difficult. For instance, later, another boss shoots missiles at the monkeys and players must jump on these projectiles to ricochet them backward.
As downloaders will see in the videos we've provided, Banana Blitz features a made-over cel-shaded style that goes very well with the franchise, as far as we're concerned. The pastel look is very cheerful, much like the happy, high-pitched music the game booms out. Snow particles drift in the foreground, backdrops are blurred via depth of field, and the monkey balls themselves cast reflections and become surrounded by star particles when gamers bump into objects. The game has an impressively clean, crisp look to it due in large to the quality of the textures, which hold up even when evaluated closely. Best of all, Banana Blitz runs at 60 frames per second and supports both progressive-scan and 16:9 widescreen modes.
Banana Blitz features 50 mini-games, including such favorites as Monkey Target -- a mini that by itself is enough to make us want the title. However, this is a series that has largely been about the spectacular single-player puzzle stages and it is here that, without a doubt, Banana Blitz does not disappoint. At the end of our two hours with the game, we didn't want to stop, and we nearly ran out of tape because we kept recording ourselves going through levels again and again as we tried for the best shortcuts. Monkey Ball fans are going to eat this title up and keep coming back for the mini-games. We see absolutely no reason at this stage why Banana Blitz shouldn't be on everybody's must-buy list when Wii launches this November.
