The environments of Monkey Ball have always been a standout thing for me
source: www.youtube.com/@xbox
With a new monkey ball game coming out really soon, I wanted to talk more about something that I really liked about the series, the environments. With how the gameplay looks of the new one, it seems like we will be getting some more fun and unique environments.
As stated in the previous part, when i was younger I didn't appreciate the environments of monkey ball stages much, but as I have grown older I have been able to recognise how interesting and cool they are. In this blog I am going to highlight some of the environments I find to be the most interesting in the series. I will be picking 2 environments from each game I have played. This Blog will feature Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz and Super Monkey Ball 3D.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
The stages I chose for Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz are labelled as "Smooth Sherbet" and "Pirate Ocean". Most the other stages aren't that interesting in this game, but these two are pretty cool.
Smooth Sherbet looks absolutely stunning, no matter which version of Banana Blitz you are playing. It's set in an arctic region with lights that are akin to the northern lights. The lights here though cover more colours than what is seen in the typical northern lights, giving a nice burst of colour. To further add to the beauty, they have it snowing pretty heavily, which gives it the appearance of a gorgeous starry night sky. The mountains in the background are a nice additional touch as well. Something else to talk about with the newer games is the actual platforms as they are all customised too. Here we can see they have some snowy trees and torches lighting the way across the stage. It all just adds up to make a really cozy and beautiful atmosphere.
Source: www.youtube.com/@GoldCobra111
Pirates Ocean is exactly as you would imagine it. It is set in a vast ocean with many pirate ships around. All the ships have been shipwrecked though adding a bit of an eeriness to it. This is especially made the case with the dark blue sky present. The ships that have been wrecked are huge and it makes you wonder who was once the captain of said ships. The platforms while not as interesting as some of the other stages add further to the vibe of the stage. They slightly look like a ships stiring wheel to me. I also like how there is yellow lights along the edges to highlight the danger of falling into the vast ocean. Everything comes together to form a very eerie and abandoned atmosphere.
Super Monkey Ball 3D
The 2 stages I choose for Super Monkey Ball 3D are labelled as "Bananightmare" and "Mystic Dome". Since this was a 3Ds game, they couldn’t have to many details to each environment. However, I still feel like they did quite well with what they made. I also couldn't get any wide zoomed out shots so the in-game captures will have to suffice.
Bananightmare is all about the spooky vibes. The most prominent feature of this stage is the haunted castle I the background. The castle is fairly large, and makes you wonder who or what resides there, if anyone or anything does at all. You can see lights on so something must be there. There are also some huge and I mean HUGE lily pads, or at least i think they are lily pads floating on water that seems to be contaminated in some way due to its purple colour. However, my favourite thing about this stage is the little ghosts that are placed around the stage. These are so cute and provide a nice contrast to the extremely spooky atmosphere. As you go along the stage you can see dead trees, pumpkins and a cool floor pattern. This stage has a great balance of spookiness and charm to it, if this was what I saw in a nightmare, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Source: supermonkeyball.fandom.com
Mystic Dome is such a cool stage, with a bunch of awesome aspects to it. The main part of this stage is the huge ancient building with funky lights. The funky lighting can be seen all over the stage and gives it a somewhat alien feel. There also seems to be some gigantic roots in the background too, though I am unsure of where these lead to. Perhaps weirdest of all, is the projection of a planet at one side of the stage. Who knows why that is there and what it is used for. The platforms are decorated with Aztec-like designs and tiki statues which look quite cool. The faces of the statues resemble monkeys so maybe an advanced monkey species lives here. Towards the top of the stage, you can see a hole with light, so I think this stage is also underground which is quite different from the other stages. This stage feels so surreal with its lighting and Aztec-like structures, I really dig the vibe.
These are some of the environments I really liked in Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz and Super Monkey Ball 3D. That will be it for this series, as I have now covered all the monkey ball games I have played. Super Monkey Ball will always be a game I remember fondly because of its environments, even with them becoming slightly less interesting as time has gone on. Fingers crossed that Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble turns out good in all aspects, including its environments and the series continues.
That's it for this blog, stay connected!
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