Dreamcast, Saturn, And Game Gear Come To Super Monkey Ball

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania arrives in October, and today three classic SEGA consoles have been announced to roll into the title. The iconic Dreamcast, Saturn, and handheld Game Gear are all getting their own themed balls. How does it work? Well, it’s sort of like the systems were encapsulated in a ball, straight up. So yeah, you can kind of just look at these super cool consoles that you may or may not own or remember while you zip around. Where and when can you play Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania? The game comes to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC on October 5.

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Sadly, it doesn’t look like there’s much else to these classic SEGA systems other than their images, but they do add to an already interesting amalgamation of a roster. For instance, Morgana from Persona 5 is also in Super Monkey Ball for some reason. Collaborations and brand infusions are back in fashion these days as Fortnite, Call of Duty, and many other titanic games get injections from everything from '80s films to the Marvel universe. SEGA definitely looks to be capitalizing on its deep well of nostalgic properties, even if this time those properties are simply old consoles.

The more cynical game enthusiast might look at these and say “Wait, they just stuck images of their old consoles inside a ball?” but the more optimistic take might be along the lines of “Sweet, I remember playing Altered Beast at the mall when I was growing up… Wait, where’s the Genesis? Why in the world is the Saturn here and not the Genesis? What in the world! Oh well, old consoles are cool, I’m going to stick one in a ball and roll it around and get some ‘nanas.”

Which approach are you taking for these old-school consoles coming to Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania? Which of the systems here is your favorite? It’s Game Gear, isn’t it?