Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Teases New Free Content

The Nintendo Switch game is getting a mix of free and paid content this year.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble released on Nintendo Switch last month, and it seems Sega plans to roll out new content throughout the rest of the year. The company had previously revealed guest characters from various Sega properties, which will be available as paid content. Thanks to a newly released roadmap, we now know when to expect those characters; Knuckles, Tails, and Amy will be arriving today (July 30th), while Crazy Taxi's Axel and Jet Set Radio's Beat will be coming in September. The roadmap also hints at some previously unannounced multiplayer modes and stages. Unlike the guest characters, the modes and stages will be released free to all players! 

The roadmap for Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble can be found below. 

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(Photo: Sega)

Multiplayer has been a major part of the Super Monkey Ball franchise since the very beginning, so it's nice to see that Sega plans on expanding on this part of the game. Unfortunately, the company hasn't offered much information about the new modes, so fans will have to speculate until we get further information. The roadmap also teases "additional characters" which will be available through the digital deluxe edition, the Sega Pass, and sold individually. It remains to be seen which characters will make the cut, but there are plenty of other Sega icons that could be added. In fact, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania featured quite a few Sega characters that have yet to be announced for Banana Rumble, including Morgana from Persona 5 and Kazuma Kiryu from Yakuza/Like a Dragon

One thing that Super Monkey Ball fans will not see on that roadmap is a release on other platforms. Banana Rumble was released as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, despite the fact that Banana Mania and Banana Blitz HD were both released on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One. In an interview with SiliconEra last month, Sega revealed that the reason for the exclusivity was to "provide a stable quality of online competition with 16 players." However, the company did leave open the possibility that additional platforms could see the game arrive in the future, if there's enough support. If the roadmap is anything to go by, that won't be happening until 2025 at the earliest! 

How do you feel about this Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble roadmap? What do you want to see added to the game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!