Sonic Will Be A Hidden Playable Character In Super Monkey Ball On Switch

Wow, what’s next a Crazy Taxi Reboot with Sonic as a playable character?

I love small extra unlockables like these in games being rereleased or ported etc. Especially when it involves putting another franchise character in there. I really miss the days when you could have fun unlocking everything in game with different challenges and stuff and not with dlc or microtransactions. Glad some games still do that.

Or atleast do that and have microtransactions be an optional way to unlock if you're lazy. Kinda like DMC 5 dlc.

That's bananas!

Wait, he is not rolling in his ball form? Like he is known for? Why?

It would be better if it were a surprise, but you would also have to trust reviewers not to spoil the surprise.

Does anyone know if this game can be played without motion controls on the Switch? I really think I will like this game, but I hate motion controls.

@Tandy255 They probably think it'll help them sell more copies of a game many people have already played.

They should also include Sonic from the Sonic Boom Universe. Just imagine him constantly spewing out annoying one-liners every time he collects something, jumps or falls of the edge.

We already knew that this was going to happen.

@Agriculture No motion controls. There's a demo on the Japanese eshop.

@PBandSmelly Probably due to marketing. If he was in ball form all the time, people wouldn't recognize the hog.

@Nagi At least they'd still remind us that exists instead of just letting it die.

@Dakotastomp Even though Rise of Lyric was rather terrible i think Shattered Crystal was alright and Fire & Ice is pretty good.
I also enjoyed the TV Series a lot.

@Krambo42 That's very good to hear. I'm most def getting this. Most def.

@Nagi The TV show was the bomb! CN really should have given it a third and final season just to satisfy the fans.

Super Hedgehog Ball: Ring Blitz

Expected, but still nice.

I like the fact Sonic doesn't make those high pitched monkey sounds whenever he jumps, those noises get irritating after a while. The game looks lovely and colourful and I do like me some Monkey Ball.
After playing the Wii version I think the game will be better without motion controls.

Probably a dumb question, but...why did the trailer use some music from Super Monkey Ball 2? Did Banana Blitz reuse some songs from it?

@PBandSmelly I imagine because his ball form is usually when he boosts around, so slowly rolling around obstacles would look a bit odd. That and the ball form isn't too interesting to look at altogether.

This was announced over the weekend, I'm sure I saw it on twitter

Hidden Character?...You just announced it. How is it hidden now? SPOILERS. sarcasm

@Krambo42 Not me! Never owned a Wii or Wii U. Crazy I know. Only played games on friend's consoles and mostly only Smash.

So basically, they introduced a new high-risk, high-reward character? Sounds like an actual improvement for old players, not just a marketing tactic like most people make it sound. Plus, I do like that they use his classic/younger design, it fits in Monkey Ball way better.

@PBandSmelly in addition to what has been said already, it would also make him either too small to be balanced, or too big compared to other characters, depending on if they decided to keep him monkey sized, or ball sized.

Putting him in a ball is really the best choice. Keeps gameplay balanced, and the character recognizable.

Not so hidden now, innit?

Ok, so that's all the awesome! Umm...hope he doesn't have any ideas of taking over the franchise. He's no Aiai.

This just makes me want this game even more, though I would mainly stick with AiAi. I am ashamed to say I have never played one of these games.

@Toy_Link I want that to happen.

I mean this seems to make a lot of sense.

I wonder how Aiai would play in sonic mania.

I guess it would just be like constantly having a bubble shield.

Also, bring in the monkey from Samba De Amigo as DLC if we’re doing guests, please.

That is so cool! He would totally be the main character I use

@N8tiveT3ch You still need to find ways to unlock him. Hidden characters could be spoil but the way on how to unlock them can't.

@Toy_Link Heck yeah SEGA should do this sort of thing more often, having Sonic appear in other SEGA games and likewise having other SEGA Characters appear in his games as extras or at least have them as cameos like how Nights appears now and again just makes better use of their ips, Namco used to do this sort of thing too.

Not really well hidden if I know about him is it?

Interesting. Looking forward to speedrun this! I wonder which stages will be best for Sonic.

Glad they went with Sonic's classic look.

Looks like there might be room for one more hidden character on the character select screen.

How does this game compare to the GameCube ones?

@GetShulked
It's generally considered weaker, and i agree with the public opinion on this, BUT this HD remaster is supposed to be more then just the same game with better graphics and actually tries to fix the flaws of the Wii version, which was clearly rushed to meet a release date during launch window.

This is cool but:
Amy from Sonic Boom: “It’s not a secret if you tell everybody!”

@EmirParkreiner I wonder, what things do you consider rushed? Played the Wii original and it felt... okay? Didn't feel anything was rushed, just lacking in overall substance (compared to the first 2)

Though, I guess the biggest boom for me of this HD remaster is the ability to play with a joystick instead of the motion sensor. I was disappointment the wii mote was the only way, but I guess it sort of expected, as it was a release title.

They didn’t need to put him in a ball... he already spends half his time rolling around in the shape of one!

This is pretty cool.

I like the monkeys though. I don’t want to buy a Monkey Ball game and not enjoy playing as AiAi and company.

@PBandSmelly He does roll in a ball though, didnt you see it in the video?

@Alpha008 Probably because his hitbox would be too small without one.

Downloaded the demo from the Japanese eShop and frankly I think the game is awful without motion controls. It feels super weird to be tilting the whole board with the Analogue sticks and I found it clunky compared to tilting the Wii remote

@DLevene17 Weirdly that is almost exactly what some people felt about Super Monkey Ball on the Wii over the Gamecube versions, i.e. some of us found it clunky using the Wii remote rather than having the fine control of the Gamecube controller.

Your mileage obviously does vary.

@Gridatttack
Some of the minigames barely worked, these should have been cut. I'm still baffled how many of those made it into the Game.

@EmirParkreiner Well, I feel the same, but I mostly blame the motion controls, but I guess it's fine they left them there... someone might just have enjoyed them.

But indeed, this is a good example of quality over quantity.
I wonder which are the 10 minigames that made it in.