Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is the original trilogy remastered

Super Monkey Ball is coming back in a big banana-shaped way.

What you need to know

• SEGA has joined the E3 2021 craze to announce Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, which includes three classic games.
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a modern remaster of the original Super Monkey Ball trilogy in celebration of the series' 20-year anniversary.
• The games will be remastered with modern visuals and features, including 4-player local co-op, online challenges, and new playable characters.
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania will release on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, PS5, PS4, and Switch on October 5, 2021.

As gamers around the world recover from the crazy number of game reveals and announcements at E3 2021, like the massive Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase at E3 2021, SEGA has an announcement of their own to throw on the pile. Super Monkey Ball Mania is the ultimate Super Monkey Ball collection fans have been waiting for, and celebrates the series' 20-year anniversary this year.

The original Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe are all being dutifully remastered for modern gaming platforms with improved visuals and additional features like 4-player local co-op, online challenges and leaderboards, a host of new playable characters, and more.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania will follow the classic journey of AiAi and his delightful friends across over 300 remastered levels and 12 minigames. There will also be ways to customize characters, items, and more. Not only does Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania look to be a dream come true for Super Monkey Ball fans, it's also the perfect entry point for players that initially missed out on this quirky and surprisingly challenging platformer series.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania officially launches on October 5, 2021, and is arriving on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, PS5, PS4, and Switch. The game is now available to pre-order, with two editions to choose from (the Digital Deluxe edition including some additional customization items, the original soundtrack, and more). Strangely, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania appears to be a little more affordable on PC versus console platforms.

For physical collectors, SEGA will offer a special 20-year Anniversary Edition with an art book, collectible sleeve, and more.

It's far too early to tell for certain, especially since modern remasters of classic games don't always end well, but if SEGA delivers with Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, they could have one of the best Xbox platformer games on their hands.