Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania dev on the game’s guest characters

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania went all out with guest characters. SEGA itself included some stars from its various franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog and Kazuma Kiryu from Kazuya, but the team also stepped outside of the box with some unexpected additions. The game includes Morgana from Persona 5, Suezo from Monster Rancher, and Hello Kitty as DLC.

In an interview with Retro Gamer, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania director and producer Masao Shirosaki spoke more about those guest characters and their inclusion. He told the magazine:

“There are a lot of appealing characters at Sega, so I wanted as many to appear as possible. We had Sonic join the previous title and he was extremely popular, so we decided to have Tails join in this time. We also have Beat from Jet Set Radio, which still has a large fanbase. And as the creator of this series, Toshihiro Nagoshi, is the same as the Yakuza series, we decided to have Kazuma Kiryu join in as well. This time we were also able to collaborate with characters from other companies in the form of DLC, so you’ll be able to play as Morgana from Persona 5, Suezo from Monster Rancher, and everyone’s idol Hello Kitty. Seeing all these characters moving around in the Monkey Ball world shows how much potential it has and how welcoming it is.”

While they’re technically not characters, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania also has DLC that lets you play as a Game Gear, Saturn or Dreamcast. Shirosaki said he was “so happy to see the SEGA consoles in there”, noting that it “just leaves a big impression to see them in a ball, and it’s funny.”

All of the DLC for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is out now.  Morgana was the latest drop, having arrived on November 2.