Earlier this year, Sega announced a remastered version of their 2006 Nintendo Wii title, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. Set to release later this month, not much else has been said about the game since, until a surprise announcement from Sega today: a new character will be joining the original cast in the remaster.
Sonic the Hedgehog, from Sega’s famous Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, will be an unlockable character in the upcoming game, for the first time ever in the Super Monkey Ball series. It’s not clear yet how players will unlock Sonic exactly, but he will be “available as a hidden, unlockable character,” according to a Sega press release reported by Polygon.
Sega continued, “Playing as the world’s fastest hedgehog comes with some unique effects. In addition to boasting incredible speed (obviously), selecting Sonic automatically changes all stages’ bananas to golden rings, complete with nostalgic, classic SFX!” The video included in Sega’s Tweet demonstrates these features, as Sonic races down levels in his own blue ball collecting golden rings while avoiding falling off the edges of the narrow pathways.
According to the Tweet, Sonic won’t be the only unlockable feature of the game, as there will also be “costumes for AiAi and friends” that players can obtain as they progress through the game.
The original Banana Blitz was developed exclusively for the Wii, as it utilized the Wii Remote’s motion controls, challenging players to navigate the characters through tricky levels with precise hand and wrist movements. Banana Blitz HD, the Switch remaster, will not feature motion controls, but will include 100 single-player levels, 10 different multiplayer games, updated visuals, online leaderboards, and a Decathlon mode.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD releases for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 29. A PC version is also set to release sometime this winter via Steam.