Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble (June 25)
We’re just a few weeks away from the brand new first (not mobile) Super Monkey Ball game in over ten years, and Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is looking… pretty good. With lots of cutscenes featuring the adorable young monkey, lots of new cutscenes, and tons of multiplayer modes, this is likely to be a hit with families this summer.
Otherwise… this is Super Monkey Ball as you know it. We’re excited to delve into the single-player levels, but we’re a little sad that the fan-favorite mini-games aren’t returning. The challenge is also coming back, and we tried to get some of the little “achievements”.
Fun fact, readers – this is the only Nintendo exclusive we have to play in the show. Everything else is coming to Switch AND something else.
Pending (TBA)
How about a WarioWare that’s all about waiting for things to happen?
We think this is a pretty good summary of what “When Waiting” is all about. It’s a collection of ‘minigames’ where you have to wait for things to happen. Wait for the bus. Wait for the rain to stop. Wait for the traffic to clear. But you don’t have to sit and wait. You can perform fun tasks along the way like collecting ducks and killing them. Ah yes, that nice, harmless task of getting hit by a car…
The game will come to PC first, with Switch a priority after that, according to the developers. Touch control is not planned and movement feels a LESS slow, but it drew a chuckle from us during our short 10 minutes with the game.
Yars Rising (2024)
WayForward and Atari have teamed up to take on an iconic Atari series (Yars) and rotate it in a completely different direction. Pepper in hundreds of nods to Atari history – such as power-ups based on arcade cabinets and bosses entirely tailored around an Atari game, and you get Yars Rising.
It’s part Metroidvania, part stealth game, and part hacking game. You can hack terminals to get new abilities for Emi, and one ability we got allowed Emi to shoot enemies. Another saw him using a jetpack-like jump. The game also has that classic WayForward sense of style and humor; it is extremely loud and colorful.
2024 has already been a banner year for Metroidvanias, and there are many more to come, but will Yars Rising be able to stand out? We’re not too sure this early, but we’ll find out later in 2024 if WayForward has the magic once again.
We recently spoke with WayForward and Atari about this new collaboration, so check out that interview for more: