This was originally uploaded to DeviantART on September 24, 2021.

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Let's go on a happy ride!

Just a few days ago, Super Monkey Ball celebrated its 20th anniversary proper, releasing in Japan on September 14, 2001, while North America got it in November. In celebration of it, and of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania coming out next week, I made this! And you know Doughshi wouldn't just hop into a Super Monkey Ball. Nah, he'll take those courses on his own! Just...don't tell him he's going the wrong way right now.

Super Monkey Ball is one of my all-time favorite video game franchises, it had this simple charm and gameplay that immediately caught my attention. I remember finding it randomly at a flea market game shop, over a Pac-Man game. Honestly, that was probably the good choice, and to this day I have yet to properly beat Super Monkey Ball. As in, make it all the way through to Master 10; I'm pretty sure last year was the first time I ever made it to Master, and I lost all of my lives and continues there, yet it was an amazing accomplishment.

I've also played through most of the series, including Jr., Adventure, Banana Blitz [HD], Step & Roll, and 3D. The only ones I haven't played is Deluxe (although that's about to be rectified with the release of Banana Mania) and Banana Splitz.

However, the one that deserves the most love to me is Super Monkey Ball 2, what I consider to be my favorite GameCube game. It refined its style from the original, it gave brand new levels, gimmicks and ideas, more stages than before, and spawned an entire modding community, where you can play even more of 2 thanks to fanmade levels. Both 1 and 2 are what I consider to be the best games in the series, and nothing has really come close to that kind of replayability in the series like the original two. I love these two games with a passion and they make for some excellent party games as well.

On top of that, I also threw in some fun easter eggs as well, mostly in the form of recreating the interface. However, when I was making this and saved the full piece, I realized that I used the wrong game's release date. I had originally referenced 2's release date for the interface easter eggs, when I should've been using 1's. Still, I decided to keep it since I love 2 more than 1. As such, the score represents Super Monkey Ball 2's release date, being November 21, 2002 in North America. The remaining time is my birth year, where the banana counter reflects my age now, and my lives reflect my age during its release. So I'm 26 at the time of this upload, and when Super Monkey Ball 2 came out, I was 7!

I felt very proudly about this one, but I felt it was necessary for one of my all-time favorite games. Happy anniversary, Super Monkey Ball! Here's hoping that we'll see a great new entry in the not-so-distant future! 🎊