A new interview in Famitsu with Super Monkey Ball producer Nobuhiro Suzuki revealed that the team focused on North American markets for the newest Monkey Ball game because of the sales success of previous entries. (Thanks, Nintendo Everything!)
In Japan, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble — the newest game in the series — sold only 1,499 physical copies in its first week. Those numbers aren't great, but Suzuki revealed that the focus for the Monkey Ball series, particularly the new entry, is actually North American audiences.
Suzuki acknowledges that sales in Japan aren't fantastic, but his response focuses on the popularity of the franchise worldwide:
"It is hard to understand if you are in Japan, but overseas Super Monkey Ball is popular, and sells particularly in North America. The sales percentage of the last game, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, shows a large portion of sales were in North America, too. So this time as well, the audience we first tried to focus on was North America."
In the run up to the game's release, there was a lot of advertising for Banana Rumble, and it was initially revealed during a Nintendo Direct back in February. Given the GameCube was where the series made its name, it makes a lot of sense.
In the same interview, Suzuki attributes the series' popularity to its simplicity — or, more specifically, the "instinctual" nature of the gameplay:
"There isn’t really an explanation. You can tilt the ground with the control stick and make the ball roll, but it’s like a toy where you roll a ball on a board.
Because it’s an instinct, even inexperienced players can play too. With simple controls, anyone can enjoy it, but that does not mean it is easy. The more you play, the deeper and more addictive it is."
We'd have to agree with that sentiment — particularly in the single-player mode in Banana Rumble. We were a big fan of the campaign, but we found the multiplayer a bit of a mess. Still, we had a good time overall and scored it a 7/10.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble will be getting free updates and paid DLC throughout the rest of the year. Sega detailed the game's roadmap a few weeks ago, which include new multiplayer modes and new stages.
Are you surprised at Super Monkey Ball's popularity in the West? Roll down to the comments and let us know.