Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble

Version DifferencesAlways keep your monkey up to date.

Unfinished Battle Modes#

With Banana Rumble having live-service elements in Battle, post-launch updates would add new content in the form of maps and game modes over time. While a couple post-launch modes made it into the final game, there are remnants of several unfinished Battle Modes scattered across the game's files. These modes have been present in the files since launch and have not seen any major activity since. It is unlikely that they ever will, as various elements of these modes, such as music cues, are marked as obsolete internally. All info on these modes are presented below, albeit with slight conjecture.

Primate Patrol / keidoro#

Primate Patrol, referred to as keidoro internally, appears to be a 8v8 cops-and-robbers style mode in which players are split between two teams: Guards and Thieves. Unlike the other team game modes, this mode is unique in that both teams are given distinct directives and win conditions, as indicated by leftover text strings for the on-screen announcer monkey. Thieves appear to be tasked with rolling around and collecting bananas to earn points, with a point threshold being set as the win condition. Guards appear to be tasked with capturing the Thieves through undisclosed means. Captured thieves are implied to be transported to a cage somewhere on the map, that can presumably be broken by teammates on the Thieves' side. It's possible that the Guards' win condition is to have all the Thieves captured concurrently in the cage before the Thieves reach their point threshold.

"<color=red>${actorName}</color> caught you!"
"You caught <color=red>${actorName}</color>!"
"<color=red>${actorName}</color> got caught!"
"You got the Golden Banana!"
"You are a Guard."
"You are a Thief."
"The cage has been opened!"
"Be careful! It's not looking good!"
"Keep it up! You're almost there!"

Leftover text strings can be found in the battleroyale_keidorotext_text asset bundle. These would have been used for the announcer monkey relaying information to the player during gameplay, with unique text depending on which team the player is on.

"Almost there!\nJust a few more points to win!"
"Oh no!\nJust a few more points until the Thieves win!"
"Only a few Thieves remaining!\nKeep it up!"
"Lots of Thieves have been caught!\nIt's not looking good!"

An additional set of leftover text strings can be found hidden in the message_string_text_en bundle. It's worth noting that this mode's strings appear very early on in the list of all of the game's message strings, right after strings for basic Adventure Mode functionality and before any other Battle Modes are even mentioned. This could indicate that Primate Patrol was one of, if not the first game mode added to Banana Rumble during its early development.

Numerous leftover sprites pertaining to this mode can be found among sprites in the game.

In the stage_list_group_br_keidoro asset bundle, the Race stage Cookie Circuit (ID 307) is set as the sole placeholder stage for this mode's stage list.

The mode's working music filename, bgm_btl_keidoro_btl_keidoro, is found among music cues for each of the in-game Battle Modes in the battleroyale_bgmlist asset bundle. No corresponding audio file exists, and the music cue has remained obsoleted. An unused Gallery thumbnail for the mode's music exists in the files. It uses a placeholder in-development screenshot of the Robot Smash stage, Treasure Colosseum.

Golden Banana Game / crown#

Golden Banana Game, referred to as crown internally, appears to be a 16-player free-for-all mode in which players must fight for a control of a golden banana somewhere on a stage. Players can steal the golden banana from others, making it a chase to see which player(s) can keep possession of the banana the longest.

"<color=red>${actorName}</color> stole the Golden Banana from you!"
"You stole the Golden Banana from <color=red>${actorName}</color>!"
"You got the Golden Banana!"

In the stage_list_group_br_crown asset bundle, the Race stage Lightning Road (ID 163) is set as the sole placeholder stage for this mode's stage list.

The mode's working music filename, bgm_btl_crown_btl_crown, is found among music cues for each of the in-game Battle Modes in the battleroyale_bgmlist asset bundle. No corresponding audio file exists, and the music cue has remained obsoleted. An unused Gallery thumbnail for the mode's music exists in the files. It uses a placeholder in-development screenshot of the Goal Rush stage, Harvest Slider, before the updated Goal designs for this mode were finalized.

Target#

Target is exactly what it sounds like. This appears to be an iteration on Monkey Target, a recurring minigame from the series. There is next to no substantial information on this mode other than that references to it have existed since launch. Unlike the other unused modes, this one has no message strings tied to it.

The eState "BrTargetWing" can be found in the game's code, containing unused functionality states that were designed for this mode.

Invalid
Open
StayOpen
Close
Hide

Despite having a stage parameter asset bundle, stage_list_group_br_target, the list is empty, with no placeholder stage IDs being tied to this mode.

The mode's working music filename, bgm_btl_target_target, is found among music cues for each of the in-game Battle Modes in the battleroyale_bgmlist asset bundle. No corresponding audio file exists, and the music cue has remained obsoleted.

Unused Battle Mode Items#

Text strings pertaining to multiple unused Battle Mode items can be found in the battleroyale_itemtype_text_en asset bundle. Some of these items have thumbnails attached to them, found in the ui_icon_batl_itemicon bundles among the other sprites in the game.

Icon	Item Name	Notes
	Slowpoke Missile	Likely an early iteration of the Heavy Ball item.
	Old Quake	An early iteration of the Quake item.
	Banana Juice	The name of this item is found in the ui_state_howtoplay_stringbattleitem_text_en bundle. In the itemtype specifications, however, this item seems to be split into three different items called Skill Gauge Up, Skill Gauge Up (Small), and Skill Gauge Up (Large). It is unknown what function this item serves, as there is currently no Skill Gauge in the game. The closest equivalent could be the Special Item Gauge, which gradually fills over time and grants an item from a pre-decided pool that is personalized for every character.
	Freezer Burn	Likely an early iteration of the Ice Beam item.
	UFO	Has function text attached to it: "Hold to float!"
	Invisible	An early iteration of the Stealth item.
	Shield	Likely an early iteration of the Barrier item.
None.	Super Recovery	-
	Gel	-
	Bumper	-
	Bat (Hit)	Likely a duplicate of the Bat item. It seems to have been created after the final iteration of the Bat item used in-game.

Unused Graphics#

Early Title/Logo Thumbnail#

A sprite of an early placeholder logo for the game. This logo uses the 2006-2012 era Super Monkey Ball typography as a placeholder, and reveals that the game was at one point titled "Super Monkey Ball Banana Festival" during development.

Early Minimap Textures#

An early minimap texture for the Goal Rush stage, Harvest Slider. This texture uses a different naming format from the final minimap textures and seems to have not been removed from the game since launch.

A placeholder minimap texture for a Ba-BOOM! stage added in Ver. 1.20. Interestingly, the placeholder is of a top-down wireframe view of the Race stage, Sky Highway. This placeholder file was swiftly removed from the game in Ver. 2.00, and would later be properly replaced by the minimap for the Ba-BOOM! stage, Scattered Stones, in Ver. 2.10.

Unused Main Menu Category Sprite#

In the texture file for the top menu directory icons used on the Main Menu, there are 8 different sprites laid out for each menu category. However, only 7 menu categories are featured in the final game. The orange tab, arranged between the tabs for the Adventure and Battle modes, is never seen in the final game. Evidence alludes to this tab being reserved for Challenge Mode, a main game category returning from previous Monkey Ball games. Each tab sprite features the first initial of their respective menu subcategory, in the in-universe monkey language script. The unused tab features the letter "C", indicating a very high possibility that this tab was to be used for Challenge Mode.

Customization Part Thumbnails#

Among the folders for customization part thumbnails, there appears to be one placeholder texture per category. Most of these reuse textures of items from Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, but some are more interesting.

Unused Sounds#

Announcer Voice Lines#

There are a number of voice lines from the in-game announcer that did not end up getting used in the final game. Among these are name calls for all of the characters that appeared in Banana Mania.

Curiously, Sonic & Tails have completely new takes from the Banana Rumble announcer, but other characters from Banana Mania that aren't currently present in-game did not have new takes recorded for their lines. These characters instead had their announcer calls carried over from Banana Mania.

While these characters are currently not present in-game, Beat was confirmed to be returning to Banana Rumble prior to its release as part of the SEGA Pass. The fate of the other three characters is currently unknown, and their announcer calls will likely remain as carryovers.

Miscellaneous unused voice lines from the new announcer. Alongside these, there are many leftover voice lines from the previous announcers from Banana Mania and Banana Blitz HD scattered throughout.

Unused Music#

Banana Mania Bonus Stage Theme#

The track SMB2 Bonus Stage Theme from Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania can be found in the sound folder under its own bundle, bgm_bonus.awb.

Banana Blitz Leftovers#

Leftovers from Banana Blitz HD and Banana Mania. Contrary to those games, these are not heard anywhere in Banana Rumble.

Unused Text#

Results Screen/Practice Stage Names#

By checking the stage_text_en bundle or hacking the game to play non-playable stages in Adventure Mode, the names of these two stages can be seen.

As of Ver. 1.20, the stage_text_en bundle has been moved to an encrypted folder and can no longer be accessed.

course_category_text_en#

A text file containing strings for the titles of the game's various game mode types. Notably, there is a Test string, and one for Challenge Mode, a returning main game mode from previous Super Monkey Ball games.

{
      "m_IDIndex": 1,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Adventure Mode"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 0
      }
    },
    {
      "m_IDIndex": 2,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Battle Royale"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 1
      }
    },
    {
      "m_IDIndex": 3,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Test"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 2
      }
    },
    {
      "m_IDIndex": 4,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Challenge Mode"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 3
      }
    },
    {
      "m_IDIndex": 5,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Multiplayer Adventure"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 4
      }

PC-Specific Options#

Various strings for absent Options settings are present in option_kind_element_item_quality_text and option_kind_element_item_screenmode_text. These could be either hints at the game potentially being ported to PC at a later date, or leftover development strings.

    {
      "m_IDIndex": 1,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Low"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 0
      }
    },
    {
      "m_IDIndex": 2,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Medium"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 1
      }
    },
    {
      "m_IDIndex": 3,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "High"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 2
      }

Option menu strings for graphics quality settings.

{
      "m_IDIndex": 1,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Windowed"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 0
      }
    },
    {
      "m_IDIndex": 2,
      "m_RawRecord": {
        "Name": "Full Screen"
      },
      "m_Info": {
        "m_IsDeleted": 0,
        "m_IndexDisplay": 1
      }

Option menu strings for setting the game's screen mode.

Mouse Sensitivity
Screen Mode
Graphics Settings
Shadow Quality
V-Sync
Anti-Aliasing
Texture Smoothness
Post-Processing Effects

Further unused PC-related strings for the above settings can be found in option_text_en.

Regional Differences#

Title Screen#

International	Japanese

Chinese (Traditional)	Chinese (Simplified)	Korean

The Japanese, Chinese and Korean versions add the game's name in their respective regional language below the logo on the Title Screen.

Internal Project Name#

The game's internal project name is "Wonder", as seen by browsing the game's internal library.