Monkey Target (Banana Mania)

For other iterations of this party game, see Monkey Target (disambiguation).

Monkey Target
Game Start
Number of Players	1-4
COMs	No
Modes	Normal Formation Mode
Seen In:	Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

Monkey Target is a Party Game in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. Similar to its predecessors, the gameplay revolves around controlling gliding monkeys, and guiding them to landing areas for points. It contains layouts from Monkey Target and Monkey Target 2.

Rules

To score points, the player must primarily focus on guiding the monkey to a landing area, then closing the ball and allowing the monkey to land on the "targets", with points being awarded based on the color of the target landed on, as indicated on the target. Wind will be present and is indicated on the HUD. Collecting bananas will also award points. And at the start of the round, if enabled, the "Wheel of Danger" is spun, which can either help or hinder the player.

There are two modes, normal mode, in which you pilot a single monkey, and formation mode, in which you pilot five monkeys, and can toggle between a line and arrow formation. The player can also select 1-6 rounds, can toggle the Wheel of Danger, whether items appear, and whether advice is given by the game.

Controls

Nintendo Switch and Xbox One & Series X/S version:

• Control stick - controls the gliding direction
• A button - first press opens the ball into a glider, and the second press closes it again, permanently
• B button - changes formation between line and arrow, if playing in formation mode
• Right stick - manipulates the camera
• Y button - changes the camera to a bird's eye view when held

PlayStation 4 and 5 version:

• Control stick - controls the gliding direction
• X button - first press opens the ball into a glider, and the second press closes it again, permanently
• Circle button - changes formation between line and arrow, if playing in formation mode
• Right stick - manipulates the camera
• Square button - changes the camera to a bird's eye view when held

Windows version:

• W, S, A and D Keys - controls the gliding direction
• Vertical Right Square Bracket Key - first press opens the ball into a glider, and the second press closes it again, permanently
• J Key - changes formation between line and arrow, if playing in formation mode
• ? - manipulates the camera
• L Key - changes the camera to a bird's eye view when held

Targets

Points vary from 10 to 1,000. Landing on a specific colored platform will give you its value in points.

SMB1 layouts

• 10 points for landing on red
• 20 points for orange
• 40 points for purple
• 50 points for blue
• 100 points for aqua
• 200 points for chartreuse
• 300 points for yellow
• 500 points for gold

SMB2 layouts

• 10 points for landing on magenta
• 50 points for red
• 100 points for orange
• 150 points for yellow
• 200 points for chartreuse
• 300 points for green
• 400 points for aqua
• 500 points for blue
• 750 points for purple
• 1,000 points for gold

Items

• Banana - Awards 10 points.
• Banana bunch - Awards 50 points.
• Lucky Star - Multiplies the players score for the rest of the round by 2x for the first one, then 3x for two and so on up to 5x for four collected. Also awards 30 points.
• Brake Ball - Makes the ball come to a stop more quickly upon landing. Also awards 50 points.
• Magnet Ball - Makes the ball stop on a dime upon landing. Also awards 50 points.
• Wind Om - Removes wind for the rest of the round. Also awards 50 points.

Wheel of Danger outcomes

• Kaboom Bomb - Makes bombs appear on the targets. Touching one opens the ball and causes a crash, awarding 0 points.
• Prickly Ball - Makes spiky balls appear in the air around targets. Touching one causes a crash landing, awarding 0 points.
• Smokescreen - Fog-like clouds appear, obscuring the view of the targets.
• More Bananas - Adds some additional bananas to the area.
• Higher Score - Increases the points awarded for landing on targets by 10%.
• More Items - Increases the number of non-banana items in the air by a small amount.

Reception

This minigame in particular has received criticism by fans of the series, due to the different physics present in this version compared to the original. In general, the physics of the glider are heavier, with the glider gaining less speed for pointing downwards, and losing speed almost immediately when pointing upwards. Because of the way the controls have been tuned, the player must now hold the stick in a precise position pointed slightly backwards in order to travel any significant distance and reach most targets, and only minor adjustments forward and backward can be made, or else the heavier physics kick in. This new aspect of the gameplay has been criticized for being much harder to control, providing much less freedom to the player to fly around the area, and making it just barely possible to reach some targets. Some have also noted the ball takes a little longer to stop when landing, reducing precision.

Missions

Note: All Party Game missions award 300 Banana Points.

Name	Description
Path of the Point Scorer	Play Monkey Target
Eyes on the Score	Clear all stages with a score of 6000 or above (Ranking Challenge only)
Stage Complete	Play all stages
Change Formation	Change formations in Formation Mode
Intro to Normal Mode	Play on Normal Mode
Intro to Change Formation	Play on Formation Mode
Mode Master	Play all modes in Monkey Target
Speed Demon	Reach 120 km/h and clear the stage
Lucky Monkey	Get a Lucky Star
Hit the Brakes	Get a Brake Ball
On a Dime	Get a Magnet Ball
Tranquility	Observe the Wind at 0 km/h
Banana Harvest	Get a Banana Bunch
No Items Needed	Clear without getting any items
Together Forever	Clear a stage on Formation Mode without anyone falling out of bounds
Perfect Aim	Clear all stages on Formation Mode without anyone falling out of bounds
A New Perspective	Change the camera angle
Overhead View	Look down from above
Item Master	Get every kind of item from the roulette
Dodge Master	With obstacles on the field, clear a round without hitting a single one

Trivia

• Despite the heavier physics, it is once again possible to glide indefinitely by holding the stick at the right angle with a sufficiently strong tailwind. However, unlike in the classic games, the wind direction no longer changes to point back towards the center of the course if the player gets too far out, so it is technically possible to fly infinitely, even flying through background elements and beyond the skybox and the water's edge.
• It is now possible to slowly roll back up to the top of the starting ramp from the bottom.
• The points are reversed for aqua and chartreuse in the second stage from Monkey Target, where chartreuse is 100 points and aqua is 200 points.
• The mission "Dodge Master" shares its name with A stage in SMB1's Master difficulty.
• The original music used in Super Monkey Ball 2 was not used in Banana Mania. The new song used is an original composition.