Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz/Characters
This article features a list of things.
There are six different characters to choose from in Banana Blitz, including YanYan and Doctor who first appeared in this game. Each character has their own varying stats that affects the gameplay. These 8 statistic categories are Ball size, Acceleration, Turning, Weight, Inertial speed, Boost speed, Jump, and Rebound.
In Banana Blitz HD, the six characters return along with an unlockable seventh, which is Sonic. This time, there are 6 stats for each of the characters: Speed (Inertial speed), Size, Jump, Weight, Bounce (Rebound), and Life.
AiAi
Description
"He has a good time wherever he goes, especially if there are bananas to be had! He lives happily with his wife MeeMee, and their baby boy on Jungle Island. He's perplexed and surprised by the flirtations of a cute new neighbor named YanYan."
Stats
| Category | Strength (Wii) |
Strength (HD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ball size | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Acceleration | ★★★☆☆ | - |
| Friction | ★★☆☆☆ | - |
| Turning | ★★★☆☆ | - |
| Weight | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Inertial speed | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Boost speed | ★★☆☆☆ | - |
| Jump | ★★★☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Rebound | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Life | - | ★★★☆☆ |
MeeMee
Description
"Though she is not as carefree as AiAi, and she doesn't think about bananas half as much, she is very happy. She loves searching for new flowers to wear every day. She is very proud of her husband AiAi. She is not surprised that YanYan has fallen for one of them, though she wishes she wouldn't flirt so much."
Stats
| Category | Strength (Wii) |
Strength (HD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ball size | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Acceleration | ★★★☆☆ | - |
| Friction | ★★★☆☆ | - |
| Turning | ★★★☆☆ | - |
| Weight | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Inertial speed | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Boost speed | ★★★☆☆ | - |
| Jump | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Rebound | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Life | - | ★★★☆☆ |
Baby
Description
"He is the coolest baby monkey around with slick sunglasses and a lightning fast crawl. Though he's usually jovial, enjoying all his family's adventures, he is sometimes known to melt down completely and his cries can be heard all across Jungle Island. Only MeeMee can calm him down."
Stats
| Category | Strength (Wii) |
Strength (HD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ball size | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Acceleration | ★★★★☆ | - |
| Friction | ★★★★☆ | - |
| Turning | ★★★★☆ | - |
| Weight | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Inertial speed | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Boost speed | ★★★★★ | - |
| Jump | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Rebound | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Life | - | ★★★☆☆ |
GonGon
Description
"He's fast and strong with a heart of gold, though he and AiAi weren't always the best of friends. When you know that you're going to need extra might and muscle, GonGon is your best bet - his body-checks send opponents into orbit!"
Stats
| Category | Strength (Wii) |
Strength (HD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ball size | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Acceleration | ★☆☆☆☆ | - |
| Friction | ☆☆☆☆☆ | - |
| Turning | ★☆☆☆☆ | - |
| Weight | ★★★★★* | ★★★★★* |
| Inertial speed | ★★★★★ | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Boost speed | ★☆☆☆☆ | - |
| Jump | ★★☆☆☆ | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Rebound | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Life | - | ★★★☆☆ |
*(Bumpers are destroyed on contact)
YanYan
Description
"She's a fast and fearless ring-tailed lemur and a master of the monkey martial art of pugilism, Hachi-en-Ken. The day she met AiAi, she fell for him like a truckload of bananas. She is not usually shy at all, but around him, she can barely breathe."
Stats
| Category | Strength (Wii) |
Strength (HD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ball size | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Acceleration | ★★☆☆☆ | - |
| Friction | ★★★☆☆ | - |
| Turning | ★★★☆☆ | - |
| Weight | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Inertial speed | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Boost speed | ★★★★☆ | - |
| Jump | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Rebound | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ |
| Life | - | ★★★☆☆ |
Doctor
Description
"One day this mysterious old specter lemur monkey drifted into town and not even he knows his own name - he has amnesia! Out of respect and because he is always creating fascinating new inventions, the people of the town decided to call him "Doctor"."
Stats
| Category | Strength (Wii) |
Strength (HD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ball size | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Acceleration | ★★★★★ | - |
| Friction | ★★★★★ | - |
| Turning | ★★★★★ | - |
| Weight | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Inertial speed | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★★ |
| Boost speed | ★★☆☆☆* | - |
| Jump | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Rebound | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Life | - | ★★★☆☆ |
*(Appears lower due to Doctor's very high friction resulting in him losing speed rapidly after the boost)
Sonic
Stats
| Category | Strength (HD) |
|---|---|
| Ball size | ★★★☆☆ |
| Weight | ★★★★☆ |
| Speed | ★★★★★ |
| Jump | ★★★★☆ |
| Rebound | ★★★★☆ |
| Life | ★★★☆☆ |
Notable Differences
Several stats have changed significantly from the Wii version in Banana Blitz HD:
- Speed and acceleration are no longer distinct stats, as all characters have the same friction, meaning speed and acceleration are now correlated. As a result of this, GonGon is considerably slower, the slowest in the game, while Doctor is considerably faster, the fastest in the game excluding Sonic, and no longer struggles to build up speed with boost panels.
- Other affected characters include MeeMee and Baby Robo, who are now the same speed as AiAi despite both being faster than him in the Wii version.
- Additionally, acceleration varies a lot less in this game than it did in the Wii version. GonGon has higher acceleration and Doctor has lower acceleration, making both characters easier to control overall.
- GonGon now has an average rebound, listed as "bounce" by the stat menu, while in the Wii version he had a very low rebound.
- Baby's jump is now lower than MeeMee's, while it used to be about the same.
- All characters are generally lighter and more susceptible to being knocked back than they were in the Wii version, especially the lightweights, although their weights relative to each other are about the same.
Trivia
- The life stat is listed as 3 for every character. Due to this, it is technically unknown what the purpose of the stat is, although it is speculated to refer to the number of lives the monkey starts with. Its inclusion in the list of stats is still unexplained, however, due to it never varying.
- The stats provided don't correlate to exact in-game stats. For example, there is no predefined speed stat in-game, but rather it is a consequence of various other stats, such as acceleration and resistance, and the game's engine. Furthermore, some characters see a greater speed reduction on slopes than others, and speeds in the air and from boost panels is completely ignored.
- In Banana Blitz HD, GonGon and Baby Robo are now listed as having the same weight, although Baby Robo lacks GonGon's passive ability to destroy bumpers, and takes slightly more knockback from bumpers than he does.