Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble (25th June)
We’re only weeks away from the first brand-new (non-mobile) Super Monkey Ball game in over ten years, and Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is looking… pretty good. With plenty of cutscenes with the adorable new monkey, tons of new stages, and a bunch of multiplayer modes, this will likely be a hit with families over the summer.
Otherwise… this is Super Monkey Ball as you know it. We’re excited to dig into the single-player levels, but we’re a little sad that fan-favourite minigames aren’t making a return. It’s also bringing back the challenge, too, and we struggled to get some of the little “achievements”.
Fun fact, readers — this is the only Nintendo exclusive we got to play at the show. Everything else is coming to Switch and something else.
While Waiting (TBA)
What about a WarioWare that’s all about waiting for things to happen?
We think that’s a pretty good summary of what While Waiting is. It’s a collection of ‘minigames’ where you have to wait for things to happen. Wait for the bus. Wait for the rain to stop. Wait for the traffic to clear. But you don’t have to just sit there and wait. You can accomplish hilarious tasks along the way like collecting ducks and getting run over. Ah yes, that lovely, harmless task of being hit by a car…
The game is coming to PC first, with Switch a priority after that, according to the developers. Touch control isn’t planned, and the movement feels a little slow, but this drew a chuckle out of us during our short 10 minutes with the game.
Yars Rising (2024)
WayForward and Atari have teamed up to take an iconic Atari series (Yars) and spin it in an entirely different direction. Pepper in hundreds of nods to Atari’s history — such as power-ups based on arcade cabinets and bosses entirely framed around an Atari game, and you get Yars Rising.
It’s part Metroidvania, part stealth game, and part hacking game. You can hack terminals to get new abilities for Emi, and one ability we got allowed Emi to shoot enemies. Another saw her using a jetpack-like jump. The game also has that classic WayForward sense of style and humour; it’s extremely loud and colourful.
2024 has been a banner year for Metroidvanias already, and there are still plenty more to come, but will Yars Rising be able to stand out? We’re not too sure this early on, but we’ll find out later in 2024 if WayForward has the magic once again.
We recently spoke to WayForward and Atari about this new collaboration, so check out that interview for more:
