I was hoping I would get to see more of my favorite Sega characters running around in a ball and collecting everything they can, and it looks like they will be. As announced today via Twitter and Facebook, Kazuma Kiryu is coming out of hiding for a brief period to join the cast of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania.
Kazuma Kiryu of course was the lead character in the Yakuza series since it was introduced in 2005. He has since been replaced by a new lead character from Yakuza 7 onward but he still finds the time to appear from place to place when he can.
Kazuma Kiryu is rolling into Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania! 🍌
The legendary “Dragon of Dojima” will be a playable character, free and unlockable through normal gameplay! 🐉#SuperMonkeyBall #BananaMania #KazumaKiryu pic.twitter.com/xtcA5AAnOF
— Super Monkey Ball (@SuperMonkeyBall) August 18, 2021
Even though Kazuma does not necessarily feel like he mixes with the Super Monkey Ball universe (though he has done some pretty out-there stuff in his own games) this is not such a crazy team-up. Both franchises were created by Toshihiro Nagoshi, and both are developed by RGG Studios. The cast of Super Monkey Ball has previously appeared in the Yakuza series as prizes for the UFO Catcher mini-game. Perhaps it is time the old-school Monkey Ball games appeared as arcade titles as well?
Kazuma is joining an already solid list of guest characters as well. Sonic and Tails from Sega’s flagship series were the first to be announced, shortly followed by Beat from the Jet Set Radio series. Hopefully, we will see Ryo Hazuki and Hatsune Miku as guest characters as well to complete our Sega mascot bingo.
The best news about these characters is that they are free in the game, not DLC. Players will have to unlock them like you had to do in the old days but hey, it gives you a reason to keep playing the game. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania will be rolling its way into stores on October 5, 2021, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows.
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