Although some fans have been concerned about Super Monkey Ball’s sales, especially given the numbers following the release of Banana Rumble, SEGA says the series is doing perfectly fine.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble only sold 1,500 copies in its first week. This quickly gave rise to concern. However, producer Nobuhiro Suzuki recently spoke in a youtube.com Interview and pointed out that the series’ focus is currently on North American gamers, and that’s where the IP has performed well.

We have translated the following excerpt:

Can you please confirm this just to be sure – the Super Monkey Ball series is selling very well, isn’t it?

Suzuki: This question is certainly an interesting one to ask from an angle. If you’re in Japan, it’s hard to understand, but Super Monkey Ball is popular overseas and sells particularly well in North America. Sales figures for the last game, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, show that a large portion of sales were also made in North America. So again, North America was the audience we wanted to focus on initially.

I would also like to ask why it sells so well?

Suzuki: It’s very instinctive. There’s no real explanation. You can tilt the floor with the joystick and make the ball roll, but it’s like a toy where you roll a ball along a board.

Because it’s instinctive, even inexperienced players can play. With simple controls, anyone can enjoy it, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. The more you play, the deeper and more addictive it becomes. It can be frustrating to fail, but it’s a good feeling when you clear a level. That’s the charm of Super Monkey Ball.

Suzuki was also asked why Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble was specifically chosen for the Switch. These days, many games are cross-platform, but at least for now, the title is only available on Nintendo’s console.

“Our main reason was to provide 16 players with a stable quality online game, which was the selling point this time. By limiting the hardware, I think we were able to tailor the gameplay to the players.

The reason we chose the Switch rather than another console was simple. Of the customers who bought the last game, the Switch was the most popular. If there is customer demand, I think we will consider expanding to other platforms in the future. So please support Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble.”

Suzuki also made some other interesting comments about the potential expansion of Monkey Ball beyond games. Here’s the exchange:

… do you want the album’s popularity to increase in Japan? Do you already have plans for that?

Suzuki: To increase awareness, we are first considering areas outside of game development. If we can also express the charm of the characters in manga, anime, and by releasing promotional items, the game’s sales will increase. However, since the budget is not large, I think we will continue to lay the foundation and sow the seeds steadily.

Speaking of manga and character development: Are you targeting a younger audience?

Suzuki: It may seem like it’s one of the few titles among SEGA games that are aimed at children and families, but considering it was sold in America and is similar in its focus to the Sonic series, we hope it becomes like Sonic in the future.

Finally, Suzuki believes there is a connection between Super Monkey Ball and Nintendo:

“It’s a bit hard to describe, but I would say it’s not very SEGA-esque, it’s a title that fits the Nintendo hardware… I think. In the past, it’s also been released as a launch title for Nintendo hardware, so a lot of customers seem to think the series is more of a Nintendo title.”

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble is currently available worldwide on Switch. We have a review of the game Here.

Translation provided by SatsumaFS, Simon Griffin and Philip Proctor on behalf of Nintendo Everything.