Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The location of the second OOPart leading to the Legendary Banana is in the Rose Garden, a peaceful region based on the Palace of Versailles, encapsulating Japan’s fascination with Lea Belle Époque, so much so that the Japanese Embassy in Paris gets a lot of Japanese tourists with “Paris Syndrome,” where they see modern-style highrises, littering, theft, aggressive motorists, and such, and get nausea, vomiting, and headaches from their disappointment that it’s not like the old-fashioned, idealized Paris they imagined. (There is also a similar fascination with Victorian-era England, most notably with the Professor Layton games and how James Turner had to fight that notion when put in charge of Pokémon Sword and Shield.) There is also a version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with a pink ribbon around it. All in all, it’s a pretty uniquely Japanese vision of Europe. The cutscenes also look like one of those Japanese amusement parks with the pink castles.
In the Rose Garden is where we meet some new opposition (and some new characters): the Gala Family, a trio of thieves consisting of Fes, the leader (she is a caracal, for the record); Tee, the thinker; and Val, the muscle (but not dumb). They, too, are after the Legendary Banana, and plant some really obvious traps while showing themselves face-to-face with the ones they plan to steal from. They are different from that figure we saw at the end of the Banana Farm cutscene though.
Rose Garden continues with introducting concepts like bumpers, moving platforms, conveyor belts, and maze type stages while giving you plenty of room to breathe. The last stage, Grandfather Clock, does show that these stages can become pretty complex if they want to be, and is a taste of the harrowing nature of the rest of the game.
I chose Meemee for this one because she is the deuteragonist of the series and the only other playable character from the start—Baby and Gongon were added to the roster for Super Monkey Ball, whereas Monkey Ball (without the “Super”) had just AiAi and Meemee. I should’ve picked YanYan because she suggested this location, but Meemee feels like a thematically better pick.
01:59 - 2-01 Bumpers
02:28 - 2-02 Round and Around
02:49 - 2-03 Drawbridge Path
03:59 - 2-04 Wonder Maze
04:30 - 2-05 Sky Garden
05:09 - 2-06 Conveyor Ride
05:34 - 2-07 Casual Step
06:01 - 2-08 Push-Ups
06:50 - 2-09 Riding the Waves
07:38 - 2-10 Grandfather Clock
For 2-02, Round and Around, the intended path is to just go outward in a spiral where you begin, then go back in on the next one to get to the goal. But you can bounce your way out of the first spiral and over the walls onto the goal’s spiral to get there quickly (but not quick enough for the time mission). Super Monkey Ball is full of Gordian Knot type approaches like this, and it is totally intentional.
2-03, Drawbridge Path, has a gap at the end that got me a couple of times, which I didn’t fall for the first time playing this. Maybe I was in too much of a hurry. This is not to be confused with the later stage simply called “Drawbridges,” which is much, much harder.
2-07, Casual Step, and 2-10, Grandfather Clock, look complicated and difficult but really aren’t, at least when you get used to how this game works. Casual Step’s slopes are gentle enough that as long as you maintain a decent speed, you can safely travers them without falling out; and Grandfather Clock mainly requires patience as there are walls all around the gear areas. The spinning hands in front of the goal may throw you off though.
The second OOPart appears to be a teacup (and you can see the sparkling gemstone on it, which is a recurring motif between them). Following the world tour theme, we’ll visit Floating City next, a city with a network of water canals and travel via boat.
The location of the second OOPart leading to the Legendary Banana is in the Rose Garden, a peaceful region based on the Palace of Versailles, encapsulating Japan’s fascination with Lea Belle Époque, so much so that the Japanese Embassy in Paris gets a lot of Japanese tourists with “Paris Syndrome,” where they see modern-style highrises, littering, theft, aggressive motorists, and such, and get nausea, vomiting, and headaches from their disappointment that it’s not like the old-fashioned, idealized Paris they imagined. (There is also a similar fascination with Victorian-era England, most notably with the Professor Layton games and how James Turner had to fight that notion when put in charge of Pokémon Sword and Shield.) There is also a version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with a pink ribbon around it. All in all, it’s a pretty uniquely Japanese vision of Europe. The cutscenes also look like one of those Japanese amusement parks with the pink castles.
In the Rose Garden is where we meet some new opposition (and some new characters): the Gala Family, a trio of thieves consisting of Fes, the leader (she is a caracal, for the record); Tee, the thinker; and Val, the muscle (but not dumb). They, too, are after the Legendary Banana, and plant some really obvious traps while showing themselves face-to-face with the ones they plan to steal from. They are different from that figure we saw at the end of the Banana Farm cutscene though.
Rose Garden continues with introducting concepts like bumpers, moving platforms, conveyor belts, and maze type stages while giving you plenty of room to breathe. The last stage, Grandfather Clock, does show that these stages can become pretty complex if they want to be, and is a taste of the harrowing nature of the rest of the game.
I chose Meemee for this one because she is the deuteragonist of the series and the only other playable character from the start—Baby and Gongon were added to the roster for Super Monkey Ball, whereas Monkey Ball (without the “Super”) had just AiAi and Meemee. I should’ve picked YanYan because she suggested this location, but Meemee feels like a thematically better pick.
01:59 - 2-01 Bumpers
02:28 - 2-02 Round and Around
02:49 - 2-03 Drawbridge Path
03:59 - 2-04 Wonder Maze
04:30 - 2-05 Sky Garden
05:09 - 2-06 Conveyor Ride
05:34 - 2-07 Casual Step
06:01 - 2-08 Push-Ups
06:50 - 2-09 Riding the Waves
07:38 - 2-10 Grandfather Clock
For 2-02, Round and Around, the intended path is to just go outward in a spiral where you begin, then go back in on the next one to get to the goal. But you can bounce your way out of the first spiral and over the walls onto the goal’s spiral to get there quickly (but not quick enough for the time mission). Super Monkey Ball is full of Gordian Knot type approaches like this, and it is totally intentional.
2-03, Drawbridge Path, has a gap at the end that got me a couple of times, which I didn’t fall for the first time playing this. Maybe I was in too much of a hurry. This is not to be confused with the later stage simply called “Drawbridges,” which is much, much harder.
2-07, Casual Step, and 2-10, Grandfather Clock, look complicated and difficult but really aren’t, at least when you get used to how this game works. Casual Step’s slopes are gentle enough that as long as you maintain a decent speed, you can safely travers them without falling out; and Grandfather Clock mainly requires patience as there are walls all around the gear areas. The spinning hands in front of the goal may throw you off though.
The second OOPart appears to be a teacup (and you can see the sparkling gemstone on it, which is a recurring motif between them). Following the world tour theme, we’ll visit Floating City next, a city with a network of water canals and travel via boat.
