Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The sixth location AiAi and his friends will visit is the Neon Arena, a concert venue held in a modern-day looking city. We have, of course, had futuristic locales in Super Monkey Ball in the past, so it’s nothing too unusual to see a modern metropolis. I think this is the first time a set of stages have been held at a concert though. Of course, this being Super Monkey Ball, there is no need to justify why there are ten abstract-looking structures suspended over the concert. Just that the audience down below is enjoying the show (the host and/or performer being that gladiator looking monkey featured in the neons) waving their glow sticks. And them being in the backgroud, the audience members are more like the size of kaiju.
Glow sticks at a concert are a pretty Japanese thing, spilled over to much of East Asia (very common in Korea, China, Thailand, and the Philippines) but is still not seen very much in western nations. (Looking it up, variations of them have been present at concerts for Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Coldplay, and Lady Gaga, all artists with very large and very dedicated fans.) I wonder if it’s due to a difference in pop music culture: western pop music is far more rebellious, so it would be jarring to have everyone waving colors synchronized to the venue, even more so if they wave in a synchronized way, and possibly buying the glow sticks from the venue.
Neon Arena is where it starts to really resemble the Super Monkey Ball of old, and fairly early on is where you get a major difficulty spike. There will be more such spikes later, but stages like 6-04, Long Half-Pipe, are what’s been seldomly seen in the series for so long. For this one, I chose Baby because I hadn’t picked him yet (and he doesn’t suggest any locations), dressed up as a VIP because he looks like someone important even in his default outfit.
00:27 - 6-01 Vanishing Floor
01:02 - 6-02 Elevator Maze
02:43 - 6-03 Bouncy Ball
04:01 - 6-04 Long Half-Pipe
05:25 - 6-05 Aerial Floor
06:25 - 6-06 Jump and Build
07:38 - 6-07 Floating Panels
08:41 - 6-08 Symbols
10:19 - 6-09 Rising Pillars
12:08 - 6-10 Chakrams
6-03, Bouncy Ball, reminds me of Dribbles, found in Super Monkey Ball 2’s World 3, except these alternate where they land instead of staying in one place, and the ones in 6-03, Bouncy Ball, move far faster, or at last the later ones do.
6-04, Long Half-Pipe, is the first big jump in difficulty in this game. The half-pipe itself is oriented 90 degrees from the ground and is split into ten fragments, which either turn right or left. The danger lies not only in maintaining enough speed to keep you on the wall through centrifugal force, but in safely making the landing nine times.
6-08, Symbols, seems to be based on the icons seen on a PlayStation controller: a circle, a square, a rectangle, and a cross, which is ironic considering, if I recall correctly, Banana Rumble was released only for the Nintendo Switch. (This was played on a Switch 2, which is fully backwards compatible with Switch 1 games.)
6-09, Rising Pillars, is always a big struggle for me. I don’t know if I’m missing something about it, or if the way you see me approach this stage was the intended way.
A chakram, the namesake of 6-10, Chakrams, is a ring-shaped throwing weapon used in South Asia. Actual chakrams were way smaller than as commonly depicted in video games though, twirled around on a finger and flicked with the wrist to be used as a projectile (and with enough force to slice through an arm, neck, or leg with a direct hit). They could also be worn on fingers and wrists as hand-to-hand combat weaponry. As for the stage itself, you want to get to th end of the third ring at between 48 to 45 seconds, as that’s when the fourth ring will pass close enough to reach. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for the movement cycle to return to this state, which might not give you enough time to reach the goal.
The OOPart from Neon Arena appears to be a magical girl staff, I’m guessing originally a piece of merchandise for a performer that was later inlaid with the gemstone the other OOParts have. Doctor locates where the last of OOPart is located: Candy Castle, located in a land made entirely of sweets.
The sixth location AiAi and his friends will visit is the Neon Arena, a concert venue held in a modern-day looking city. We have, of course, had futuristic locales in Super Monkey Ball in the past, so it’s nothing too unusual to see a modern metropolis. I think this is the first time a set of stages have been held at a concert though. Of course, this being Super Monkey Ball, there is no need to justify why there are ten abstract-looking structures suspended over the concert. Just that the audience down below is enjoying the show (the host and/or performer being that gladiator looking monkey featured in the neons) waving their glow sticks. And them being in the backgroud, the audience members are more like the size of kaiju.
Glow sticks at a concert are a pretty Japanese thing, spilled over to much of East Asia (very common in Korea, China, Thailand, and the Philippines) but is still not seen very much in western nations. (Looking it up, variations of them have been present at concerts for Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Coldplay, and Lady Gaga, all artists with very large and very dedicated fans.) I wonder if it’s due to a difference in pop music culture: western pop music is far more rebellious, so it would be jarring to have everyone waving colors synchronized to the venue, even more so if they wave in a synchronized way, and possibly buying the glow sticks from the venue.
Neon Arena is where it starts to really resemble the Super Monkey Ball of old, and fairly early on is where you get a major difficulty spike. There will be more such spikes later, but stages like 6-04, Long Half-Pipe, are what’s been seldomly seen in the series for so long. For this one, I chose Baby because I hadn’t picked him yet (and he doesn’t suggest any locations), dressed up as a VIP because he looks like someone important even in his default outfit.
00:27 - 6-01 Vanishing Floor
01:02 - 6-02 Elevator Maze
02:43 - 6-03 Bouncy Ball
04:01 - 6-04 Long Half-Pipe
05:25 - 6-05 Aerial Floor
06:25 - 6-06 Jump and Build
07:38 - 6-07 Floating Panels
08:41 - 6-08 Symbols
10:19 - 6-09 Rising Pillars
12:08 - 6-10 Chakrams
6-03, Bouncy Ball, reminds me of Dribbles, found in Super Monkey Ball 2’s World 3, except these alternate where they land instead of staying in one place, and the ones in 6-03, Bouncy Ball, move far faster, or at last the later ones do.
6-04, Long Half-Pipe, is the first big jump in difficulty in this game. The half-pipe itself is oriented 90 degrees from the ground and is split into ten fragments, which either turn right or left. The danger lies not only in maintaining enough speed to keep you on the wall through centrifugal force, but in safely making the landing nine times.
6-08, Symbols, seems to be based on the icons seen on a PlayStation controller: a circle, a square, a rectangle, and a cross, which is ironic considering, if I recall correctly, Banana Rumble was released only for the Nintendo Switch. (This was played on a Switch 2, which is fully backwards compatible with Switch 1 games.)
6-09, Rising Pillars, is always a big struggle for me. I don’t know if I’m missing something about it, or if the way you see me approach this stage was the intended way.
A chakram, the namesake of 6-10, Chakrams, is a ring-shaped throwing weapon used in South Asia. Actual chakrams were way smaller than as commonly depicted in video games though, twirled around on a finger and flicked with the wrist to be used as a projectile (and with enough force to slice through an arm, neck, or leg with a direct hit). They could also be worn on fingers and wrists as hand-to-hand combat weaponry. As for the stage itself, you want to get to th end of the third ring at between 48 to 45 seconds, as that’s when the fourth ring will pass close enough to reach. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for the movement cycle to return to this state, which might not give you enough time to reach the goal.
The OOPart from Neon Arena appears to be a magical girl staff, I’m guessing originally a piece of merchandise for a performer that was later inlaid with the gemstone the other OOParts have. Doctor locates where the last of OOPart is located: Candy Castle, located in a land made entirely of sweets.
