Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble - World 10 - Astrum

Well, here it is at last: AiAi and his friends tried finding the Legendary Banana in Oceanus and Caelum, and only one location remains, Astrum. Easel is here too, and we see that the stages are really Easel trying to slow down AiAi and the others. The toughest stages in the story mode are found here…well, the toughest set anyway. The individual stages’ actual difficulty may vary depending on the player, and some of them may be easier than earlier ones. I don’t know how Easel builds them, but for Astrum, as it seems to be a metaphysical astral plane, made out of rainbow and iridescent glass and crystal (it looks a lot like Super Monkey Ball’s own version of Rainbow Road), he may have just thought them into existence. This is the most surreal of the locations in Banana Rumble, and obviously, this is not a tourist spot. Set in what looks like outer space (but it’s unclear if it really is), Astrum has glowing replicas of stained glass patterns, butterflies, a phoenix made of stardust flying around, and miniature planets and stars. This is the only stage that feels like the background was actually modeled to scale. The whole place looks kind of trippy. “Astrum” is Latin for “star.” You may have seen the phrase "ad astra," "to the stars," in various contexts. Rounding out the Gala Family is Val, who acts as their enforcer, as big lion characters tend to be. However, he’s also kind of soft-hearted, gentle, and dislikes violence if he can avoid it. He’s also smarter than he looks (but not as brainy as Tee). True to his physical stature, he is one of the heaviest characters, not easily affected by obstacles smacking him about, and has a slow but powerful Spin Dash charge. His weight means he cannot correct his speed or direction so easily, and as a result, Val is good at some of the Astrum stages and terrible at others. (As you can see, just because Easel put the Gala Family out of commission does not prevent you from playing as them through the Astrum stages. The same applies for using Palette in World 8 when Easel takes her with him.) 00:34 - 10-01 Geometric Pattern 01:09 - 10-02 Cosmic Clouds 02:05 - 10-03 Sliding Sticks 04:04 - 10-04 Wind and Sun 07:06 - 10-05 Tornado Ring 11:00 - 10-06 Snake Whip 11:31 - 10-07 Broken Cylinder 14:17 - 10-08 Wipeout 16:29 - 10-09 Gravity Field 21:09 - 10-10 Curvy Coaster Notably, 10-01, Geometric Pattern, turns up in the opening cutscene as an example of an Easel-made trap. As for the stage itself, the path is far too narrow, winding, and maze-like to make it to the goal in time. The only way I know how to clear it is what you see me attempt: a Spin Dash followed by a series of bounces to the goal platform. The gaps between the platforms in 10-03, Sliding Sticks, is just wide enough to get caught in but not so wide that you fall between them, at least until they start moving again. 10-04, Wind and Sun, may have a relaxing name, but I struggle with this one big time. The opening S-shaped platforms (representing wind) are narrow, curved, and move back and forth, while barely touching the other surfaces allowing you a brief time to cross, and you must traverse all three of them. The second segment involves a lot of diamond-shaped platforms around a sphere (representing sun) you must get around to reach the goal, and on this half, fast-moving blue bits will sometimes come by to smack you, as if the stage designers thought this stage would be too easy otherwise. (Fall Out Count: 17) 10-05, Tornado Ring, is one of the hardest stages in the entire game, as a lot of it involves crossing gaps without a lot of distance to stop (meaning Val is probably one of the worst characters to use for it) and involves some jumps into the air with precision landing, including the goal, found affixed to the final ring which is always slightly higher than the second-from-final ring requiring you to use it as a ramp without losing control or falling through the gap in between. This is perhaps the most infamously difficult stage in the game (but not the hardest one, though fewer people have reached that one), and you’ll see my struggles with it too. Don’t be fooled by it being named after a potato snack you find at carnivals. (Fall Out Count: 49) 10-09, Gravity Field, consists entirely of horizontal cylindrical poles with spheres with flat tops. Balls have a terrible time staying on horizontal cylinders, so I consider this one the second-hardest stage in the story mode, after Tornado Ring. (Fall Out Count: 34) If Astrum is like Rainbow Road, 10-10, Curvy Caster, is something that looks like a racetrack! The Astrum traps are Easel’s last resort, and with nothing left, AiAi and Palette stun him, and Palette helps cure the corruption and get Easel back to his senses. As an pology, he allows AiAi and the others to have the Legendary Banana. After this will be the overall ending and credits to this game.