Like many old fans have pointed out, the controls in the remake aren't as good as they were in the original trilogy, due to the clunky camera and its 360° movement. While the camera hasn't been patched out yet, the controls on the other hand have! (kind of)

1. Open Controller Configuration in the Home tab of the game. A controller menu should pop up

2. Click on Tilt (Left Stick) > Additional Settings > Dead Zone Shape > Square

3. Click on Enable Dead Zone > Configuration

4. Change the Inner and Outer Dead Zone parameters to fix the stick drift. My personal settings are:

Inner - 0.150

Outer - 0.840

This will fix the stick drifting issue, make tilting stages diagonally as well as moving in circles more in line with the original games. Hopefully RGG will add the option to change the shape of the dead zone, as well as the inner and outer parts themselves for all platforms, including PC. Maybe even make Square the default one

If you find the game's visuals to be too bright or washed out (like I do), simply do this:

1. Enter Options > Brightness and set the value from 5 to 3, which I highly recommend. The colors pop-up better that way

Brightness value: 5

Brightness value: 3

Before you proceeded, remember to install the recently released Mod Manager[gamebanana.com], as some mods are only compatible with it. Plus it'll make setting them up even easier. As for the mods that don't require it, make sure to back-up the original files, in case you'd like to go back to the vanilla experience

1. Download the mod manager

2. Extract the ZIP file

3. Move all the content inside the Release folder to the same folder smbbm.exe is located at, in your Local Files

4. Click on the program and wait for it to add all the needed assets


• Musical Monkey Madness OST Pack[gamebanana.com]
Created by: SGFR
Art by: Dead Line

Brought to you by SilvaGunner Fusion Records, this OST pack replaces (almost) every track in the game with completely new arrangements! As well as giving you an option on which remix you want to switch to

• Classic Sound Pack (compatible with Dynamic Sounds)[gamebanana.com]
Created by: Dead Line

Does exactly what it says. Replaces almost EVERY sound in the game with their OG counterparts. Monkey voices, Main Game's announcer, SFX and more!

• Monkey Ball OST/Announcer Pack[gamebanana.com]
Created by: Rox_Sox

Want to go even further down the memory lane? This mod replaces the game's OST as well as the announcer with the ones present in the original arcade release of Monkey Ball

• Guest Character Voice Pack[gamebanana.com]
Created by: Dead Line

Sick of not being able to hear your favorite SEGA characters in action while playing them? This mod changes everything! Guest characters now have their own dedicated audio and voice lines attached to them! Yes, even the SEGA consoles

• Dynamic Sounds (compatible with Classic Sound Pack) [gamebanana.com]
Created by: snowmann

The vanilla rolling and bumping SFXs are kind of..... not good. Thankfully this mod fixes them! It allows you to choose between both GameCube sound effects or Vanilla ones

• Banana Splitz/3D/Step & Roll Announcer Pack[gamebanana.com]
Created by: PaperMarioRider

If you wanna go back to Super Monkey Ball's "dark age", this mod replaces the Main Game's announcer with the one from previous few entries


• Dole-branded Bananas[gamebanana.com]
Created by: DrKinkyKinkles

For fans of shameless product placement! Comes in 2 flavors for Dark Banana Mode; Chiquita-branded or Dole again but with an inverted color scheme for the logo

• SEGA-branded Bananas [gamebanana.com]
Created by: JazzyFuture

Gives bananas SEGA-branded stickers just like in the release trailer. Instead of selling out to Dole, you can now sell out to your favorite game publisher!

Default Ball Color Pack[gamebanana.com]
Created by: Dead Line

Annoyed how all characters besides the main 6 monkeys, Sonic and Tails can only roll in a default red ball? This mod adds a total of 13 different colors for you to have fun with! The colors are: Blue, Yellow, Green, Light-Blue, Magenta, Black, White, Cyan, Orange, Pink, Purple, Teal and Yellow-Green

• Comic Sans Shirt for Classic GonGon[gamebanana.com]
Created by: EmmaMtH

Replaces the font of the letter "G" on Classic GonGon's shirt to Comic Sans. Changes both his model and Character Select render. This'll surely make the 4 fans that wanted it to return happy


• Jet Set Radio Future Outfit for Beat [gamebanana.com]
Created by: Dead Line

I know you're gonna dig this! Replaces Beat's model, icons and Character Select render with the outfit he had in Jet Set Radio Future

• Lord of the Night and Mad Dog Outfits for Kiryu[gamebanana.com]
Created by: Dead Line


Gives Kiryu an option to replace his grey suit with Majima's Lord of the Night suit from Yakuza 0 or his iconic Mad Dog outfit from Yakuza and onwards

• SEGA Dreamcast Logo Restoration[gamebanana.com]
Created by: PixelPowerstar

WHOAAA!! DREAMCAST WITH NO SWIRL!! SEGA omitted the classic blue/orange swirl from the Steam release for some... reason? All the mod does is restore it, while also letting you switch between the regional swirl colors


• Accurate Controls [gamebanana.com]
Created by: MorsGames

This mod tweaks Banana Mania's overall controls and camera to get the experience closer to the original 3 Super Monkey Ball games, if you're not keen on changing the dead zone

• Graphical Tweaks[gamebanana.com]
Created by: MorsGames

If you want to go even further beyond the boring graphical settings that're present in-game, this mod's for you! It allows you to tweak a lot of settings related to the game's graphics, colors, camera, FOV, post-processing effects, etc.

• Disable Helper Function Prompt [gamebanana.com]
Created by: JoStro

Tired of that annoying pop-up that prompts you to use the Helper Function when you die more than 5 times? This mod simply gets rid of it, hooray!

• Timer SFX Restoration[gamebanana.com]
Created by: viictiinii

Miss that old beeping sound that wouldn't stop until you beat the level? Well this mod restores it

(Will update this section when more HQ/QoL mods release)

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a fantastic remake! But, there's still more room for improvement. Hopefully Masao Shirosaki (the game's director) isn't planning on abandoning the game and will continue listening to fan feedback

In the meantime, have this short guide to further customize Super Monkey Ball to your liking!