For many fans ofSuper Monkey Ball, they can’t remember the game without hearing the announcer’s voice in their heads. Brian Matt Uhl’s voice work in the game is both iconic and nostalgic, and it would be hard to picture the games without him. It seems like, however, forSuper Monkey Ball Banana Maniaplayers, they’ll have to. SEGA chose to bring in new narrators to say the iconic lines instead, and Matt wasn’t involved with the game at all despite his previous claims.
On June 20th, Matt had announced on his Instagram that he would be inSuper Monkey Ball Banana Mania with a statement that he’ll planned to edit with further information once SEGA “finishes editing.” It seems like with the editing finalized, they decided to find other narrators and leave theSuper Monkey Ball1,2, andDeluxeremasters without their narrator.
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This seems to be directly after the voice actor decided to publish a video titled “The Dark Side of Sega,” focusing on how the company has had a history of not crediting foreign Japan-based voice talent in their games, entering legal disputes regarding the royalties Matt feels like he’s been owed after having his voice used in numerous differentMonkey Ballgames over the years. He’s also gone on to say in YouTube Q&A’s thatnew titles featuring AiAi and friendswere in development, even showcasing lines from a supposed “paid recording” session he had done with SEGA while also saying he was under an NDA.
To make matters worse, SEGA has reached out to Video Games Chronicle about their report on the events, stating that the announcer isn’t inBanana Mania, and hasn’t been involved with the series “for some time.” It seems as Matt is fighting a legal battle for proper credit and royalties, SEGA has decided to cut the voice actor out of any future projects. It’s understandable if Matt truly was honest with his work on the series, as that would be seen as massively breaching his contract numerous times.
The situation regarding royalties and voice credits has always lead to some debate when it comes to video games, as companies mistreating voice actors have been known to happen in the industry on occasion. SEGA may be having some trouble with their voice actors as a whole in general, asthe voice of Sonic rescinded his departuredue to undisclosed reasons earlier this year.
Whatever the case may be, what’s known is it’s very likely that the announcers heard inSuper Monkey Ball Banana Maniamay be here to stay if more titles are released, as the original voice actor may not come back after these discrimination claims. At the very least, the new announcers have a similar charm to them, so fans may end up endeared to them soon afterplayingBanana Maniaand its new modesfor themselves.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Maniareleases on October 5th for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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