For many fans of Super 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, for Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania players, 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 in Super 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 the Super Monkey Ball 1, 2, and Deluxe remasters 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 different Monkey Ball games over the years. He's also gone on to say in YouTube Q&A's that new titles featuring AiAi and friends were 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 in Banana 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 SEGA may be having some trouble with their voice actors as a whole in general, as the voice of Sonic rescinded his departure due to undisclosed reasons earlier this year.

Whatever the case may be, what's known is it's very likely that the announcers heard in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania may 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 after playing Banana Mania and its new modes for themselves.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania releases on October 5th for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Source: Video Games Chronicle