It seems I was one of the fewer who spent their childhood with this game rather than its much more popular sequel so I may be a bit biased.

Super Monkey Ball is the defining example of "easy to learn, difficult to master." The game's control scheme is so simple to where it only requires a single analog stick yet it still manages to become absolute chaos the later you progress in the floors. The stick tilts the stage itself which is all you need to know to try experimenting with the game's physics engine to discover shortcuts and whatnot. As aforementioned however, certain stages are no walk in the park and you may need to use proper precision to not risk falling off the entire course. Suppose you tire of the ball-busting mayhem of the main game, not to worry. There's a good handful of alternative minigames you may want to experience with a friend, my recommendations being Monkey Race and Monkey Billiards. Not to mention this game got an extensive speedrunning community with plenty of insane stunts to shave off mere seconds from past records. All in all, Super Monkey Ball may be surprisingly extreme in level design, but it's incredibly rewarding to master.

imagine pause buffering lmao