History ThatOneLevel / SuperMonkeyBall

* What, no one's a fan of this game? OK fine. Pachin-erm-Smart Ball. If you can't perfect it, you can't collect any of World 8's medals. To this day, the posting troper has NEVER defeated that level. 50 BANANAS NO!!!
* And don't you dare mention Fire Mountain (shudders).

** And according to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuqTmh7BNHo this video]], this is your biggest threat in the MarathonLevel Difficulty known as Ultimate.

* Hell, ''any'' level where there is no indication of the paths of the goal or obstacles. Virtually your only hope of winning is through an exact timing strategy (pausing at certain times and pressing the correct direction on the control stick). 'Air Hockey," "Train Worm," "Synchronized"... they're all guilty.

* That game also [[FromBadToWorse amplified the difficulty of some levels involving curve bridges]] due to [[ScrappyMechanic the Gamecube having better controls]]. Most notable amongst those is Exam-C (Expert 7 in the original), which was just moderately challenging in the original. Dear god, it's harder than '''''Arthropod'''''. And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y1FTNV0ueE words aren't enough to describe...]]

* Advanced Extra 5, AKA ''Polar Large''. It's Polar (Advanced 30) (the one with all the ''tiny moving platforms''), except harder. While A30 could be quickly cleared with the right timing, that luxury has been removed through the addition of a segment so big that it might as well be its own level. The very last platform goes all the way around, but it's constantly flipping, so if you don't cross in exactly the right spot, you will fall to your death.

* Expert 7, also known as Exam-C. It's like Advanced 17, but way worse, with the addition of an infamous narrow hill, the first occurrence of platforms that must be traversed diagonally, and a final long, curvy path that's only half as wide as your ball. It's hard to even get to the winding section without taking your time, but if you don't have at least 30 seconds left when you reach it, good luck making it to the goal in time.
* Tracks (Expert 9). All of the paths to the goal are skinny and curved, with the shorter paths being thinner. There is a way to bypass it all but it's arguably even harder to pull off.
* Stamina Master, also known as Master 3. Got the Infinite Continues unlocked? No? You need them here. It's arguably three difficult levels in one. Here are [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggr5A_NoUW8 two]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ueeDxYfI6A takes]] on completing it.
* Bridge Master (Master 9) consists entirely of a bridge that starts off narrow and gets ''wire-thin'' by the end. And it's not a straight path, there's a lot of turns in it.

* Advanced Extra 5, AKA ''Polar Large''. It's Advanced 30 (the one with all the ''tiny moving platforms''), except harder. While A30 could be quickly cleared with the right timing, that luxury has been removed through the addition of a segment so big that it might as well be its own level. The very last platform goes all the way around, but it's constantly flipping, so if you don't cross in exactly the right spot, you will fall to your death.

* Expert 7. It's like Advanced 17, but way worse, with the addition of an infamous narrow hill, the first occurrence of platforms that must be traversed diagonally, and a final long, curvy path that's only half as wide as your ball. It's hard to even get to the winding section without taking your time, but if you don't have at least 30 seconds left when you reach it, good luck making it to the goal in time.
* Expert 9. All of the paths to the goal are skinny and curved, with the shorter paths being thinner. There is a way to bypass it all but it's arguably even harder to pull off.
* Master 3. Got the Infinite Continues unlocked? No? You need them here. It's arguably three difficult levels in one. Here are [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggr5A_NoUW8 two]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ueeDxYfI6A takes]] on completing it.
* Master 9 consists entirely of a bridge that starts off narrow and gets ''wire-thin'' by the end. And it's not a straight path, there's a lot of turns in it.

* ''Entangled Path''. Waiting 20 seconds just for the path to untangle is tedious and then you get barely enough time to gun it, hopefully getting to the goal before the path vanishes. Oddly, the green goal is ''easier'' to get on this stage.

* That game also [[ItGotWorse boosted the difficulty of some levels involving curve bridges]] due to [[ScrappyMechanic the Gamecube having better controls]]. Most notable amongst those is Exam-C (Expert 7 in the original), which was just moderately challenging in the original. Dear god, it's harder than '''''Arthropod'''''. And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y1FTNV0ueE words aren't enough to describe...]]

* ''Palpitation'' is definitely not an Anticlimax. It's similar to the level ''Jump Machine'' from [=SMB2=] except the goal is on a high platform which is moving around the area. Your timing and also landing has to be spot-on if you are to land on this platform.

* That game also boosted the difficulty of some levels involving curve bridges. Most notable amongst those is Exam-C (Expert 7 in the original), which was just moderately challenging in the original. Dear god, it's harder than '''''Arthropod'''''. And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y1FTNV0ueE words aren't enough to describe...]]

* ''Air Hockey'' of World 9 (or Expert 50) can be pretty hard if you don't know what to do.

* ''Palpitation''. It's similar to the level ''Jump Machine'' from [=SMB2=] except the goal is on a high platform which is moving around the area. Your timing and also landing has to be spot-on if you are to land on this platform.

* ''Freewheeler''. It consists of a flat spiral that is constantly rotating. It wouldn't be so bad if the camera wasn't rather hard to control, and the rotation on the outer part of it is so great that you have to be going full-tilt to not be thrown off.

* Hell, ''any'' level where there is no indication of the paths of the goal or obstacles. Virtually your only hope of winning is through an exact timing strategy (pausing at certain times and pressing the correct direction on the control stick). 'Air Hockey," "Train Worm," "Spasmodic," "Dizzy System," "Synchronized"... they're all guilty.

* Hell, ''any'' level where there is no indication of the goal's/obstacles' paths and your only hope of winning is through exact timing. 'Air Hockey," "Train Worm," "Spasmodic," "Dizzy System," "Synchronized"... they're all guilty.

* Advanced 21 and Expert 36 are two variants of the same level, both involving a track that bumpers move along in a figure-eight. To progress, you have to get in between two bumpers as they come and keep the timing up to get through to the end. A21 actually isn't so bad, but in E36, the bumpers move ''so fast'' that you practically need to be running in order to even ''get on'', let alone get through the level!

* Master levels 3 and 9. Got the Infinite Continues unlocked? No? You need them here. Master 3 is arguably three difficult levels in one. Here are [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggr5A_NoUW8 two]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ueeDxYfI6A takes]] on completing it.

* ''Tiers''. See Expert 9 in the [=SMB1=] folder? Now picture that if the paths were instead ''slanted''.

* ''Strata''. Yes, let's have the player cross REALLY SMALL HILLY PLATFORMS, shall we?

* That game also boosted the difficulty of some levels involving curve bridges. Most notable amongst those is Exam-C (Expert 7 in the original), which was just moderately challenging in the original. Dear god, it's harder than '''''arthropod'''''. And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y1FTNV0ueE words aren't enough to describe...]]

* ''Fluctuation'' is Expert 4 from the first game, except harder, especially on the narrow hill at the end.

[[folder:Adventure]]

[[folder:Banana Blitz]]
* ''Banana Blitz'' presents 10-5, which consists of mostly bumpy surface that makes the result of jumps quite unpredictable, a huge obstacle in a game that requires expert precision. To add insult to injury, all versions aside from the PAL version have a GameBreakingBug that makes you fall through the solid platform just before the goal.

[[folder:Super Monkey Ball]]

* ''Amida Lot'', my god. The bumpers on this continually move up and down seven narrow tracks, and cross over wherever they can. You'll be pausing the game to get a feel for one bumper's path, and once you get that down, you'll get thrown off by the next bumper over. Where's the goal? On the center track, ''moving up and down with no correlation to the bumpers''. You'll have to get really lucky on timing to pass this, because the tracks are so narrow that you have to be dead center to be able to fit properly on the track. In other words, you have to cross from another track and just hope that another bumper doesn't come.

* Master levels 3 and 9 in Super Monkey Ball (the first). Got the Infinite Continues unlocked? No? You need them here. Master 3 is arguably three difficult levels in one. Here are [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggr5A_NoUW8 two]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ueeDxYfI6A takes]] on completing it.

* Advanced Extra 5 from the first game, AKA ''Polar Large''. It's Advanced 30 (you know, the one with all the ''thin spinning platforms''), except harder. While that one could be quickly run through with the right timing, they decided to get rid of that luxury by adding a segment so big that it might as well be its own level. The very last platform goes all the way around, but it's constantly flipping, so if you don't cross in exactly the right spot, you will fall to your death.

* ''Labyrinth'' (renamed ''Crazy Maze'' in SMB Deluxe), mainly because getting to the goal is a GuideDangIt affair.

* ''Helix'' is a "follow-the-path-downhill" kind of stage -- except the entire path is CYLINDRICAL!
** For those of you just tuning in, that's the ''outside'' of the cylinder. The "inside" isn't there.

* ''Amida Lot'', my god. The bumpers on this continually move up and down seven narrow tracks, and cross over wherever they can. You'll be pausing the game to get a feel for one bumper's path, and once you get that down, you'll get thrown off by the next bumper over. Where's the goal? On the center track, ''moving up and down with no correlation to the bumpers''. You'll have to get really lucky on timing to pass this, because the tracks are so narrow that you have to be dead center to be able to fit properly on the track. In other words, you have to cross from another track and just hope that another bumper doesn't come.
* ''Entangled Path''. Waiting 20 sec just for the path to untangle is tedious and then you get barely enough time to gun it, hopefully getting to the goal before the path vanishes. Oddly, the green goal is ''easier'' to get on this stage.
* ''Switch Inferno''. Pick the right switch out of 30 or so that are all identical or get slammed into a wall! And the right switch is surrounded by fake switches, so even if you get it right, you may have to go back and do it again anyway.

** That game also boosted the difficulty of some levels involving curve bridges. Most notable amongst those is Exam-C (Expert 7 in the original), which was just moderately challenging in the original. Dear god, it's harder than '''''arthropod'''''. And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y1FTNV0ueE words aren't enough to describe...]]

* ''Banana Blitz'' presents 10-5, which consists of mostly bumpy surface that makes the result of jumps quite unpredictable, a huge obstacle in a game that requires expert precision. To add insult to injury, all versions aside from the PAL version have a GameBreakingBug that makes you fall through the solid platform just before the goal.