History ThatOneLevel / SuperMonkeyBall

* World 4-8 (''Turbine'') is the first MarathonLevel of many ''Gaiden'' has to offer. It's a collectathon level where you have to go down to switches on various levels, while the level's namesake spins platforms to interrupt the player. While falling off the stage leads to a lower platform where you can retry, it's also a long level, so the "retry" might not be enough time to finish the level.

* ''Baffling Balcony'' by Prof. Raine, is just a platform you have to jump up to, in a game without a jump button. It serves as a big GuideDangIt moment for players, particularly in ''Community Pack 2020'', since it requires speedrunning tech to pull off. You have to clip off of the lower platform to jump up to the goal. While the bananas and the bumper are somewhat of a clue, they also throw some people off into thinking they need to bounce off of the bumper to get to the goal.

* ''Pistons''. Picture Triangle Holes, but all of the holes are of uniform size on a flat surface with ''massive'' triangular prisms shooting up out of the ground. The strategy is more or less TrialAndErrorGameplay; get hit by a piston and hope you land by the goal. An alternative is to stay very still at the central point around six pistons, as there is enough space to fit a monkey in these regions. You can use the red goal from 8 Bracelets to skip it in main game mode.

* World 5-1 (''Dragonfly'') serves as a roadblock to some players due to being GuideDangIt affair. It requires you to get enough speed to enter the wormhole that takes you to the goal, as going through the wormhole as normal won't five you enough speed. However, this requires you to use outside tactics instead of just rolling straight into the second wormhole, meaning you have to go off the slope after entering the first wormhole a couple times without going too fast.

** Not to mention that this is the ''only'' Master stage in the original arcade version.

* [[spoiler:Master 2 (Faith) is Free Fall on steroids. What really makes this stage nasty is that the bright, white platforms blend in too much with the light yellow sky.]]
* [[spoiler:Master Extra 10 ([[MeaningfulName Oh Screw This!]]) is essentially what happens when you combine ''Bridge Master'' from ''1'' and ''Invisible'' from ''2'' and make it a MarathonLevel.]]

* World 8-6, (''Jumpscare''), requires you to slowly cross a platform that gets thinner without hitting the wall, which by the way has bounce pads. This is one of the first hacks to introduce bounce pads, and these happen to line up the wall you are trying to avoid hitting. It gets harder as you get closer to the end, as you have to roll along the edge of the platform without getting too close to the wall. Depending on how you play it, there's also CameraScrew.

* World 5-1 (''Dragonfly''), serves as a roadblock to some players due to being GuideDangIt affair. It requires you to get enough speed to enter the wormhole that takes you to the goal, as going through the wormhole as normal won't five you enough speed. However, this requires you to use outside tactics instead of just rolling straight into the second wormhole, meaning you have to go off the slope after entering the first wormhole a couple times without going too fast.
* World 7-5 (''Phantasm''), stands out for how difficult it is compared to many of the stages you have played at this point in Story Mode. Most of the stage is invisible, like ''Invisible'' from ''2'', but rather than having leftover sections guide you, the bananas guide you. This is easier said than done, because each time you collect a banana you will have less bananas to help guide you. Worse still, there are two sections and you have to backtrack once you hit a switch. The second half of the stage is the most difficult part, as you have to deal with moving platforms, especially right before you hit the second switch.

* [[spoiler:''Whiplash'']] is the ''first'' stage of [[spoiler:World 12]], and what a first stage it is. Imagine ''Launchers'' if it were instead on a pyramid, with several layers that you need to launch up. The last launcher is over such a small height that it's trial and error to actually get into the goal.

* World 8-4 (''Overcorrection''). Think of Cliff from Deluxe, except certain parts of the wall are removed and it gradually gets skinnier. It's too easy for the edges of the wall to bump you off to the right, or for you to lean too much to the left upon leaving the walls and slip off to the left. Hilariously, there's also ''more'' blue goals that involves doing this up to four more times in a row.

* ''Heavy Sphere'' wouldn't be so bad if the starting bridge the player lands on wasn't so far away from the bridge that actually need to be crossed. This level basically comes down to TrialAndError, getting to the very back of the starting bridge and trying to figure out when the exact cue to charge to the bridge is.

* ''Narrow Peaks'' is a stage dedicated to the angular hills that appear in Expert 7 from [=SMB1=] (and even Master 3). The left path ends with an almost identical replica of Expert 7's narrow hill, and the right path has even skinnier ones than that. After that is a long, narrow path to the goal.

* ''Spiral Bridge'' [[note]] a spinning circular platform with a spiral ramp that leads to the floating platform with the goal[[/note]] from ''2'' isn't too much of a threat in its game of origin, however [[PortingDisaster the botched physics of the Playstation 2 version]] can hide a nasty surprise in this once BreatherLevel. The problem is if you don't go fast enough through the spiral tower, there WILL be CameraScrew that forces you to face backwards. Even when you get to the top of the tower, you still have to time exiting the straight bridge to the goal JUST right or else you will fall off and have to do it all over again.

* From the story mode, we have the Noise Factory Climb mission. The entire mission is played using the Stickyball power-up, and your goal is to roll around on the pipes to redirect the noise flow so you can "drive out the monsters", as the factory worker explains. That doesn't sound too bad, except for the fact that the Stickyball moves very slow while stuck to the pipes, the pipes themselves are also very slow while they're moving, you're given ''no indications'' of your progress, [[CameraScrew the cameraman seems like he's on drugs]], and one wrong button push can send you careening down into the abyss for a Fall Out. The worst part of it all? '''''NO MAP.'''''
* The story mode also has a mission where you collect 8 balloons for Ale'wat. Navagating the hedge maze where the mission takes place can already be a somewhat tedious task, but the balloons are scattered widely and some are in tricky to reach places of the area. What really makes this mission painful, however, is that you have to bring Ale'wat each of the 8 balloons '''''one at a time.'''''

* World 5-1, (''Dragonfly''), serves as a roadblock to some players due to being GuideDangIt affair. It requires you to get enough speed to enter the wormhole that takes you to the goal, as going through the wormhole as normal won't five you enough speed. However, this requires you to use outside tactics instead of just rolling straight into the second wormhole, meaning you have to go off the slope after entering the first wormhole a couple times without going too fast.
* World 7-5, or (''Phantasm''), stands out for how difficult it is compared to many of the stages you have played at this point in Story Mode. Most of the stage is invisible, like ''Invisible'' from ''2'', but rather than having leftover sections guide you, the bananas guide you. This is easier said than done, because each time you collect a banana you will have less bananas to help guide you. Worse still, there are two sections and you have to backtrack once you hit a switch. The second half of the stage is the most difficult part, as you have to deal with moving platforms, especially right before you hit the second switch.

* World 8-6, or ''Jumpscare'', requires you to slowly cross a platform that gets thinner without hitting the wall, which by the way has bounce pads. This is one of the first hacks to introduce bounce pads, and these happen to line up the wall you are trying to avoid hitting. It gets harder as you get closer to the end, as you have to roll along the edge of the platform without getting too close to the wall. Depending on how you play it, there's also CameraScrew.

* World 5-1, or ''Dragonfly'', serves as a roadblock to some players due to being GuideDangIt affair. It reguires you to get enough speed to enter the wormhole that takes you to the goal, as going through the wormhole as normal won't five you enough speed. However, this requires you to use outside tactics instead of just rolling straight into the second wormhole, meaning you have to go off the slope after entering the first wormhole a couple times without going too fast.
* World 7-5, or ''Phantasm'', stands out for how difficult it is compared to many of the stages you have played at this point in Story Mode. Most of the stage is invisible, like ''Invisible'' from ''2'', but rather than having leftover sections guide you, the bananas guide you. This is easier said than done, because each time you collect a banana you will have less bananas to help guide you. Worse still, there are two sections and you have to backtrack once you hit a switch. The second half of the stage is the most difficult part, as you have to deal with moving platforms, especially right before you hit the second switch.

* The master stages may be pure hell, but ''reaching them'' in the fist place is already very hard! To clarify, if you want to reach the master stages, you must first clear both the Expert stages ''and'' the expert extra stages [[ContinuingIsPainful without a single continue]], with the former containing some of the worst stages in Monkey Ball history! And even if you find them easy, you still have to survive 60 stages back to back with only 3 lives. At least the sequel had the decency to give you up to 99 lives.

* World 8-6, or ''Jumpscare'', requires you to slowly cross a platform that gets thinner without hitting the wall, which by the way has bounce pads. This is one of the first hacks to introduce bounce pads, and these happen to line up the wall you are trying to avoid hitting. It gets harder as you get closer to the end, as you have to roll along the edge of the platform without getting too close to the wall.

With custom levels being made since 2016, it is to be expected that the fans have made levels that rival or even surpass some of the more infamous stages in the franchise.

* World 7-5, or ''Phantasm'', stands out for how difficult it is compared to many of the stages you gave played at this point in Story Mode. Most of the stage is invisible, like ''Invisible'' from ''2'', but rather than having leftover sections guide you, the bananas guide you. This is easier said than done, because each time you collect a banana you will have less bananas to help guide you. Worse still, there are two sections and you have to backtrack once you hit a switch. The second half of the stage is the most difficult part, as you have to deal with moving platforms, especially right before you hit the second switch.

* The story mode also has a mission where you collect 8 balloons for Ale'wat. Navagating the hedge maze where the mission takes place can already be a somewhat tedious task, but the balloons are scattered widely and some are in tricky to reach places of the area. What really makes this mission painful, however, is that you have to bring Ale'wat each of the 8 balloons '''''one at a time'''''.

* Some of the ported stages in World 9 (Big Bang Boom) have become more devious due to [[ForWantOfANail some minor changes added to those stages]]. This includes: ''Armada'' (Flock but faster), ''Pendulum'' (Momentum but slightly faster), and ''Starlight Express'' (Spiral Hard but the goal is ''sideways'').

* Most of the ported stages in World 9 (Big Bang Boom) have become more devious due to [[ForWantOfANail some minor changes added to those stages]]. This includes: ''Motion Gear'' (Gears, but smaller), ''Armada'' (Flock but faster), ''Pendulum'' (Momentum, unchanged but still hard on its own), ''Wheel of Fortune'' (Polar but slightly larger), and ''Starlight Express'' (Spiral Hard but thinner).

* 10-5, which consists of mostly bumpy surfaces 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.

* ''Gankanny'', the penultimate stage of Expert and challenge mode unless you have a PSP, revolves around a grid platform that spins. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Well, there are a few problems. First, you must avoid the large cylindrical obstacles in the way. Second, the goal is not on the grid but rather floating on its own, so not only do you have to avoid obstacles, but you also have to be on one of the specific sections of the grid to reach the goal. This is especially notable because unlike other games, Expert is considered by some to be easier than Advanced.

* 9-2 has garnered infamy for being the only stage in the series with a ''20 second time limit''. You have a very high chance of slipping off the long, bumpy slide as you rush for the goal.

* "Reversible Gear" will most likely be your first instance of this in [=SMB2=] if your doing the difficulties in order/Story Mode first. The level itself is very simple, but getting in the center of the gear through it's one hole (where the goal is) can be incredibly tricky. You may lose a a life or 5 on this one, even when you know what to do, since it requires some strict timing. Granted with enough practice you may never lose a life on it again.

* ''Freewheeler''. It consists of a flat spiral that is constantly rotating. It wouldn't be so bad if the camera wasn't impossible to control; as it is, you do the last part of it going backwards and ''unable to see where you're going'' without looking at the minimap.
* ''Pitch and Putt''. '''Good lord.''' If you don't go as fast as possible at the start, you die. After that, you have to be ''dead center'' while flying through the air otherwise you'll miss a platform or even worse, fly over the goal entirely. And '''god help you''' if you try and do it without this "super jump". Slanted platforms around holes, with really tiny connecting paths, and some of them are slanted up, making it near-impossible without perfect control over the ball.

** ''Exam-A'' can be a lot harder without the familiar precision of the GameCube joystick.