Super Monkey Ball

As opposed to normal games where the player takes control of the character itself, Super Monkey Ball has the player move their character around in a gachapon ball by tilting the direction gravity pulls them down (the exception of this being Super Monkey Ball Adventure). By tilting gravity at various angles, players can control the speed and turning of the character. The goal of each level is to reach the goal gate before the timer runs out, and without falling off the floor. Bonus points and extra lives can be earned by collecting bananas on the stage.

Early games use traditional controllers to play while many recent titles utilize modern technology, such as the accelerometers of the Wii and iPhone titles. The gameplay is similar to Atari Games' 1984 arcade video game Marble Madness.

By December 2006, the franchise had sold 4 million copies. As of July 2024, the franchise has sold over 5 million units.

The iOS version was one of the first games on the Apple App Store, using the device's accelerometer to identify how it was being tilted, making the phone a positional game controller as well as display. It was spotlighted during the store's announcement in 2008, becoming the best selling app on launch day.