With The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and even Star Fox recently proving there is still an appetite for remakes done right, other game publishers are likely looking at their backlogs for inspiration. Sega, no stranger to fantastic franchises, suddenly finds itself once more in an enviable position. It has a bunch of great old games ripe for revival, and several of them seem capable of making a mark again.

One franchise that deserves to make its triumphant return celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. After its arcade launch earlier that year, Super Monkey Ball arrived as a GameCube launch game in November 2001. With proper care, that simple but effective game could thrive in 2026, even though recent entries in the series haven’t made quite the same splash.

Super Monkey Ball’s main event lets players choose one out of four monkeys. The simian is then enclosed in a ball that resembles the capsules we used to collect from toy machines at the supermarket as children. From there, they roll toward goal posts on floating platforms, collecting bananas along the way to improve their score. If they fall off the platform or run out of time before reaching their destination, they lose a life.

In the traditional sense of the term, Super Monkey Ball isn’t a platformer. There’s no sign of Mario, for instance, and jumping isn’t a central mechanic. But there are platforms and pits, so the label fits in a more general sense.

When Super Monkey Ball debuted, it reminded me immediately of an old NES favorite of mine, Marble Madness .

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