super monkey ball is a platform video game. it was developed by amusement vision and published by sega. it was first released in japan in january 2001 as an arcade game titled "monkey ball". it had a joystick in the shape of a banana. it was later released worldwide as a launch title for the nintendo gamecube. titled "super monkey ball", it was released in japan on september 4, 2001, in north america on november 18, 2001, and in europe on may 3, 2002.