decided to just run through this one again real quick, i don't know if this is my fourth or fifth time playing it all the way through but it's a game that's stuck with me since i was a very young child. i had inherited my dad's NES to start out with gaming but on christmas 2003 i remember going downstairs to find a nintendo gamecube plugged into the television with the title screen for super mario sunshine radiating from it, and i remember it absolutely flooring me. if we were to tally up the combined hours i've sunk into this game since i was six years old it probably clears any rpg or multiplayer timesink i've ever played, it is just that good.

i think what it really comes down to is the movement mechanics, this is simply the cleanest and most responsive mario has ever felt. it takes almost everything from 64 (already a masterclass in character movement mechanics) and adds on the FLUDD system which softens a lot of the platforming for beginners but also allows for so much more freedom once you really know how to harness it for your own devices. spraying water and sliding faster to yr destination, flipping out of it into a triple jump and wallkick to gain height before using the hover nozzle to float over to a hard to reach area. when the moment to moment gameplay is so much damn fun it's really hard to criticize anything else.

even then i don't really think there's much to criticize here. the production design of the tropical paradise is so lush, the locations all instantly iconic to me, themes remixing classic mario music as well as original scores are all absolutely bangin, and the actual graphical quality still holds up to this day because of it's simple but strong art direction. sometimes, amidst all the chaos, it's nice to just relax and a enjoy this virtual vacation for a few minutes, sit at the beach with yr water gun, looking at the sunset and pondering what mess to clean up next.

anyway, that might have been slightly too poetic to say about a game staring a cartoon plumber cleaning gunk off a tropical island, but this game will always hold a special place in my heart, something i can instantly pick up and beat in just a couple days and it never gets old. for all the innovation of 64, the scope of galaxy, and the freedom of odyssey, it's sunshine that will always be the greatest to me.

it's not perfect but it's my very favorite 3d mario. lots of good memories with this game. easily the best atmosphere, movement and level design in a mario game. scratches a specific platforming itch that none of the other marios really pull off too well: making you feel like you're actually jumping around in a real place instead of just an obstacle course. the only actual bullshit part of this game is the pachinko level and the blue coins. everything else (sand bird, lily pad, watermelon) is very manageable with skill and patience.