I 100% completed this game and streamed my entire playthrough on Twitch, which many of my friends tuned in for and chatted with me as I was progressing through it. So what are my overall thoughts on this game, one of the games that was most integral to establishing my lifelong love of video games, that I only ever fully completed in the summer of 2019? The core of the game still sticks out to me as ultimately fun and creative and vibrant, but there's a lot of padding when it comes to full completion, and it's very apparent that it did not get the amount of development time it needed to polish itself out.

Stylistically, this game still holds up really well. Playing it on Dolphin, it looks as much as ever like a tropical paradise, with beautiful water and vibrant, aesthetically appealing locales. It's nice how unlike sticking more closely to the archetypal worlds you'd expect in a Mario game, it's more tied around the concept of the different kinds of areas that would be found on an Italian-inspired island, giving a sense of strong theming. So much character has been given to the areas by sticking to that theme, and being able to see all the other areas off in the distance gives it a real sense of physical space. The level design is also unique, in how it went so strongly for a sense of lived in space that really wasn't attempted again until New Donk City in Super Mario Odyssey, and even then not on the same level. Delfino Plaza is an amazing concept for a hub world, with such memorable presence, and the more freeform exploratory nature of the levels encourages becoming familiar with the space from multiple angles, which was an approach I really appreciated as 3D Mario games got a lot more linear after this point for a time. The somewhat cel-shaded look is a great fit for the style of the game, and I appreciate how this was really the last mainline Mario game to stray a bit more from sticking to a set look for all the recurring elements of the Mario universe. Enemies like Bullet Bills and Bloopers look way different, and mainstays like Goombas aren't even present. And while I'd probably rank its soundtrack last among the 3D Mario games, it's still got some solid tunes.
The core gameplay also gives some great maneuverability. As a kid, I got so used to this game that Mario without FLUDD seemed naked to me. The extra reach that the Hover and Rocket nozzles gave seemed to allow for a lot more options for where Mario could reach to than in other games. Turbo is barely utilized but cool as well. But even Mario's normal movement, while very prone to slippage and not entirely smooth, is very satisfying. The ease with which I was able to naturally flick into a side jump or do a spin jump while playing with a GameCube controller on lagless Dolphin (as opposed to dropped frame rates on my original GameCube) was so satisfying. While it has its own quirks, I really enjoy the way Mario moves in this game, especially compared to how Mario starts to feel a bit more restricted in his movement in the games to come after. The objectives can also be pretty interesting, like navigating Pianta Village covered in flaming goop with no FLUDD or using dune buds against a rampaging Wiggler. It's also nice how unlike Super Mario 64, the episodes in Sunshine each tell their own little episodic (duh) narrative, reaching some sort of happy conclusion by the end of it all.

But what's wrong with the game? Essentially, it is apparent in many aspects of the game that more time was needed. Unpolished levels, filler levels, padding, repetition, and tedium. Easy to replicate bugs and "wonkiness." Weird physics. And especially the finale.

Mario games (that aren't RPG's) aren't known for their deeply engrossing narratives, but a good internal flow to the overall "plot" can help them space out properly, raise the stakes, and build to a satisfying conclusion. Among 3D Mario games I've beaten, I think Galaxy does it the best, Odyssey also spaces things out pretty well. I noticed at a young age that it's all very front loaded in Sunshine, with nothing again until the very end. There are some lengthy unskippable cutscenes at the beginning, a lot happens quickly, new levels are added quickly, and then Bowser Jr. is revealed and Peach kidnapped, and then aside from a few more levels opening up and Shadow Mario encounters, no real escalation aside from the standard bosses you can face in pretty much any order until you go to Corona Mountain. And then Corona Mountain itself is.... weak. You pass a few fire and spike panels and then get to the awful lava boat which sucks. It's difficult but because it's awful to control, not like you dealt with a real satisfying challenge. And then while in most other 3D Mario games we get some pretty grandiose showdowns, here Bowser has an awful voice and they're all in a tub and you have to rocket ground-pound a few times without getting blown up or on fire or falling to your death. So not much of an ending.

Then you get the kind of padding and unpolished and filler stuff. There's one level you go to in Delfino Plaza that literally looks like a test room. The Pachinko level and its awful physics. The acid river level, which is a pain to get to and super unforgiving. Trying to deal with the wonky physics of the Chucksters. The tense tedium of trying to get the right watermelon to the shack. Cleaning every last inch of goop on the beach. Trying to aim at targets while on a disorienting roller coaster. And of course the blue coins which add a whole bunch of other collectables to acquire. This was handled way more engagingly in Odyssey with all the ways to get Moons in a more intuitive way, and the revisited content in Galaxy with the comets provides a nice spin on the familiar. And of course the game is buggier and just doesn't feel as polished as other Mario games.

But that's the thing about this game. A lot of the content feels like it was rushed out before its time, but the stylistic atmosphere is so strong, the interesting objectives that are there give it character, and the core gameplay of moving around and using FLUDD is so solid and has so much potential. While I probably couldn't call it my favorite 3D Mario game anymore, it'll always have a place in my heart and I appreciate the creative and unique things it has to offer. I definitely recommend playing it if you never did, but you can pass on trying to get 100% unless you're really dedicated.