Super Mario Sunshine is one of those games that get highly praised, but if you take a moment to really examine this game you'll find that while it does have some good aspects it's not as great as some might say. To start off the camera is much better than Mario 64's camera, and the controls for this game are pretty good, every movement option you can do is fine, however the hover nozzle is just a completely different story, as when you are trying to cross gaps with it, it is just so finicky to use as it can take away so much of your speed depending on when you use it in your jump. The soundtrack for this game is pretty good, it is really memorable and just from listening to it you can tell that it's from Mario Sunshine. The worlds themselves are honestly pretty bad, there are 7 worlds, each with 10 levels with two being a secret level of sorts, but the reason why they are bad is not the design of the worlds themselves, it is the levels. The levels are just terrible, they can range from simple and boring to just frustrating, and only reason why the certain levels are memorable is by them being frustrating. However there are a lot of glitches that you can do to make some of the frustrating levels a walk in the park and I will admit some of these glitches are fun to do, and it should be mentioned that this game does have a lot of bugs. It doesn't help the worlds that there isn't really much incentive to really explore them, the only thing there is are blue coins that you can trade in for extra shines but they are just so insignificant that they don't feel worth collecting unless you are trying to 100% the game. Lastly the enemy designs are probably the worst thing in this game, like if you compare their design from this game to how they are supposed to look I'm sure you would just question why they look so different, it is just so bizarre on why they would change up the design for some of these enemies. Even for the new enemies they made for this game look terrible, there are only 3 enemies that look good and those are being the Strolling Stu', Cataquack, and Petey Piranha. Like just take a look at King Boo, Luigi's Mansion came out last year and they decide to change King Boo into nothing more than a joke! Then you have the final boss and it just makes me wonder if Nintendo took anything while designing this game, I remember when my father told me about the final boss and I thought he was lying as it just sounded unbelievable. Although this game does have charm it just feels like such a mess and it is so disappointing that it could of been made better.

[i played the switch version but i am well versed in the differences and have history with the gamecube version so i can say relatively reliably that the version i played did not change my enjoyment at all]
i dunno... i had a good time for the most part but im seriously torn on how to rate it or how much i enjoyed it. first off there is a lot to praise here: the game is gorgeous, it is immensely charming (maybe the most out of all the 3d marios tbh), the bigger focus on story compared to 64 is a fun direction even if the voice acting is a bit choppy, and the overarching tropical vacation theme is of course fantastic. i also love fludd! fludd is so much fun to use and is a great companion for mario, its serious and pseudo-sterile nature contrasts well with him.
with that out of the way my biggest complaint here and the biggest reason why i dont feel like i can rate it higher is that this is one of the most frustrating games ive ever played.
for one thing its just extremely punishing; the meme that you die for trying to play normally and get mocked with clown honks after is extremely accurate. so many things are punishable by death in this game, from crashing a blooper to not collecting coins in time to doing less than perfect at a minigame. thats compounded with the fact that mario feels uniquely slippery to control in this game in a way that i never felt in 64. there are so many times where i fell off the level because mario kept walking after i stopped holding the stick or where mario did a flip off a platform instead of a jump because i turned around a full second earlier.
again, fludd is fun but also it kind of feels like a bandaid fix so that mario can readjust himself whenever he slips from too much momentum, and whenever the bandaid is ripped off (i.e. levels without fludd) you can really tell the difference. i hear relatively frequently that the secret levels, meaning the levels where fludd is taken from you, are the highlight of the game, but the opposite was absolutely the case for me. they are insufferable.
i also feel like the level design is a bit spotty. some of the worlds are great and fully fleshed out but theres also plenty of levels which were not thought out very well, with thin and uncomfortable platforms that are easy to fall off of, tiny rooms where you have to fight the camera, and occasionally slightly confusing layouts. additionally, a good chunk of shines introduce gimmicks which barely work and which you have to struggle through, my personal least favorite being the awful roller coaster that causes immense motion sickness but there's also the solar panels, the sand bird, the blooper racing, the list goes on.
the last couple worlds end the game on a pretty strong note. noki bay and pianta village are my two favorite worlds and theyre both unlocked last, and pianta village especially gives a great sense of finality. sadly, it then truly ends with corona mountain, one of the worst final levels of any game ever, which manages to both feel like a complete nonsequitor and also an encapsulation of every issue the game has, handily provided for you right before the end.
most 3d platformers have their awkward elements, but i sadly feel like with sunshine they almost outshine the enjoyable core, and it's a real shame because when the game works, it really works! at it's best, this game does indeed feel like an exciting vacation filled with adventure and fun. at it's worst, though, this game feels like a stressful, unplanned, frustrating trip, where everything seems to want to stop you in your quest to have a good time. really difficult score. bordering 3.5 stars, might change it to that in the future if i feel softer to it later.

This game is quite a lot of fun, and I feel like it controls better than some newer mario games in some ways. Something about how the physics in this game work make me feel more at home than what we have now, kind of hard to describe it in a way different than that. I love Isle Delfino and F.L.U.D.D.'s mechanics, they really add a lot to the platforming challenges the game presents you with. I also appreciate the 'secret area' shines, where you have to do platforming without F.L.U.D.D., it almost acts as a test to see if you're relying on F.L.U.D.D. too much. Sure, there are some levels that are less than stellar and blue coins can be a bit tedious to collect, but if you persevere you can get a memorable experience that will make you wish you were visiting Sirena Beach yourself.

A mario game that tries to reconstruct what is a mario game for better or worse

It's interesting to see that a sequel change the rules already what it's groundbreaking previous ancestor established.

Surface wise it's actually not so different. There is an hub world. There are levels to jump into and stars... No... Sunshines to collect to unlock next part of to adventure. But everything changes when you look at it more deeply.

Before explaining these changed mechanics and rules it's hard not to touch the subject that is this game's reputation. Because the things it changes make this game for some people one of the worst mario experiences has to offer, but for some it brings mario even further.

Which is right? In this case it's not so white and black. That's because both of them are right in their own way.

So, with playing this game which side of the discussion you choose, actually can deduct what is the most important things in a game for you. Or to be exact. What is the meaning of a GOOD game for you rather than everybody else. Also this discussion is a proof that why there will never be a perfect game for everybody. Everybody's values for a PERFECT game is different after all.

Anyway without broading the subject on hand too much, let's return to mario sunshine. What do I think? Where do I stand on this discussion?

I think it's my favorite mario game and think it's the one that resonates with me the most.

But there is a reason it's 4 stars. Not 5. Because this mario game... it's the most flawed one.

Now let's remember what mario 64 established beforehand.
-You go into other levels from the hub world with jumping into paintings in the castle
-Every level have their own atmosphere, own enemies and own stars to collect and even after selecting the objective from the level, let's you collect another star rather than your objective one if there are in the level
-Power ups works as a rule changers like changing mario's weight/invisibility/air time etc. And they are hidden in the levels and they are timed and mostly used for hard or impossible to get without the necessary power type of stars
-You are only required to get some number of stars to finish the game so most of the game is optional content.
-Other than some bullshit levels, most of the game's challenge is platforming and consistently goes up, also world stays consistent and even when levels teleport you somewhere else, it's somewhere with the similar atmosphere

But mario sunshine changes them into
-You go into levels from hub world with not jumping into paintings but using something in the overworld that carries you into the level. Be it a pipe, a mirror, a cannon, a ship etc. Not just that, most of the levels visible from the outset rather than be a painting or an image.
-Every level have a island/tropical atmosphere, have their own enemies and own stars to collect, but every selectable objective have only one star that can be obtained(aside from the 100 coin stars)
-Power ups not timed, also they work as a modifiers of sort that changes how the mario's water pumpers work. They are also used for sunshines that is hard or impossible to get without the necessary power type
-You are required to finish every level's 7 objectives no matter what, rest is optional.
-Most of the game's challenge is a gimmick related to that level's tropical concept be it diving deep in the water, be it cleaning hidden interactables, be it riding boats etc. Also difficulty stays consistent and stays similar throughout in the adventure until levels teleport you into a secret courses with completely different and a vague atmosphere and difficulty that is with focusing into pure platforming with taking your water pump away.

You see, with the somewhat detailed description I gave to you is enough to make you understand what makes mario sunshine different I assume.

It's acts more like an adventure game rather than focusing on being a platformer with incorporating level gimmicks more, also it's commitment to it's tropical atmosphere makes the world more immersive, in fact it goes even one step more and makes the obstacles a part of the world rather than making them a vague flying platforms or objects unlike every mario game did it before. Mario 64 or other mario games did this before yes but never to this degree.

Be it, being able to see other levels from the distance, or be it interacting with the levels gimmicks itself or be it having enemies that completely different looking than what mario games uses often or be it even going into the levels with using the hub world's own tools that uses that level's concept like a cannon for a level filled with cannon enemies, using a pipe for a cleaning level, cave entrance for a volcano level etc. It feels like an tropical journey throughout and that what I love about it.

But when it comes to platforming it's rarely fully used. Also It's not a good collectathon because number of level completion is required rather than the number of collectibles for main progression. Also it's sudden change of difficulty and atmosphere at the secret courses feels like a slap in the face also a big indication that is the game's unfinishedness with forcing player to go for them. Also being forced for those secret courses with breaking it's consistency is the reason why this game can't get a 5/5 stars for me.

But you see, like I said it's immersiveness, it's surprises and focus on world is enough to make it a superior game for me. I didn't even went into the movement that is joy to experience and super enjoyable to use with it's instantaneous input response even with it's questionable physics.

So even with it's shortcomings that's why it's my favorite in the franchise. It's because it's dedicated to one thing. Being a tropical vacation adventure and does that with pushing it's ideas to the max.