I finally did muster through Super Mario Sunshine after about three and a half years of leaving it on the backburner, and I must say I still don't get it. It's not all bad but it's like, not very fun to me at all. I found its best moments to be pretty decent, and put up against Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy I don't really think it stands a chance in most if not all fields. I did not gel with the aesthetic, controls, or level design nearly as much as in either of them.

The biggest thing that irks me about Sunshine, though, is it doesn't feel as open as it lets on. You can beat the game with a minimum of 50 shines (I completed it with 53), but rather than a basic threshold to close off the final level, like how you can get any 70 stars in 64 to reach the end, you are required to do all the first seven missions of each level. In order, too. You can't go out of order like you can in 64, you have to do mission 1, then mission 2, etc. This works fine in Galaxy because the level design reflects it better, it's already more linear to begin with in its design and progression. Sunshine's level design does not reflect its linearity, it presents itself as a lot more open and implies a lot more freedom than you're actually provided. The end result takes away the feeling of free exploration, and it begins to feel more like crossing off a checklist than finding things yourself and reaping the rewards for doing so. Some of these required missions are frankly quite awful as well. A few of the bosses (Petey Piranha 2, Manta) are super tedious and slow, and some other missions littered around are bordering on unacceptable. I could not locate any enjoyment to be found in the "chuckster" mission, for example, and there's just no way to get around it without enduring it. If you have a star in 64 you really hate, chances are you can just work around it, but such is not the case this time.

I figure you can warm up to this with enough playthroughs, but the first is deeply unsatisfying and unrewarding. A competently made and designed game for the most part, but mundane and unenjoyable especially in comparison to the high points surrounding it in the series. Why would I want to play it some more in order to warm up to it if the first playthrough was so consistently rough? How often do you want to replay something you thought was lame, especially with people breathing down your neck about how you're wrong? I dunno, man. It just doesn't really make sense to me. I really see now why this seems to be the most divisive of the 3D Mario entries, and try as I might to enjoy myself during its runtime, I can't seem to do so often enough to really call it something I like as an overall experience. I'm just glad I at least have it off my back now.

Is this what people are talking about when they've become too used to the refined controls and design of modern games and then go back to the prior versions of them? Cause I just got done with Odyssey and holey moley I do not like this. Just like everyone else, I don't like the camera, which often flat-out refuses to let you adjust to an easier angle for yourself, and also (a common trait among all the gamecube games it appears) makes it so pushing the analog left turns the camera right and vice versa without an option to invert. I don't like how everything, from jumping, aiming the nozzle, chasing after goopy Mario and then spraying him, accidentally sliding on goop or slopes that don't look like slopes, leaping high enough to get a nearby ledge, is a struggle. The Petey Pirhana fight in midair in the first world was not difficult per se, but was rather such a chore, so much work when Odyssey's boss fights were snappy and fun. I knew what I had to do but it took so long between Petey's behaviors and the way Mario controls, and I can't imagine how I would have gotten through it if Dolphin didn't have save states (also it figures too, because I recognize Petey in Mario Kart 8 and he's a fuckin asshole in that game too).

But you wanna know what I really don't like about this game? The voice acting. And not just that, but voice acting which thereby necessitates more, and frankly unnecessary, exposition to justify it. What's it doing here? Mario is still just Charles Martinet hoots and whoops, so what was enhanced by everyone else delivering real voice work to a "why Mario needs to jump on shit this time" story? Take a look at this. First you fight a token baddie and meet your latest sidekick/game mechanic, then you get sent to jail and the Delfino floofers put Mario on trial and make a long compelling case proving him guilty of the crime of polluting the city and sentence him to island arrest till the pollution is finally cleaned up, then in jail FLUDD explains that you were indeed found guilty of polluting the city, and goes into detail that without the precious shine tokens the good floofer people of Delfino can't possibly ever holy shit I don't fucking care. It's a Mario 3D platformer, not Inherit the Wind, wrap it up! And to make matters worse, goopy Mario tries to kidnap peach, spilling the distinct black goopy muck everywhere all the while, and Mario chases him around town, in full view of the floofers. It's now obvious to them that Mario didn't cause the pollution! So what are we doing here?! Look, games don't have to have compelling stories, sometimes there just has to be something there to make the gameplay happen. But if you're going to bother with a more developed story, it's on your ass to do it right!

Compare that to the setup for Odyssey: "Ah, goddamn, looks like bowser kidnapped peach, and also my hat sister! To go get him, we have to collect moons to power my ship and follow him around the world! Got it? Okay, let's go!" Five seconds flat. Now let's go have some fun, collecting souvenirs and outfits, and possessing enemies, and utilizing the very best moveset a Mario game has ever had, wahoo! Meanwhile, there's no fun to be had with your stiff, cold, milquetoast companion here. Man, I hate FLUDD. FLUDD is like if your dopey classmate in fifth grade who reminded the teacher they didn't assign homework yet was programmed into a water-spray robot you can't ever leave. Truly, Mario is in jail, serving a sentence, if he has to complete his adventure with this dweeb.

I played 64 long after the fact, as a grown up, and thought at the time that, despite how important it is in games history, it was awkward to control most of the time, and I didn't like its design of "see this world? now go back into it and do six more chores." I'm glad that back in 2002 Nintendo saw my notes and decided to make it even worse.

im sorry, its just never clicked. first i played it via the switch port. then i emulated it, hoping maybe it would be more enjoyable. it was not.

so i bought a fucking gamecube and played it that way 😭
[okay truth be told i bought a gamecube to play other games and it came with it but ykyk it sounds funny so]

this game is very frustrating because the movement is hard for me to get used to or get control of yknow.... i do like the setting of these beaches and more tropical vistas, the music is nice too [even if i have heard it too much in backgrounds of youtube videos]

i have tried this game multiple times, and i do not think it will ever click. my apologies, sunshine fans.

Super Mario Sunshine: The Slippery Slope of 3D Mario

Growing up, one of my favorite things to do with every 3D Mario I played, was to replay them, and 100% them again and again. I've 100%'d Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 multiple times as both Mario and Luigi, collecting every power star on every level. I remember playing Super Mario 64 and its DS remake and 100%'d those games multiple times, and I've 100% Super Mario Odyessy as well. I've always had a soft spot for 3D Mario games. Super Mario Galaxy is my favorite game of all time, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario 64 are up in the high rankings for me as well, and Super Mario Odyessy is probably my second favorite, behind Galaxy 1. However, I've never felt that same level of affection with Super Mario Sunshine. I've tried in the past, me and my mom went to our local GameStop back when was I around 6-7 years old to get a used copy. It was only the original GameCube disk, no box, but I was a kid so I didn't care, we went home, I put it in my Wii, started to play it... but it just never clicked with me back then.

Maybe it was just because I was a dumb kid who sucked at Video Games at the same, this was the same kid who thought Sweet Sweet Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy was the hardest thing ever (if only he knew about Dark Souls). Fast forward to now, I've decided to give Super Mario Sunshine another chance now older. Unfortunately, I lost that original GameCube copy from all those years ago, and I don't remember what happened to my old Wii, so when I replayed this game, I was playing the version on the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection for Switch (I'm writing here cause backlogg's system for ports/remasters isn't that great). Going into Super Mario Sunshine, I wanted to 100% it as I have with every other 3D Mario I used to do as a kid, but I never ended up doing so with Super Mario Sunshine. Maybe it's because I'm older now? Maybe it's because of the game? Or maybe it's because I'm washed at 3D Mario games?

The story is pretty simple, of course for a Mario game. Mario, Peach, Toadsworth, and the Toads fly to Isle Delfino for a getaway, presumably for them to get some much-needed rest after Bowser's many attempts to capture Peach, but things aren't as comfy for Mario and pals because they encounter a mass of paint-like goop. Mario gets the Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device (F.L.U.D.D.), a water cannon created by Professor E. Gadd from Luigi's Mansion fame, and Mario uses F.L.U.D.D. to defeat slime covered Piranha Plant. To thank Mario for his good deed, the police of Isle Delfine arrest Mario. As a kid, I thought nothing of it, but looking at it now, the whole criminal justice system on Isle Delfino fucked up. Mario does not get an attorney, there were witnesses who clearly saw Mario innocent but decided not to back him up, and the prosecution pushes for a guilty verdict onto Mario off of a SKETCH! A SKETCH OF ALL THINGS!? As much as a pile of work the real-world criminal justice system is, at least I can remind myself that it isn't Isle Delfino's criminal justice system. Mario is assigned to community service and has to clean up the island and track down the real criminal.

It's such a quirky premise for a Nintendo game, and I don't think Nintendo would make a Mario game where he gets in jail today, considering how strict they are with the portrayal and copyright of their characters. Even though I never beat Super Mario Sunshine as a kid, I got spoiled the story for myself from YouTube videos, and going back to it now, I don't care that I was spoiled. It's a Mario game, I don't care I already knew the story front to end, I was coming here for the gameplay. Super Mario Sunshine is the first Mario game to introduce Bowser Jr, and this was a great introduction into his character. Bowser Jr was a fun character in this game, this game alone puts him on top above the Koopalings. The characters in Super Mario Sunshine feel unique in this game alone, the Piantas are the citizins of Isle Delfino and sorta the replacment for Toads in this game, Toads are still here, but not as much compared to other Mario games. Super Mario Sunshine has this charm and bright personality that isn't in a lot of other Mario games. The title screen, the OST, every pretty-looking thing in Super Mario Sunshine makes it feel summer-like.

To the main course, being the gameplay, all I have to say is that I am more split with this game's gameplay than I ever have been with any 3D Mario game. There are a lot of pros and cons with the gameplay of Super Mario Sunshine, I found my overall playthrough to be a great time, but there has been a lot about the gameplay mechanics that I feel hold this game back from being anything more than great. For one, I'm glad this is harder than any 3D Mario game I've played. It's sort of refreshing to have a Mario game give me a challenge, but the thing is, a lot of what makes Super Mario Sunshine difficult is either because 1. I needed to learn and adapt from the challenge I'm facing, or 2. Because of the bullshit slippery movement that Mario has throughout all of the game. I don't know if Mario has ice cubes built into his shoes, but moving as him in this game feels like you walking on ice and it's not too much of an issue throughout most of the game, but in parts where you need to be precise with your platforming, it just fucks you over, anyways.

In Super Mario 64, Mario collected power stars in that game, but here in Super Mario Sunshine, he collects Shine Sprites instead. Shine Sprites are a cool replacement for Power Stars, and the little jingle you hear every time you collect a Shine Sprite is a banger, but I wasn't as excited to collect them as I used to be with Power Stars in other Mario games. There are these blue coins you can collect throughout each level and if you have 10 blue coins, you can exchange them with a merchant on Isle Delfino for a Shine Sprite. Honestly, I found collecting the blue coins to be tedious, some are in some levels and some aren't, and overall just felt like a headache to get. As for the levels themselves, they all had some level of charm to them, but nothing quite memorable compared to the levels in Super Mario 64, the Galaxy games, or even Odyessy. The inclusion of Yoshi in this game feels so forced, you have to get Yoshi out of his egg by bringing the fruit he wants, but Yoshi isn't needed for a lot of this game unless you are going for 100%, and nothing would have changed if Yoshi wasn't included. I said how I wanted to 100% this game and never ended up doing so, that's because I found Super Mario Sunshine to not worthwhile to see through with a 100%. It is a worthwhile game to play for fun, the levels are fun on face value, but while trying go for that 100% completion, you can see a lot of the flaws of the level design.

Overall, even though I had a lot to say about the flaws of Super Mario Sunshine, at face value it's a great Mario game, just not an amazing Mario game. It's a fun time playing through Isle Delfino, there's a lot of charm, and when the game mechanics aren't against you, they're pretty bearable. I had a great time with this game, it's been a while since I played a 3D Mario game, and perhaps I should revisit one in the future before the eventual next 3D Mario game.

Stats:
The 13th game I've completed in 2024
Played on Nintendo Switch (via 3D All-Stars)
Hours into Game: 15 Hours
Score: 8/10 (4/5)
Last Statement: Fuck Isle DelFino's Criminal Justice System

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.