Utterly bizarre in both it's construction and general vibes, but also effortlessly charming and creative. Some of this is Mario goodness at it's very, very best; he controls wonderfully, the FLUDD is gimmicky yes but it's a damn great gimmick, and the levels are consistently unique and play into larger, more interesting narrative ideas at play here. Sunshine isn't a story powerhouse by any means (this is obvious) but there is an attempt here to give each of the levels overarching themes and stories which really works. Makes the world seem alive.

But in the midst of it's gorgeous locales and clever design concepts, there is an unrefined nature to Sunshine that makes it difficult to fully appreciate. Some of it is straight up broken or unfinished, and the difficulty curve is steep to the point of frustration. And the Shines themselves lack the same variety or dopamine hit that 64 gave with it's stars. The further you get in Sunshine, the more it's highs are higher but it's lows get lower, making it a game of contradictions. In spite of that though, it's still absolutely worth playing as an essential puzzle piece of Mario's history.

First time playing this game. I knew about it's existence and that's pretty much it - nothing about it's story or mechanics. I really went blind for this one, and that's why I would have NEVER guessed it would be this challenging. But oh, it is.

Mario Sunshine just throws you into a really big playground of a stage and you have to know exactly what it wants you to do, most of the times giving you only a really vague dialogue as a hint on how to clear the episode. If you manage to get what you must do, prepare for the most unforgiving obstacles I've seen in a Mario game.

It's insane how the devs thought a child could finish this game, because I had to deal with so much backtracking, so many confusing goals, and so many rage-inducing traps that I don't think little Timmy would be able finish it that easily. I'm all for fun difficulty, but the game doesn't help when I accidentally clip or softlock myself so many times.

But for a really hard and unpolished experience, I somehow had a lot of fun! It's as charming as a Mario game can get, levels are pretty fun to explore (when you're not dying), and Mario and FLUDD feel so, SO GOOD to play. My analog stick started to drift a bit mid-playthrough but wasn't that much of a problem, as Mario can do so many moves to balance it I didn't notice that much. It really is a great moveset.

Overall it is a really fun game. People should at least try it once, and I doubt they won't finish it because it's really quick to do so. Now mastering it? Nahhh. I just don't think I have that much patience left to get more shines, specifically that one from the lilypad level, because I'm not a masochist.

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.

I have a lot of conflicting feelings on this one. The controls are wonderful, the atmosphere and theming are lovely, and the visuals are a sight to behold. However, the game is stretched very thin by trying to fit 120 shines into only 7 major levels. I am not as hard on the blue coins as some people are, as I find them fun to collect for the most part, but the gameplay gets exhausting after so much scouring and searching. I was shooting for 100% completion in my playthrough but I gave up at 102 shines due to the exhaustion, maybe one day I'll get that fabled end screen jpeg but not today.