Bombastic and stylistically brilliant, however it falls completely flat when attempting to play the game. It is a miserable experience, rewarding only because the world is fleshed out and magical. Even a hover mechanic could not save such a horribly designed move set. I really love the intention behind the game, just not the execution.
Love the aesthetics of Isle Delfino, but the progression and mission design do not click for me at all. The shines in the back half of the game start to feel like a chore, and the obfuscated blue coin collection is a big mistake that thankfully has not been repeated in later entries. I would welcome a proper, polished reimagining of Sunshine, unlikely as that may be, as I do think it has a lot of potential that is kneecapped by a clearly rushed development cycle.
Most difficult Mario game imo, the huge levels are fun to run around in with FLUDD, especially Ricco Harbor and the hub world. However, this game is brought down by those evil 'secret' levels because without FLUDD, Mario controls badly. Also, having to find every single blue coin is a real pain in the tuchus.