This game is almost great, I wish they finished it.
The beautiful worlds of Super Mario Sunshine are more expansive and distinct than any Mario game up to this point. Hate me for saying this if you will, but I thought Sunshine made many improvements over 64: There wasn't a single main level I didn't care for, the controls and camera felt tighter, and I didn't mind being booted from levels after getting a Shine Sprite because the levels changed between missions. Sunshine's great level design, strong platforming, and boundless imagination showcases 3D Mario at its best roughly 70% of the time, and I had a good time with it.
Sadly, the other 30% of the time was filled with backtracking, tedious blue coin collection, and horrible, unfinished side-objectives. This game has become infamous for the pachinko machine, the river of poison, and the boat in Corana Mountain, but there were plenty more one-off missions I hated. Granted, Super Mario 64 had a fair share of awful levels and objective too, but that game didn't struggle with Sunshine's biggest problem: the progression.
The fact that you need to get the first 7 Shine Sprites in each level to beat the game is one of the worst decisions ever made in a Mario game. It is now impossible to skip side-missions you don't enjoy, and the blue coin Shine Sprites, which account for 20% of the shines in the game, are only useful in getting quite-possibly the worst 100% completion reward I've ever seen; they honestly feel like a pitiful substitute when the game should have had at least two more main levels, and I'm so glad they were never used again in any Mario game since. This game obviously needed more time in the oven: if the side-missions were touched-up, the blue coins were removed, and the game had two more levels; it could have been amazing.
Ultimately, Sunshine is a mixed bag. I still enjoyed the game the majority of the time, but it is frustrating how a few small changes could have turned this game into something much greater. Be that as it may, I'll still recommend it to those who can slog through a few bad missions, because the best parts of this game are too good to pass up.
The beautiful worlds of Super Mario Sunshine are more expansive and distinct than any Mario game up to this point. Hate me for saying this if you will, but I thought Sunshine made many improvements over 64: There wasn't a single main level I didn't care for, the controls and camera felt tighter, and I didn't mind being booted from levels after getting a Shine Sprite because the levels changed between missions. Sunshine's great level design, strong platforming, and boundless imagination showcases 3D Mario at its best roughly 70% of the time, and I had a good time with it.
Sadly, the other 30% of the time was filled with backtracking, tedious blue coin collection, and horrible, unfinished side-objectives. This game has become infamous for the pachinko machine, the river of poison, and the boat in Corana Mountain, but there were plenty more one-off missions I hated. Granted, Super Mario 64 had a fair share of awful levels and objective too, but that game didn't struggle with Sunshine's biggest problem: the progression.
The fact that you need to get the first 7 Shine Sprites in each level to beat the game is one of the worst decisions ever made in a Mario game. It is now impossible to skip side-missions you don't enjoy, and the blue coin Shine Sprites, which account for 20% of the shines in the game, are only useful in getting quite-possibly the worst 100% completion reward I've ever seen; they honestly feel like a pitiful substitute when the game should have had at least two more main levels, and I'm so glad they were never used again in any Mario game since. This game obviously needed more time in the oven: if the side-missions were touched-up, the blue coins were removed, and the game had two more levels; it could have been amazing.
Ultimately, Sunshine is a mixed bag. I still enjoyed the game the majority of the time, but it is frustrating how a few small changes could have turned this game into something much greater. Be that as it may, I'll still recommend it to those who can slog through a few bad missions, because the best parts of this game are too good to pass up.