Super Mario Sunshine is so explicitly Summer themed that even its cover exudes powerful waves of Summah energy. From its very premise - which sees Mario and Peach travel to the perpetually sunny Isle Delfino to enjoy a much-deserved vacation - to its world design and water-based gameplay, it is as blatantly Summah as any game could possibly be. Naturally, ending my 2023 Summah Games Series with Super Mario Sunshine seemed like a no-brainer. Seemed like a real good idea at the time.
The Summah is so cancelled, man.
I haven't touched this game since 2002, and to be perfectly honest, I didn't think very highly of it back then. I was extremely excited for it leading up to release though, as I'm sure plenty of people were considering this was the first big follow up to Super Mario 64. It is somewhat hard to factor out my disappointment when viewing it through the frame of being 64's direct sequel, so I'm going to state up front that I'll be making numerous direct comparisons between both games to elucidate why I think Mario Sunshine just does not work mechanically and feels bad to play.
Episode 1: Blob Mario is On The Loose
Super Mario 64 released in 1996 and was one of the first major 3D platformers - this is an almost unnecessary statement of fact, but I need to establish the premise that Mario 64 plays extremely well both for a product of its era and for its place in the history and development of 3D gaming. A lot of thought went into designing a control scheme that was both intuitive and felt good to engage with, and Nintendo succeeded so well that Mario 64 established a foundation for 3D platformer controls much in the same way the original Super Mario Bros. served as a watershed moment for 2D platformers.
By contrast, Mario feels notably "off" in Super Mario Sunshine. There is no longer any predictability to his movement, he neither feels like an extension of the player nor a character with his own distinct physicality. Mario is a blob. He animates with so much bounce and jiggle that you might think he's composed entirely of some viscous substance, and though charming from an animation standpoint, he controls every bit as goopy as he looks. This results in an awkward delay to his movements, and the bounding nature of his weight results in numerous misfires when jumping. Try to jump onto the top of a nail or any similarly small object and you'll see what I mean. You'll probably overshoot or undershoot several times before finally dialing it in. Worse case, you'll slide off the damn level.
Perhaps they didn't see the need to refine these controls, or otherwise opted not to intentionally in consideration of F.L.U.D.D., Mario's water-firing backpack and the biggest mechanical addition to Sunshine over its predecessor. F.L.U.D.D. can spray water, which is useful for clearing goop, triggering events, and uncovering blue coins (we'll get to those.) He can also turn into a jetpack, which the player will likely rely upon heavily during platforming sequences. It becomes apparent that F.L.U.D.D. serves as a band-aide for Mario's poor physics when you enter the "secret" stages, which remove F.L.U.D.D. from the equation and force you to jump around the old-fashioned way.
If you sink enough time into Mario Sunshine, you might actually pick up on all its idiosyncrasies and gain some dominion over the beast. You might even start to think it's better than Mario 64. I once got locked inside of a Suncast jumbo storage shed with two crates of graham crackers, and I learned to like them so much that I still eat an entire pack for lunch pretty regularly. This is a psychological phenomenon referred to as the "mere-exposure effect," in which we develop a preference for something due to our familiarity with it. You have been conditioned!
Episode 2: Camera Catastrophe
One thing both games have in common, however, is how the camera is treated as a semi-physical object which occupies the same space as Mario. As such, it has a tendency to get caught on geometry. This is a nuisance in both games, but I would argue it's substantially worse in Sunshine due to it the complexity of its stage design and greater abundance of geometry.
Sunshine attempts to correct for this by providing some level of transparency when the camera hangs behind something, but the way this is implemented - by showing Mario's position, dropping out surrounding platforms, and unhelpfully highlighting NPCs, enemies, and objects with vague question marks - is such a half-measure that its inclusion feels utterly worthless. Trying to wrangle the camera using the C-stick even manages to feel worse in practice than using the Nintendo 64's C-buttons, something I wouldn't have thought possible without getting my hands on Sunshine again.
There is an overall lack of consideration in how levels are constructed, and so the camera will often snag right near the start of platforming sequences or when manually aiming the camera to survey the environment. During Episode 1 of Sirena Beach: The Manta Storm, the camera got stuck on a palm tree while Mario was using his jetpack to douse manta rays, which then multiply like Gremlins. As I was trying to get my bearings, Mario fell onto several manta rays, which caused him to leap back into a puddle of goop, which then caused him to bound forward into more manta rays. Mario's screaming was deafening. I still hear it when I fall asleep.
Episode 3: The Blue Coin Economy
In true collect-a-thon fashion, you enter a variety of different stages all connected by a hub world, but unlike Mario 64 where stars can mostly be collected out of order, Sunshine locks you into a more rigid structure. This is because each area tells its own story, like Noki Bay, whose waters have become toxic and require several attempts to purify, gradually changing the level over time. This is a novel concept which consequently boxes the player into completing a set number of episodes in each world. Not only can you not skip Shines which you might simply find unenjoyable to collect, but you must defeat Shadow Mario in each world in order to complete the game. The 50 Shine minimum to see Sunshine's end credits does not translate to "any 50 Shines will do" and instead means "these specific 50 shines, at least. You can get more for like... fun, I guess?"
There is nothing more "fun, I guess?" than the Blue Coins, which seems to be the one universal sore point for Mario Sunshine even among its defenders. There are 30 of these hidden in each level, and every 10 collected earns you another Shine. Functionally, these are meant to encourage the player to more thoroughly explore each level, drawing them to points of interest that each episode's required path might otherwise force them to skip. This is yet another consequence of the more linear nature of Sunshine. You might end up missing whole chunks of levels because you're never asked to go there, so blue coins provide motivation to branch off, beckoning to you and appealing to that dark desire that exists within all of us to do everything, to do it all.
You should not, though. Please exercise some self-restraint. Sometimes I want to drink an entire 8-pack of NOS, but I don't because I know it would be bad for me. Likewise, you should NEVER collect blue coins. All these get you is a post card at the end of the game. You could just look that up on the Internet. Here, I'll even give it to you free of charge.
The problem with blue coins isn't necessarily how many there are, but that they only contribute to 100% completion. There's no reason to interact with them whatsoever because - as we've established - you cannot complete the game by collecting any Shines you please. If you were to cash in half of the total number of blue coins, then the resulting 12 Shines earned mean absolutely nothing despite the effort it took to collect them. This issue could've been entirely side-stepped if blue coins served another purpose, like upgrading F.L.U.D.D. or unlocking some other form of bonus content which progressively opens up the more you cash in. This would not only keep the incentive to collect them but make them even more worthwhile as skipping any would not be so detrimental.
Oh, and you can't check to see what blue coins you've earned in what levels, the game only marks which levels you found every blue coin in and how many you have total. This just makes hunting for them even more of a pain without a guide and a spreadsheet to track them with, so you don't get confused. Some blue coins also appear only in specific episodes, so you need to make repeated trips into levels as well.
While I think the blue coins speak to larger issues with Sunshine's overall design, they are optional, and I am by my own admission hyper-fixating on them. I guess that's what I get for collecting um... 70% of the things.
And not to be entirely negative, I will say that there is some strong level theming in Sunshine. All of it feeds back into that core Summer aesthetic, placing a focus on locations like sun-bleached villages, beaches, a harbor, and a hotel/casino among other places, rather than adhering to tired tropes like desert or ice levels. Although there is one lava level, Corona Mountain, which is pretty much a straight line with really tepid challenges that ends in a flaccid boss fight. Bit anti-climatic.
Episode 4: The Mario Narrative
Some (me) might call Mario Sunshine an embarrassment and a gross misstep in the mainline Mario series. And some (me) might have even hated it so much at the time of its release that they traded it in for pennies on the dollar to a GameStop the second they finished it. Those very people (ME) may have even checked Ebay since then and lamented the fact that they could've swindled some poor fools out of 75 bucks a few years ago before 3D All-Stars brought prices back down to a more "reasonable" 40$.
We all make mistakes. Even Nintendo.
That's something I've chewed on while reflecting on this game. Would I think so harshly of it if it weren't a Mario game? It would still be bad, certainly, but it wouldn't betray a level of trust or an expectation of quality which the larger Mario series had set. Even a game six years its senior and which released on the edge of 3D gaming hitting the mainstream manages to outstrip it in structure, level design, and even controls. Perhaps that just speaks to how impressive Mario 64 is, but it's not unreasonable to think Nintendo could top it given the time and advances in game development. In 2002, Mario Sunshine downright hurt. Even so, I don't think it's appropriate to grade it on the Mario Scale.
Even if you chalk some it up to a difference in vision - due either to Miyamoto desiring something unique or Koizumi's directorial style - simple things like the way Mario plays should feel far more refined. Instead, Sunshine is sloppy game, one that uses Mario 64's bones and constructs them into something familiar but all too crude.
BUT IS IT A SUMMAH GAME?
man i don't give a shit
The Summah is so cancelled, man.
I haven't touched this game since 2002, and to be perfectly honest, I didn't think very highly of it back then. I was extremely excited for it leading up to release though, as I'm sure plenty of people were considering this was the first big follow up to Super Mario 64. It is somewhat hard to factor out my disappointment when viewing it through the frame of being 64's direct sequel, so I'm going to state up front that I'll be making numerous direct comparisons between both games to elucidate why I think Mario Sunshine just does not work mechanically and feels bad to play.
Episode 1: Blob Mario is On The Loose
Super Mario 64 released in 1996 and was one of the first major 3D platformers - this is an almost unnecessary statement of fact, but I need to establish the premise that Mario 64 plays extremely well both for a product of its era and for its place in the history and development of 3D gaming. A lot of thought went into designing a control scheme that was both intuitive and felt good to engage with, and Nintendo succeeded so well that Mario 64 established a foundation for 3D platformer controls much in the same way the original Super Mario Bros. served as a watershed moment for 2D platformers.
By contrast, Mario feels notably "off" in Super Mario Sunshine. There is no longer any predictability to his movement, he neither feels like an extension of the player nor a character with his own distinct physicality. Mario is a blob. He animates with so much bounce and jiggle that you might think he's composed entirely of some viscous substance, and though charming from an animation standpoint, he controls every bit as goopy as he looks. This results in an awkward delay to his movements, and the bounding nature of his weight results in numerous misfires when jumping. Try to jump onto the top of a nail or any similarly small object and you'll see what I mean. You'll probably overshoot or undershoot several times before finally dialing it in. Worse case, you'll slide off the damn level.
Perhaps they didn't see the need to refine these controls, or otherwise opted not to intentionally in consideration of F.L.U.D.D., Mario's water-firing backpack and the biggest mechanical addition to Sunshine over its predecessor. F.L.U.D.D. can spray water, which is useful for clearing goop, triggering events, and uncovering blue coins (we'll get to those.) He can also turn into a jetpack, which the player will likely rely upon heavily during platforming sequences. It becomes apparent that F.L.U.D.D. serves as a band-aide for Mario's poor physics when you enter the "secret" stages, which remove F.L.U.D.D. from the equation and force you to jump around the old-fashioned way.
If you sink enough time into Mario Sunshine, you might actually pick up on all its idiosyncrasies and gain some dominion over the beast. You might even start to think it's better than Mario 64. I once got locked inside of a Suncast jumbo storage shed with two crates of graham crackers, and I learned to like them so much that I still eat an entire pack for lunch pretty regularly. This is a psychological phenomenon referred to as the "mere-exposure effect," in which we develop a preference for something due to our familiarity with it. You have been conditioned!
Episode 2: Camera Catastrophe
One thing both games have in common, however, is how the camera is treated as a semi-physical object which occupies the same space as Mario. As such, it has a tendency to get caught on geometry. This is a nuisance in both games, but I would argue it's substantially worse in Sunshine due to it the complexity of its stage design and greater abundance of geometry.
Sunshine attempts to correct for this by providing some level of transparency when the camera hangs behind something, but the way this is implemented - by showing Mario's position, dropping out surrounding platforms, and unhelpfully highlighting NPCs, enemies, and objects with vague question marks - is such a half-measure that its inclusion feels utterly worthless. Trying to wrangle the camera using the C-stick even manages to feel worse in practice than using the Nintendo 64's C-buttons, something I wouldn't have thought possible without getting my hands on Sunshine again.
There is an overall lack of consideration in how levels are constructed, and so the camera will often snag right near the start of platforming sequences or when manually aiming the camera to survey the environment. During Episode 1 of Sirena Beach: The Manta Storm, the camera got stuck on a palm tree while Mario was using his jetpack to douse manta rays, which then multiply like Gremlins. As I was trying to get my bearings, Mario fell onto several manta rays, which caused him to leap back into a puddle of goop, which then caused him to bound forward into more manta rays. Mario's screaming was deafening. I still hear it when I fall asleep.
Episode 3: The Blue Coin Economy
In true collect-a-thon fashion, you enter a variety of different stages all connected by a hub world, but unlike Mario 64 where stars can mostly be collected out of order, Sunshine locks you into a more rigid structure. This is because each area tells its own story, like Noki Bay, whose waters have become toxic and require several attempts to purify, gradually changing the level over time. This is a novel concept which consequently boxes the player into completing a set number of episodes in each world. Not only can you not skip Shines which you might simply find unenjoyable to collect, but you must defeat Shadow Mario in each world in order to complete the game. The 50 Shine minimum to see Sunshine's end credits does not translate to "any 50 Shines will do" and instead means "these specific 50 shines, at least. You can get more for like... fun, I guess?"
There is nothing more "fun, I guess?" than the Blue Coins, which seems to be the one universal sore point for Mario Sunshine even among its defenders. There are 30 of these hidden in each level, and every 10 collected earns you another Shine. Functionally, these are meant to encourage the player to more thoroughly explore each level, drawing them to points of interest that each episode's required path might otherwise force them to skip. This is yet another consequence of the more linear nature of Sunshine. You might end up missing whole chunks of levels because you're never asked to go there, so blue coins provide motivation to branch off, beckoning to you and appealing to that dark desire that exists within all of us to do everything, to do it all.
You should not, though. Please exercise some self-restraint. Sometimes I want to drink an entire 8-pack of NOS, but I don't because I know it would be bad for me. Likewise, you should NEVER collect blue coins. All these get you is a post card at the end of the game. You could just look that up on the Internet. Here, I'll even give it to you free of charge.
The problem with blue coins isn't necessarily how many there are, but that they only contribute to 100% completion. There's no reason to interact with them whatsoever because - as we've established - you cannot complete the game by collecting any Shines you please. If you were to cash in half of the total number of blue coins, then the resulting 12 Shines earned mean absolutely nothing despite the effort it took to collect them. This issue could've been entirely side-stepped if blue coins served another purpose, like upgrading F.L.U.D.D. or unlocking some other form of bonus content which progressively opens up the more you cash in. This would not only keep the incentive to collect them but make them even more worthwhile as skipping any would not be so detrimental.
Oh, and you can't check to see what blue coins you've earned in what levels, the game only marks which levels you found every blue coin in and how many you have total. This just makes hunting for them even more of a pain without a guide and a spreadsheet to track them with, so you don't get confused. Some blue coins also appear only in specific episodes, so you need to make repeated trips into levels as well.
While I think the blue coins speak to larger issues with Sunshine's overall design, they are optional, and I am by my own admission hyper-fixating on them. I guess that's what I get for collecting um... 70% of the things.
And not to be entirely negative, I will say that there is some strong level theming in Sunshine. All of it feeds back into that core Summer aesthetic, placing a focus on locations like sun-bleached villages, beaches, a harbor, and a hotel/casino among other places, rather than adhering to tired tropes like desert or ice levels. Although there is one lava level, Corona Mountain, which is pretty much a straight line with really tepid challenges that ends in a flaccid boss fight. Bit anti-climatic.
Episode 4: The Mario Narrative
Some (me) might call Mario Sunshine an embarrassment and a gross misstep in the mainline Mario series. And some (me) might have even hated it so much at the time of its release that they traded it in for pennies on the dollar to a GameStop the second they finished it. Those very people (ME) may have even checked Ebay since then and lamented the fact that they could've swindled some poor fools out of 75 bucks a few years ago before 3D All-Stars brought prices back down to a more "reasonable" 40$.
We all make mistakes. Even Nintendo.
That's something I've chewed on while reflecting on this game. Would I think so harshly of it if it weren't a Mario game? It would still be bad, certainly, but it wouldn't betray a level of trust or an expectation of quality which the larger Mario series had set. Even a game six years its senior and which released on the edge of 3D gaming hitting the mainstream manages to outstrip it in structure, level design, and even controls. Perhaps that just speaks to how impressive Mario 64 is, but it's not unreasonable to think Nintendo could top it given the time and advances in game development. In 2002, Mario Sunshine downright hurt. Even so, I don't think it's appropriate to grade it on the Mario Scale.
Even if you chalk some it up to a difference in vision - due either to Miyamoto desiring something unique or Koizumi's directorial style - simple things like the way Mario plays should feel far more refined. Instead, Sunshine is sloppy game, one that uses Mario 64's bones and constructs them into something familiar but all too crude.
BUT IS IT A SUMMAH GAME?
man i don't give a shit
22 Comments
The final sign that all hope is lost... no more summah...
also i don't know if you tried super mario sunburn, but it improves everything around mario sunshine, but mario's physics are unfixable.
Mario got sent to the Pianta Jail for ruining summer. Tragic, but somewhat necessary to quell his misdeeds before they get worse.
I already told you my brief summary regarding the game's quality, so here's a funny story: I also spent time 100%ing this game a few years back. It's just as painful as people make it out to be, and even if you could skip most of it, some of them are shit you have to do no matter what which is what makes me think people haven't touched this title in years. Anyway, I did it, felt kind of weird since it was cool to do for a childhood game but also the fact it's Mario Sunshine.
After briefly playing another Gamecube title my memory card had been forced into a reformat. All those decade + several years worth of memories gone, alongside that 100% mark and its damn postcard. I am now beginning to think it was God's Wrath punishing me for even entertaining the thought...
I already told you my brief summary regarding the game's quality, so here's a funny story: I also spent time 100%ing this game a few years back. It's just as painful as people make it out to be, and even if you could skip most of it, some of them are shit you have to do no matter what which is what makes me think people haven't touched this title in years. Anyway, I did it, felt kind of weird since it was cool to do for a childhood game but also the fact it's Mario Sunshine.
After briefly playing another Gamecube title my memory card had been forced into a reformat. All those decade + several years worth of memories gone, alongside that 100% mark and its damn postcard. I am now beginning to think it was God's Wrath punishing me for even entertaining the thought...
This is the first game ever where i actually had to learn speedrunning tactics/glicthes just to get through a level. I was tricked into buying the 3D mario collection just for this cause everyone i had ever met at this point had called it an 'under appreciated masterpiece'. Absolute lies -_- great review
this game's ass on every scale I'm familiar with
probably some scales I'm not familiar with too
@DeemonAndGames Maybe... Maybe..........
@gruel I've heard about it in passing but haven't put much thought into actually playing it (I never put much thought into playing Sunshine anyway), but I might check it out, screw around in it for a bit. Especially if it runs on the Wii.
@BlazingWaters I initially made the commitment to get 100% in this, settled in with a video guide for blue coins and a checklist to help guide me through, but about halfway through I accepted the only thing I was doing was making myself dislike the game more and stopped. I'll always go for 120 stars in Mario 64 because outside of a small handful, it's actually fun. Sunshine just makes it a bunch of busywork in a game that is already lousy with busywork. Sorry about your save, though.
@moschidae What was the level? And hell yeah, you and me, just a couple of knuckleheads who hate on Mario Sunshine and Shenmue.
@curse I am glad you're back and that you're in my corner on this one.
@MeowPewterMeow Hell yeah. The whole time playing the secret stages I kept thinking of Vinny going "It doesn't feel good, Dan! It doesn't feel good! It doesn't feel good...!" I need to watch through this series now that I've finished the game, only seen the first episode.
@gruel I've heard about it in passing but haven't put much thought into actually playing it (I never put much thought into playing Sunshine anyway), but I might check it out, screw around in it for a bit. Especially if it runs on the Wii.
@BlazingWaters I initially made the commitment to get 100% in this, settled in with a video guide for blue coins and a checklist to help guide me through, but about halfway through I accepted the only thing I was doing was making myself dislike the game more and stopped. I'll always go for 120 stars in Mario 64 because outside of a small handful, it's actually fun. Sunshine just makes it a bunch of busywork in a game that is already lousy with busywork. Sorry about your save, though.
@moschidae What was the level? And hell yeah, you and me, just a couple of knuckleheads who hate on Mario Sunshine and Shenmue.
@curse I am glad you're back and that you're in my corner on this one.
@MeowPewterMeow Hell yeah. The whole time playing the secret stages I kept thinking of Vinny going "It doesn't feel good, Dan! It doesn't feel good! It doesn't feel good...!" I need to watch through this series now that I've finished the game, only seen the first episode.
this is so summer coded. mario is such a suncel. a bit of a beach-pilled man.
Agree with a lot of this (Especially what you say about the game's structure) but I'd say the game does have mostly great movement aside from the hover. In fact, I think the movement is the main reason people ignore how poorly thought out most of the other stuff is.
The level... uhh, i dont know but im pretty sure it was the casino level? I didnt attempt to play it at all because it looked like such bullshit. I had to jump onto the upper corner of a wall then fludd into the oob (out of bounds, if you will) portion of the elevator then fall into it. I did a few other clips but that was the biggest one. At least sunshine lets you not play it i guess.
Amazing review I’ve played this game far more times than my abundant patience should have been able to handle and I put the game down every single time I either try to hover and literally just can’t turn or when I hit a bounce pad and remember every time that the momentum with those bounce pads just doesn’t fucking work, makes me wanna start fermenting wine to enjoy life again
I always thought the postcard was the devs mocking you for going through the trouble of finding all the blue coins. Like, "Yeah, you should probably take a break".
While I dont agree with the score, its true...mario 64 and especially galaxy clear this game. Just wish this one was fun to 100% like those ones
@electrode There needs to be more Summah representation in games and I am not even kidding
@moschidae I hit my wall with the casino level when I had to do the secret mission, which requires you to fuck around with slot machines and some horrid tile game to even get to the secret area.
@hilda Thank you! The jetpack thing is really annoying, especially since the controls stiffen up when you're using it from a leap. It caused me a lot of problems in the Runaway Ferris Wheel episode, especially since the camera was constantly getting stuck behind everything during the climb up.
@just1npeters It might as well be. I'm just glad I wised up and decided to do exactly that.
@moschidae I hit my wall with the casino level when I had to do the secret mission, which requires you to fuck around with slot machines and some horrid tile game to even get to the secret area.
@hilda Thank you! The jetpack thing is really annoying, especially since the controls stiffen up when you're using it from a leap. It caused me a lot of problems in the Runaway Ferris Wheel episode, especially since the camera was constantly getting stuck behind everything during the climb up.
@just1npeters It might as well be. I'm just glad I wised up and decided to do exactly that.
The Mario Sunshine hater army continues to grow. We will win this war!
While I'm a sucker for these kinds of janky games (not a masochist, I swear), Sunshine is one of those games that I cannot believe came out of Nintendo in the state it did. It's like the game's out to get you. The boxing gloves that knock you off the cliffs in Noki Bay. The tile puzzle in Hotel Delfino that I always skip using a glitch. Gelato Beach's Watermelon Festival. The Chucksters. The whole thing stands out in Nintendo's frequently over-polished lineup of games. I'm one of those poor sods that 100%ed the game for real, and even I'm not willing to defend a lot of this.
Eh 100%ing it isnt awful, its just not fun at all to do that on replay...mostly because of those blue coins lol
@MobileSpider To be honest I'm a little surprised I've had people agreeing with me.
@Hooblashooga It is wild to me that this game released in the state that it did. Like, it's still functional but it's also pretty sloppy for a first party Nintendo game of that era, and especially for a Mario game. I'm glad you got more out of it than I did - really I'm happy whenever anyone likes a game I didn't, it's good that there are people who can find positive qualities where I may not - but a lot of the charm of its jankiness wore thin for me pretty quick.
@Hooblashooga It is wild to me that this game released in the state that it did. Like, it's still functional but it's also pretty sloppy for a first party Nintendo game of that era, and especially for a Mario game. I'm glad you got more out of it than I did - really I'm happy whenever anyone likes a game I didn't, it's good that there are people who can find positive qualities where I may not - but a lot of the charm of its jankiness wore thin for me pretty quick.
the sunshine haters will never catch me alive... NEVER!!!!!
gruel
8 months ago