undeniably, there was something lost during the transition from gen 1 to 2. you can even start to see it from red/blue to yellow. designs became less abstract, instead opting to ape the designs shown in the anime. the feeling of a JRPG monster game was traded in favor of eschewing a new genre, something a cross between that and a pet simulator. it's very fascinating for me to go back and see how distinctly unpokemon red/blue was, and gen 2 is really where you start to see a lot of the themes and tone come about.

on some level, i do prefer red/blue to this game. there's a greater "pick up and play" element to it for me, there's a staggering amount of content condensed into a relatively simple experience. something about the game design of red/blue evokes a "do another playthrough" desire out of me; it could be the relative minimalism by series standards or just the fact that it feels so video game-y in a way that pokemon's largely abandoned. charmander isn't a cute little salamander, it's a monster that's meant to grow into something greater than itself. and sure, some of the NPCs in the game do remark about how cute and adorable pokemon like jigglypuff and meowth are, but there's this implied understanding that, to be a superior pokemon trainer, you should be looking at stats and moves, not at designs.

fastforward to gen 2, and you get an almost completely opposite message from the game. there's a greater emphasis on bonding with your pokemon, both in the addition of a friendship statistic and also in the form of friendship evolutions. baby pokemon are added despite serving no advantage in gameplay terms and being relatively useless. much more gimmick pokemon are added that seemingly lack real-world counterparts to add to the world, like shuckle and gligar. in large part, gen 2 is the point in the series when pokemon decided to stop being centered on imitating the real world with a JRPG lens and instead became its own, lived-in universe. pokemon have mythos and lore beyond pokedex entries now! you can breed pokemon and get powerful egg moves onto things, regardless of how sensible it may be (hello chikorita with ancientpower)! gen 2 is when we look at pokemon's world in greater detail instead of abstraction. on the one hand, i appreciate and miss the abstraction of gen 1. on the other, it's undeniable that gen 2's when the pokemon series really kicked into high gear and cultivated its iconography and gameplay systems beyond what many expected of a fad of the year series.

it's worth mentioning that this game does a lot of quality of life improvements as well as bug fixes and move effect retoolings from gen 1 that were sorely needed. i could spend what feels like days listing off everything improved, but it's staggering when you sit down and bullet-point out how much of gen 1 needed to be fixed by its sequels; moreso staggering that it was. it's very easy to go "the jump from gen 1 to gen 2 was big", but it doesn't feel quite as big until you play them both back to back. the art style alone is so different that the games feel as though they're not even related. pokemon red/blue was the blueprint, pokemon GSC was the reinvention.

the largest and probably most damning flaw of the game for me is that a large portion of the gen 2 pokemon are prohibitively difficult to obtain. some are locked away behind trade evolutions, some are only obtainable after beating the elite four, and some are just painfully rare encounters (see: dunsparce, teddiursa, and swarm pokemon like yanma + qwilfish). and literally half the gym leaders only use pokemon from gen 1. you're telling me that you introduced one new ghost type pokemon in misdreavus, and not a single fucking person in morty's gym uses it? and falkner is left by the wayside in only using pidgey and pidgeotto. sure, he's the first gym leader, but you really couldn't have at least given him something at least a little interesting like hoothoot or murkrow?

but i'm nitpicking. this game is considered a hallmark of the series, and, when you consider the context, it's easy to see why. as much fondness as you could have for digimon, you simply must admit that it lacks a pokemon GSC. it lacks a video game that dominated markets and cemented its series as a mainstay of pop culture. for what pokemon has become and what we all wish it could be, there was a time when it felt like it was truly breaking new ground, as though it were mapping uncharted territory. that was exciting. thrilling, even.

between the hilariously high input delay, joycon drift, all the characters being nearly identical, the game’s movement and system mechanics being designed for “casual” play making it have an awful game feel (surprise surprise, removing player agency for “casuals” and adding a bunch more endlag for no reason just makes the game less fun for everyone), and probably several other things, this is probably one of the least fun party games i’ve ever played.

it also sucks as a competitive game/sport, but post-Melee smash is just so dull in that department it's barely worth mentioning. 64 and Melee were just accidentally good.

Despite how controversial this game can be, I love it with all of my heart. Granted, I might be a bit biased because it was one of the first console games I ever owned for myself, at least after my PS2, but I like to think the game has aged fairly well regardless. Besides, I wouldn't really give a shit if I was biased or not, Mario Sunshine is fun as hell.

I definitely feel like this game had a big influence on how I played games, 3D platformers to be specific. The movement in this game is top notch, with FLUDD opening lots of options for traversal that you just don't see in other titles. While you could argue a game like Odyssey does have a wider array of movement options, Sunshine just feels so much better to play. I can't describe just how happy I am running around Delfino Plaza, or any of the levels.

Speaking on that, this game has the BEST atmosphere of any Mario game. Period. I am a sucker for tropical themed things in games, and Sunshine is one huge vacation! The gorgeous color palettes of each level, the sense of scope you get when seeing another level off in the distance, just taking in the atmosphere of this game is so... good. Sometimes I love just booting this up on my Switch and walking around the final level from each stage, where everything is usually at its most peaceful, and just soaking it all in.

To go along with that, Sunshine has got some great tracks to help build atmosphere, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows how good this music is. I've heard these songs in the background of so many video essays it's insane, Sunshine has one of the most chill soundtracks of any Nintendo game while still accurately capturing the mood of each stage it appears in. Even high energy level themes, like Ricco Harbor, just have a playful, light energy to them that absorbs you in its environments. The sound design is also top notch, Mario's new voice lines are great, and the voice acting is really cute. Bowser Jr is just such a cutie, and Bowser's voice is so doofy, I love it.

I am aware of the faults people lay on the game, and I won't act like I don't also dislike some of these things, but at the end of the day, I don't really care? Mario Sunshine is something beautiful, despite all of its flaws. It captures this energy I have yet to see another Mario game do, of a vibrant island full of funny looking dudes that make silly noises. This game will always be one of my favorites, easy.