I enjoyed sunshine, it was very fun and the levels were huge. The areas without Fludd are proberly my fav though. I wouldnt mind if they created a mario title with about 90 levels of just that style. I also agree that Fludd wasnt a gimmick and brought a fresh mechanic to the series. Go Sunshine!

Its kind of interesting that the 3D marios are kind of like the NES series.

Mario 64 = SMB 1
Mario Sunshine = SMB 2
Mario Galaxy = SMB 3

Sunshine made it fun to simply run around. By making Mario move, he kind of bounces, when he stops, and it’s controlled completely perfectly. The game makes jumping over gaps and landing in certain places easier, but when the water tank is taken away, the difficulty certainly ramps up. I don’t see why people bag on this game, either. It’s really a joy.

Yes! Finally, someone that agrees with my brother and I about this game. I’ve always felt it was quite brilliant, aside from a few camera issues. It’s really a pity it’s got such a bad reputation. Many thanks to you for standing up for the poor game.

Sunshine wasn’t perfect, but it was a lot of fun. Yes, blue coins were dumb, but the rest of the game was genius. One summer, I played Mario 64 then Mario Sunshine back to back. The fact is that Sunshine is the tougher game, by far. I have never gotten all the blue coins, but I did beat all the levels in Sunshine, and it took much longer than getting 120 stars in 64 did. So, if you want a full, fun game play experience, just play Sunshine on your Wii, but don’t get any blue coins. Bam! Problem solved: Sunshine is the better game.

That said, Mario 64 is much, much more “classic” than Sunshine. So, of the two, 64 belongs in the museum, Sunshine does not. However, Sunshine should hold a place in all of our hearts.

I love sunshine.

more than 64.

in 64, I love to just run around the castle, and the first level.
every other level and area feels like a level.
in sunshine, every level feels like another area of the castle, beautifully put together, and so authentic.

I don’t know what more to say, I love running along the roof tops, diving along the beaches, pushing lily pads round, spinning on the ropes, man I could just keep going.
the only reason I think people hate sunshine, is because they “wanted” a basic expansion of sm64, but we all know if nintendo actually did that, they would complain so much more.

I want to add my voice to the defenders of sunshine. Fair enough, it didn’t change the face of gaming the way mario 64 did, but it’s still an immensely fun game, superior in class and control to pretty much every other platformer made in the entire gamecube/xbox/ps2 generation.

Criminally under-appreciated game that caught the worst part of the “it’s hip to hate nintendo for no reason” trend of the last gen. Mysteriously, we’re now in a “it’s hip to love nintendo for no reason” trend. I mean, I know the games will be awesome, when they get here…eventually…oh well, Play sunshine while you wait!

I very much concur that “Sunshine” is pretty wildly underrated. I left my copy back at home in America over a year ago, but I sure have been wishing that I actually had it to play. It’s a pretty awesome game, I feel.

I wouldn’t say that Sunshine was one of the greatest gaming experience of my life but I wouldn’t say it was even close to bad. I mean you’re looking at a person who got bored playing Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart games. Sunshine didn’t bore me so much as I didn’t find certain levels interesting enough to run around in, which is a must for any game. I like the harbour and that one with the underground fence, but didn’t like areas like the hotel.

And incidentally, though I haven’t really played it but with some playtime on the version on the DS, I can’t say I liked Mario 64 that much.

Sunshine FTW. FLUDD pwns all n00bz. jk

I do agree that Sunshine really is a great game; I never understood why anyone didn’t like it.

Oh, I also wanted to say that the water effects in Sunshine are amazing. Love ‘em.

Mario Sunshine is one of my favorite Mario games. The beautiful Islands, level designs, gameplay, it was all wonderful espeacially Tropical Peach ^^. I will admit the cutscences were crap, and the blue coin were a pain to find, but aside all that this is wonderful game. IMO much better than Mario 64. In 64 I felt traped inside the caslte and worlds with no escape. I mean I did enjoy exploring the castle and worlds, but afterwards it just felt like being trapped in a box. This boards I thought were big and expanding were the Bowser stages, Haze Maze and Lost world. When I play I feel more freedom in movement, I don’t get that being trapped feeling. Fludd really made the game uniqe in many ways. It expanded that freedom feeling like I could do anything. The bonus levels were real fun and beautifully done. It made me feel like I was in Marios true Universe (Hope galaxy makes me feel the same). The game play was solid. Nice natural moves that didn’t hold you back espeacially the spin jump (My favorite jump). You should this little mini game my friend came up with when we were still playing the game. It’s real fun. It’s called “Match his crazy moves!” Every time you fight Shadow Mario try to match all his moves when fighting him. It’s real enjoyable.

In all I have to say Sunshine is one of the greatest Mario games ever made. From the boards, to levels, to the gameplay, this game rules and shouldn’t be disrepected. And you have to admit when all saw that commercial for this it was hilarious and had a catchy tune. Anyways those are my thoughts on this game.
Mario Sunshine rules and so does Peach. Respect them both!! lol

Yeah, I don’t really get why people have such an issue with Sunshine…it’s like the Majora’s Mask of Gamecube. A game I personally love that is apparently hated, for unknown reasons.

i loved mario sunshine. I can just remember the amazing feeling of stepping into these huge worlds and thinking “wow, i’m actually going to be jumping all over that?” and enjoying every damn minute of it.

my only gripe with the game was all the parts on a boat or leaf on top of the water, controlling them with FLUDD was the biggest pain in the rear and really disturbed the smooth pacing of the game.

I quite liked Sunshine and indeed played it through right to the end, but I do have to say that out of all the home console Mario games released it stands towards the bottom end in my opinion (albeit way above Mario Bros 2, which I thought was absolutely shit).

The gameplay in Sunshine was excellent. The graphics in Sunshine were excellent. In fact, every part of the game was pretty well put together, and was more than worthy of being considered a true part of the Mario line.

What I didn’t like so much was the general atmosphere and feel, which I think is what turned the majority of people off.While the whole super-sunny vacation thing is well realised, I had grown incredibly tired of it by the end of the game.

In fact, right up until I realised during the final fight it wasn’t going to happen, I was hoping a lovely snowy level would come along. Despite being the most graphically accomplished Mario platformer to date (and will remain so until Galaxy), the environments remained fairly monotonous throughout

I also think the music was weak, which has always been a major part of the Mario games for me; the classics from the Mario World and Mario Bros games still stick hard in my head, despite me having not actually heard them for many years in some cases; same for Mario 64 to a slightly lesser extent.

Overall, I think Sunshine was a highly accomplished game. However, I feel it failed to provide the variety and trademark elements that always made Mario games so great (Mario practically started the whole heavily themed worlds/levels thing). As such, this is why I don’t remember it anywhere near as fondly as I do other Mario platformers, and I suspect why many people were immediately disappointed with it.

I’ve really only two complaints about Sunshine.

1: Blue coins. Much as I did everything else in the game, scouring the levels for’em just wasn’t fun enough that I could be bothered to get them all.

2: Lives. Really, what was the point of them? You got set back to the beginning of each challenge anyway if you got killed, except that if you lost all your lives… you got tossed out of the pipe, and had to jump in again. Wha? Pointless, but for in the wood block challenges, where you’d have to run through the level to get into the challenge again, thus punishing you a little more.

Otherwise, neat game. Even if making Yoshi puke fruit juice at things was just mean to the poor little dino.

Water effects. Dig them.

The third time was the charm for the polygonal Legend of Zelda side; here’s hoping the same is true of the polygonal Mario platformers.

As someone who didn’t really play video games until a couple years after the PlayStation and N64 launched, therefore not having the “omfg Mario 64 is a massive revolution” moment, I think Sunshine is a far better game (note that I’ve played SM64 through twice, and have something like 35 N64 games so it’s not like I totally missed that generation or anything), with my only real problems with it being the blue coins as someone said above and just generally a little too easy like almost every Mario game but that’s to be expected considering the mass appeal the games have to have. If there were only 10-15 blue coins in each world it’d be ok, but was a bit too much of a collect quest having to find 30 in each stage just to finish the game. But Sunshine has just has the most perfect control and feel of any game I’ve ever played, an honour I don’t think will be troubled until Galaxy, this was enough for me to love the game. Don’t take this as me saying Mario 64 sucks though, it’s a brilliant game, I just find Sunshine to be the better of the two if they’re to be compared.

I find it kind of crazy that some people don’t just say “Wasn’t as good as I’d have liked” or something along those lines, but truly hate the game (same with Luigi’s Mansion really, which I had no problems with other than length and very low difficulty level). These people just seem to be WAY too caught up in Mario 64, and will probably end up hating Galaxy as well which is pretty sad.

But yeah, those cutscenes were pretty terrible ahah, and reason enough for me to not want Nintendo to try and get voice actors for future Zelda or Mario games. Metroid games could be ok though, the small amount of voice work in the Prime games is perfectly fine.

This winter, when it’s cold & wet outside, i’ll once again pick up my ‘cube controller and play through this game, it’s very warming. I didn’t have a 64, so i didn’t play m64 untill the VC, but i have to agree that it made a decent step forwards. Sure the end boss in sunshine was a bit of a letdown, but other than that i play the whole thing the same way as m64 - with a massive smile on my face.

What’s wrong with SMB2???

More support here, I loved this game. The setting was great, and I loved the music that accompanied it. I still like 64 better, however Sunshine was great. Time to play it through again to prepare for Galaxies!

I like Sunshine.. it’s gorgeous.. and certainly is different… and hard to get everything 100%

so I never understand the hatred toward the game… that and to SMB2 also…

I should really check this game out, I haven’t really explored the Gamecube’s library yet. Other than Animal Crossing and Metroid Prime, neither of which I’ve been blown away by unfortunately.

I’ll probably buy Sunshine about a week ahead of Galaxy’s release to get into the platforming genre again.

not a bad game…I just thought making Yoshi weak against water was pretty lame.

awesome to see so much mario sunshine love

I love Sunshine, but I got stuck at the level where you ride the rollercoaster and have to shoot balloons (I think it was) with missiles. So I sold the game. A month ago I bought it again, and I still love it. Just hope I can make that level this time around!

100% dead-on about the wood block levels. They’re some of my favorite Mario experiences, and in my opinion the truest translation yet of 2D platforming into 3D space.

Also, the background music for those levels kicks ass.

I just don´t know what the people has against this game, is one of the best ones made for the cube, and certainly a great one in the Mario series.-

I don’t think it’s a bad game, and it’s certainly one of the better pure platforming titles out there. I don’t care about FLUDD or anything else.

The problem, I think, is that people expect Mario titles to be a lot more than this game was. Between it’s pretty iffy camera system, horrible swim controls, one real concept for all the areas (island theme), almost pointless Yoshi usage and so many other seemingly almost “amateurish” problems… it just doesn’t feel like a very polished EAD game and certainly not something I would expect after waiting YEARS for another 3D Mario title.

Playing platformers on other systems, it became clear to me that there were at least a few games on the PS2 that kind of surpassed Mario there… and to a lot of people, such as myself, that’s a pretty major disappointment and not something I expected at all.

Meanwhile, I think Mario Galaxy already has far more interesting concepts and looks a hell of a lot more fun just in screenshots.

I just think to a lot of people “crap” for a Mario game is far different from the typical usage of the word.

Also, the wood block areas were awesome, but they really were not that common. The game could have used more of them.

I think the reason that so many people hate SMB2 and Sunshine is that it doesn’t follow the traditional Mario “formula”.

Honestly, that’s why I love them both so much.

There was what, 2 “Secret” wood block areas in each world I think? Totally awesome, I feel like Galaxy seems to be taking those levels and expanding them with gravity defying physics and just turning it into the whole game. No FLUDD, just the wildest platforming you’ve ever imagined.

I loved Sunshine as well, I think I’ll pop it out today and give it another spin. Has it really been 5 years?!

The only parts I dislike are the Ghost Hotel levels, too many small rooms not enough cool jumping stuff. And I never finished the Blue Coins, because there was really no point to it. I like going for collectibles if they offer something in return, but just to 100% a game, its not worth it to me. Unlock Luigi or something, and I’ll hunt to the ends of the earth. I really hope they put him in Galaxy, as they did in New Super Mario.

Sunshine was my first cube game, so it has a special place in my heart. ☆

Actually.. I had picked it up awhile ago expecting a mario 64 sequel. I hated it and didn’t play more than a hour or two. I decided to give it another try with the fact that it’s just jumping in mind.. and well, this game is fucking amazing and one of the best 3d platformers EVER.

MGS2 Raiden effect if you may. “it sucks because it’s not solid snake”

Sunshine was pretty awesome, I just didn’t like its pacing. In Mario 64, all you had to do to beat the game was get 70 stars. Any 70. In Sunshine, you HAVE to beat the 7th mission in every stage. There was no way to ignore or skip a level you were having trouble with, or just plain didn’t like.

Also, the “evil doppleganger does evil things that the original gets blamed for” was a bit too similar to Sonic Adventure 2 for me…

Sunshine was pretty bad, and the problem was with the very heart of the game - namely; FLUDD.

Mario games are fun because of the running around and the jumping. The jetpack nature of FLUDD takes some of the fun and a lot of the tension from jumping, and the water pistol nature of FLUDD often requires you to stop in your tracks, stalling the fun of running.

The wooden block levels were awesome precisely because they focused on running and jumping.

Everything else was a bit rubbish, the first stage was somehow claustrophobic and the tropical setting got old fast.

Sunshine is easily one of my favorite games ever, much more so than Mario 64. Once I finished something in 64 I would never play that part again. In Sunshine I would frequently revisit levels because they were such such a pleasure to play in and look at. Every production aspect of Sunshine easily tops 64.

People expected far too much of this game. They wanted another revolution, like 64 was, but that was impossible with what was almost an identical controller. I think Galaxy has a much better chance at being that revolution in platforming that people expected of Sunshine, however, you’re still going to be controlling Mario with an analog stick. I think games like Super Paper Mario, Dewey’s Adventure, and Odin Sphere (no, it’s not very revolutionary, but it’s so damn perfect) have much more potential to change the way platform games are made.

All I have to say about the “first worthy successor blah blah blah” statement is that I just hope it’s better than Sunshine because I love that game. I’m sure it will be, this is Nintendo we’re talking about, after all.

I posted this in the forums a while ago… >_>

BRAVO! I couldn’t agree more; Sunshine is easily one of my favorite games ever, and I have recently been re-playing it in anticipation of Galaxy! I got it when it first arrived several years back, played it like mad until I had finished it, and then dusted it off occasionally ever since. Now I have two kids (both boys under age 5), and they LOVE to play it/watch me play it.

I have to say that Sunshine is one of the best graphical experiences on the Cube, and that the FLUDD and inclusion of the ooze all over the island are both pretty innovative, if not revolutionary, additions to the franchise.

I really don’t mind those cutscenes, either. They’re no Tarantino, but they serve their purpose!

I am a fan of Sunshine and the complaints of this game are mind boggling, especially because the reviews on this game were so solid.

The biggest complaint I heard about, that is not covered in the above article (which I did not notice in the game and would like to have explained), is the camera angle issues.

I have a theory: In general, people (not critics) seem to like video game sequels that build upon predecessors and do not deviate from the formula. Apparently deviating from the formula means keeping Mario in the Mushroom Kingdom. No matter how great or highly reviewed some games are, the second they step out of their respective familiar home area the game get crucified. Hopefully Mario in space will change that.

Wow, I was expecting tons of back lash against this post… but looks like Rumas was preaching to the Choir here!

I’ve ALWAYS loved SMS, I think it was a brilliant addition to the series BECAUSE of FLUDD. See, SMS took the platformers main challange, jumping… and completely revolutionized it.

It was so fun BECAUSE of the freedom afforded by the extra hovering FLUDD allowed. It also helps that Mario controlled like a DREAM. I fired it up from time to time simply to fun around Delphino Plaza and see where I can get back-flipping, wall grabbing, and spin jumping everywhere.

Mario Galaxy looks like its going to surpass SMS… and that’s saying a lot.

I totally agree with N Rumas on this. The only reason right now that I’m not playing it is that I only have a used somewhat wonky GCN controller. If not for that I’d be replaying it.

I can think of two reasons why Super Mario Sunshine is the pits in everyone’s book. They do not include the camera.
One: Frustration - there were so many of those platforming courses. I was so disappointed when I’d be searching for a shine based on its title, and it turned out to be just a path to a platforming course. They’re very unforgiving too - if you fall off once, you likely bounce off a wall and fall to your death, because they all exist in the dead of space. If you waste a couple of lives on them, you then have to start at the beginning.
Two: The paint/water mechanic. This simple, obvious task basically gave you a free pass for figuring out several shines, but took no real skill or was any fun. Plus the streams of water had to be precise - the game wouldn’t forgive you if you missed one little spot. Besides getting shines, it was nothing more than an annoyance, and I don’t believe the game needed its presence.
I think Mario Sunshine lacked the creativity and discovery of SM64, with the platforming courses, the obvious “get rid of the paint” missions, and some gameplay mechanics that kinda went nowhere (Yoshi). It felt to me like the developers were just giving you busy work, instead of Mario 64’s levels that had something different to do every time.

I will stand up with the rest and defend Sunshine. The island setting is also one of my favorite aspects of the game. Just running around Delfino Plaza for an hour is a relaxing, virtual vaction.

My favorite part of the game is Pinna (?) Park, the amusement park level. Although climbing up the back of the ferris wheel epitomizes some of the camera problems mentioned, that level is pure joy. I’ve always loved amusement parks, and with Mario Sunshine I can go to one any time I want.

I never had a N64, so Sunshine was my first 3D Mario platformer. I began playing the game with certain expectations, and I’ll have to admit that I was disappointed. It just didn’t seem like a Mario game. Try as I might, I just could never get into the game. In all honesty, I think if Nintendo had created new characters for the game instead of using ones from the Mario universe, it may have been better recieved. I know I would have received it better, because I was expecting a traditional Mario platformer in 3D.

Later on, when I got my DS, I finally played Mario64. Now THAT game was what I expected out of and didn’t receive from Sunshine. I’m not saying Sunshine is a bad game. It was ok fun. It just never felt like a Mario game to me.

Also, my 10-year old niece and 11-year old newphew both found the game frustratingly difficult.

I loved Sunshine, and got many hours out of it. I got all but one shine, cuz i cannot find ONE blue coin. =(

I loved Sunshine, and got many hours out of it. I got all but one shine, cuz i cannot find ONE last blue coin. =(

Sunshine was definitely a good game, no doubt about it, but I found a problem with the game’s variety concerning level design. It’s cool to have a game set on an island, but when you don’t see and feel anything different when going from one level to the other, you start to get bored with it. The music was great, the visuals were appealing, but I wasn’t enjoying myself completely. SM64 had a hugely diverse locale list, and each felt very different from the last. Also, the last boss in Sunshine was horribly easy. 64 had this awesomely epic battle, whereas Sunshine had one that ended in less than 5 minutes. I still liked Sunshine (especially the FLUDD-less levels), but it wasn’t in anyway better than 64. Possibly control-wise it was, but 64 wasn’t that bad in controls to begin with.

Hah, I saw that someone compared this to Majora’s Mask in that it was disliked for reasons unknown. I think both of the titles are disliked because they did something drastically different to a game franchise that is extremely popular. Majora’s Mask had a strange non-Zelda-like storyline, and had a time limit (wtf?). Sunshine had the FLUDD thing, which I thought was really stupid. Honestly, I didn’t get that far into Super Mario Sunshine; I just couldn’t stand to play it for more than 20 minutes.

I wanted to like it, and I kind of did. Nothing was memorable, though, other than the parts where you didn’t have the FLUDD. That’s a little sad considering the FLUDD was the heart of the gameplay. Oh, and a little sidenote: Psychomantis made fun of me for playing Mario Sunshine.

Super Mario 64>Sunshine
But I do adore Sunshine. I don’t agree with you about the cutscenes; I had no problem with them.

Many of the critics feel what I feel when playing the game - padding. It’s like getting to second base and coming away with a handful of tissues. Hence the justifiable feelings of anger.

I have solved Sunshine more times than I remember. My 3 year-old began his intensive game ninja training with Mario 64, but quickly graduated to Sunshine and now can get all but the hardest shines in Sunshine.

Still, even he can tell that they didn’t have quite enough game by the release date and filled it with padding just to make it seem like a half of a Mario game. How many blue coins!?! Didn’t I already get the red coins in this level?!? Doesn’t Corona Mountain seem a bit short?? I could depressively go on and on…

How about this quote:
—–
Miyamoto: In the case of Mario Sunshine, I think that we could have made the game a lot more interesting if we had worked harder on it.

GS: Surely it was not a matter of working hard. Was it a question of time or effort?

Miyamoto: Obviously, because of the concept of Mario Sunshine, there was a need to release the game during the summer. Based on that, you could say that we started the game a little later than we should have.
—–

There have been many comments by Miyamoto to the same effect, and game reviewers have read them all. I guess this was before the age of “release it when it’s done”!

Bottom line - I like Sunshine, but I wanted to love it - and could have, if Nintendo tried harder. Thankfully, Galaxy appears to be the Don Juan to Sunshine’s Don Knotts.

The best thing is that now you can get Super Mario Sunshine only for 14.90 $:

http://tinyurl.com/3db2dc

It’s Korean version, so it will work with freeloader (or Japan/Asia system). The trick is that the game is fully in english. I bought this version myself and recommend it.

I have fun playin’ the game. I don’t care what other people say.

Sunshine is hopelessly BAD! It’s a glorified cleaning sim. It’s not revolutionary in any way, and despite what Rumas has to say about it: games SHOULD be revoltionary. Gamers shouldn’t be forced to settle, though we do…frequently. The game is buggy, and regardless of how nice the “island paradise” is; I will always believe that the guy who created the piantas should probably be shot (the same goes for FLUDD).

Ok, lets see…

#1 I NEVER sell video games I bought, I collect them.
#2 I’m a huge sucker for Mario platformers.
#3 I love the NES, SNES 2D Mario games (yes even Doki Doki Panic was fun)

After playing the first few levels of Super Mario Sunshine (SHINE GET! was pretty funny) I sold the game to next neighborhood kid.

Go figure.

Din anyone actually gather all the blue coins?

Sunshine is a very good game… it’s just not what most fans wanted at the time of release. SM64 was just so perfect that we expected more of a sequel than an alteration. I actually don’t like the vacation theme, not because it wasn’t done well, but because to me it seems to clash with the original Mushroom Kingdom theme. Sunshine’s levels look as if they are set in a whole new universe rather than a different part of Mario’s world.

It is for this reason that I believe Sunshine would have been a much greater game if it had not had Mario in it at all. It could have instead shown us a totally new character that would have started another franchise for Nintendo to continue being successful with on Wii.

Here, here Rumas! I loved it too and appreciate your defense of one of my favorite Mario games as well.

The wood-block levels were great and are probably my favorite part of any Mario game. I wouldn’t mind a game solely consisting of tons and tons of wood-block levels with maybe even a create your own option (although getting to/stumbling upon them was half the fun).

Other than that, though sunshine just wasn’t good enough. I completely with Abe Froman. There’s way too much padding. There really is only half a Mario game there. While there’s plenty of variety, there are not nearly enough levels, the final boss battle sucks (in fact the game would have been better without it) and the blue coins as well as many of the missions are just dumb. Still, most of what is there, is pretty good; the main problem really is that there just isn’t enough solid Mario goodness.

I’ll be the bad guy here, there doesn’t seem to be a Sunshine hater in the bunch! The game is just dullsville. All the levels look the same, and the whole water pack thing would have been cool - for one level. In fact I’m beginning to fear the Bee suit in Galaxy. We want variety! Why can’t we have tons of suits again like Mario 3? And the overworld in Sunshine —- zzzzzzzzzzz. It kept reminding me of the first Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast; the extremely dull overworld you had to trudge through to finally get to the action. And swimming in 3D is a chore, it should be used sparingly. Finally, the new Isle Delfino characters were especially lame, and don’t fit into the Mario world at all.

Have at me!

I AGREE! I HEART MARIO SUNSHINE, W00!

I hate all the badmouthing that goes on about sunshine as well.

@ALAN - Swimming is tedious but rocketsurfnozzlewhatevering is awesome in the water!

Oh and the island theme was fun and relaxing. If you ask me, Mario games fit much better on a tropical island than first person shooters.

@ SHADEBU - Cleaning sim? Honestly? So I assume you do most of your cleaning with a water pack as you jump around spraying psychadelic goo off of things.

I must add my voice to the apparent choir (YAY! ) of Super Mario Sunshine lovers. Admittingly, the game’s FMV cutscenes were…er…lame. And Bowser’s voice acting was…err…awful. But truthfully, those are the only problems I had with the game.

I for one felt that Sunshine was an amazing game in every aspect, much more so than Mario’s previous 3D installment (not to say Mario 64 is bad…but I loved Sunshine). Of course, as others have voiced, I felt the same way about Majora’s Mask as well.

Anyway, I felt if anything, Sunshine did mostly everything right. I really didn’t have any issues with the camera. In fact, in comparison to Mario 64, I felt the camera was much less frustrating. Secondly, the graphics to this day STILL amaze me. It was just so fluid and crisp and beautiful. The water effects I had seen since the original Wave Race (let us forget Blue Storm ever existed…)

And unlike others, I felt F.L.U.D.D added an extremely interesting aspect to the gameplay mechanic. I especially dig the Jet Nozzle, allowing me to zoom around the island a la almost DBZ style (except spouting water from the back). I felt that giving Mario an alternative purpose besides just rescuing the Princess was a great direction for the series. And all the little nuiances, from the difficult puzzle levels without F.L.U.D.D, to the enviornments, to the characters…I loved just about everything about Sunshine, and am still punching myself in the crouch for selling it. But I needed Wii.

On top of all that…if nothing else…Sunshine gave me one of my favorite Mario multiplayer characters…Petey Pirhana. THAT’S RIGHT. I SAID IT. I love that friggin’ flower…Pirhana Plant…type…thing. He’s just so unbeliveably goofy that he’s awesome.

So, I hate to say it, because I know Reggie will track me down and punch my face to the point it collapses in on itself and becomes a black hole, but I gots ta say, Reggie, you can sit on it and rotate. You’re DEAD wrong on that one pal.

That aside, STILL looking forward to Galaxy.

I really loved Sunshine, but I was really let down by the final boss. Bowser was way too easy. Other than that, I really enjoyed just runnning around and exploring the worlds in the game.

The only two complaints I had with Sunshine: a)The final boss was far too easy. b)The blue coins were a tedious chore, some were incredibly difficult to find, even using a guide.

Other than that I loved the game it was a giddy pleasure to explore the sunny island; Delfino Plaza is one of my favorite overworlds, it has so many secrets and charms to discover. The control is tighter and more responsive than any 3-D platformer I have ever played. People don’t like Sunshine for the same reason people don’t like SMB2, they’re the oddball of the series. The FLUDD mechanic is akin to the Turnip pulling mechanic of SMB2.

Since were on the subject of the Mario series, I’d like to say that I’ve always thought of the 2-D Mario games as platformers, and 3-D Mario as platformer-adventures. I really see games like the Crash Bandicoot series (sans Twinsanity) or the Sonic Series (at least the Sonic/Shadow levels in Adventure) as the logical continuation of 2D platforming games into 3D.

It wasn’t much of an improvement on gameplay compared to Mario 64.

But it was VERY beautiful in the graphical sense, it really made you feel like you were on holidays!

It wasn’t much of an improvement on gameplay compared to Mario 64.

But it was VERY beautiful in the graphical sense, it really made you feel like you were on holidays!

Blue coins are as irritating as Yoshi Challenge in Super Mario Advance (SMB2 remake).

I never got them all.

I will never understand complaints about camera controls in games like Mario 64/Sunshine and the 3D Zelda titles: I’ve never had a problem for more than a few minutes cumulatively in any of these games. What’s more, even stuff that should seem difficult, like having the camera round a corner as you do, is easy.

I like Sunshine just fine, and have to second the idea of an all Secret Levels (or whatever they were called) incarnation, because those levels were the best. The only reason Mario 64 edges Sunshine out of the top spots for Post-NES Mario games is because I just spent far too long playing Mario 64 — it’s encoded in my brain. And Sunshine, like most Nintendo games of late, was comparatively much easier. Oh, and the sunglasses, what were they even for? Ok, 3 minor things.

ITS THE DIRECTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The main reason i think is that people didn’t like it cos it doesn’t fit in the mushroom kingdom just as “NICK” a few comments above had said. This is the same thing with Zelda’s WindWaker. Nintendo created it with a main theme/ element in their games, thats why some fans get disappointed with it from the start, but obviously that doesn’t mean it’s crap, but in the end its relies heavily on the theme. I feel Nintendo goes for themes recently for Zelda and Mario (Mario Sunshine and WindWaker and Majora’s Mask) and not done this for their past games. Maybe they should change the name of their tiles like what squareenix done with the Final Fantasies LOL. Hopefully Mario Galaxy brings the classic back and doesn’t heavily involve space and no mushroom kingdom.

What I’d really like to see is a Mario adventure/platformer game. By this I mean let’s do away with the hub concept. To me it makes the games feel like a menu system with sub directories. I’m hoping for more a Zelda or Oblivion type of exploration yet not exactly like that. For instance, we could be in a city in one level and you can wall jump all the way up the tallest skyscraper. Use FLUDD to hover to the adjacent building. Do the whole swinging on the clothes lines littering the alleyways. Then you can fly around too with, say, a hangglider after climbing and wall jumping a cliff. You can do some kart racing, go on a Yoshi safari, etc. You can travel to multiple kingdoms introduced in other games and you can do other “missions.” Clear a haunted house like in Luigi’s Mansion, rescue Princess Peach in another, capture the Koopalings, etc.

THANK YOU! Finally someone is actually standing up for this game.

I know that Sunshine certainly isn’t the greatest Mario game in existence (and it did have a few annoying niggles here and there — the horrible swimming mechanics being a major one for me) but it easily mops the floor with the vast majority of 3D platformers out there, even today.

I’m guessing that after years of waiting for ‘Mario 64 pt. 2,’ a lot of people just had unrealistically high expectations for Sunshine.

Sunshine was my first Cube game (along with Smash Bros.) back in 2002 and it is still a game I like to dig out every now and then and give a whirl.

Wow! Some people really didn’t like this game! I agree with the ones that did though. I enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine more than Mario 64. Truthfully, I think it is on par with Super Mario World as the joint best Mario platformer ever!
Let me just say, I got every single blue coin. A fact I am very proud of (I will never delete that save file!). Those coins are some of the best hidden things ever, and that includes exits in Mario World! The final two coins (one in the hotel and one in Noki Bay) alone took me about three hours of rigorous exploration and spraying. If you couldn’t have put the camera inside the wall, Noki Bay would be impossible!
I think the Fludd is great, and doesn’t really offer Mario any abilities above what he has previously already used in games through powerups and it it the closest he has come in a platformer to doing anything remotely ressembling a bit of plumbing so I don’t know why everyone seems to hate it so much! Jetting high high above Noki Bay (my favourite level) and looking down and seeing all that beautiful focus blurring, and the waves in the bay, and then diving straight down down at terminal velocity onto a rock is an experience that will always be with me.
[deep breath… Mmmmmmm…]

I was also thankful for the island setting rather than the generic fire-world, ice-world, sky-world, blah blah blah so usually seem in platformers. I do however have one very large complaint with the game. After beating Bowser at 70 shines I went and got all the rest of the 120 shines. Most of that time was spent collecting blue coins. After finally obtaining the final blue coin and getting 120 shines I got… nothing. Not a fucking bean! Nothing! No Luigi, no funky coloured Yoshi, no extra T-shirt or redesigned sunglasses! Absolutely bugger all. There was possibly some sort of “well done” message in the credits after, I don’t really remember (this was a while ago). If there was, who cares anyway. That’s crap. I really was expecting SOMETHING! Even Mario 64 let you look at Yoshi, and the previous Sunshine prize of the holiday gear made me think something even better was in store (and I use the word “even” lightly)!

That turned into a right rant, but by the time that final disappointment came I had already played through one of the best games ever, so I guess that is it’s own reward…

Did I mention how lush the water was?

I actually think Sunshine IS the greatest Mario game in existence. Not only is it an awesome platformer, but it’s so beautiful and conveys a sense of escape so well that it cures seasonal affective disorder.

Well, it cured mine, anyway, that one year I was playing it. I should pick it up again on Sunday just to commemorate its anniversary.

I dunnom you guys are missing out on the obvious flaws of the game. yes the game had a bunch of levels but a lot of the shines were rehashed. You fight the same bosses over and over again and you get a shine for them. Two of the shines in each level didn’t have objectives, rather you had to collect 8 coins. That is fine, but doing it twice was too much. Also the game had little to show that it was a mario title. No koopa’s, fake goomba’s. Clearing up the paint got old after awhile.

but besides that the game was good. Especially the platforming levels without the fludd.

I really liked Super Mario Sunshine just for it’s setting too. Can’t wait to play the Delfino stage on SSBB.

raindog, you put it really well about the sense of escape it creates

People hated the Game? I loved it and everybody i know loved it. The jumping seemed fluid, a lot more than it did 64. Jumping definitely makes game good

Wow !! Sunshine not recognized ?? The game have a average ratio of 91.5% in gamerankings !

I think that Sunshine stays in the shadows because it’s not a masterpiece like Super Mario Bros. 3, but it’s a good game.

Thanks!

It’s been said many times already, but it needs to be said again: Sunshine had nowhere near enough variety. Super Mario World was also set on a tropical island, and it it managed to get forests, chocolate deserts, distinct water levels, and even ice levels, whereas Sunshine was just beaches and more beaches. Even SMW’s Special levels, which were basically the equivalent of Sunshine’s FLUDD-less platforming levels, had huge variety, rather than just being different arrangements of wooden blocks inside a neon sphere. And on top of that, the entrances to the practically identical worlds are too indistinguishable. In 64, I could tell from the painting whether I was going to the snow level, the castle level, the mountain level, the clock level, etc. In Sunshine, I have to remember whether the blob of color on the statue, the blob of color on the hut, or the blob of color inside the pipe takes me to Beach 4-C, and the fact that they’re all randomly scattered in a large, confusing, open area rather than placed semi-logically inside a closed, moderately small castle certainly doesn’t help matters.

Come on, there was only one beach (the one with those rubber duck-head things) that actually came into gameplay. The cliffs level and “village with an underbelly, literally” levels were incredibly refreshing and unlike anything previously seen in a Mario game. The windmill level’s vastness told us immediately that the scope of this Mario game was beyond what we were used to. The amusement park level was the kind of thing we might have seen in a 3D Sonic game if Sega had a clue. The harbor level brought back fond memories, not of the early Mario games, but of a lesser-known Nintendo classic: Popeye. Even the obligatory haunted house level (in this case, the hotel) was a breath of fresh air, with nary an overused horror-movie organ or gratuitous spike trap.

I think many Sunshine-haters’ real issue with the game is that it’s the first Mario game to really be different, from the visuals to the controls. It’s like Miyamoto-san got bored with the same old stuff…. and took a vacation. And playing the game is very much like taking a little vacation. It’s not too difficult except for those damned pachinko and acid/lilypad hidden levels; it’s picturesque, engaging and beautiful.

Galaxy is a departure too, but everything appears to have a strong Mushroom Kingdom influence mixed with randomly added visual elements (e.g. the cookie factory, the bee thing) rather than the brilliant unified vision of Sunshine. (Judging by the “40 levels across 6 worlds” thing, it sounds like Galaxy might also be SMALLER than Sunshine’s 64 levels across 8 “worlds”. Guess it depends on how big those levels are, but the demo runs I’ve seen look like Mario 64 style levels in length.) Here’s hoping he takes another vacation in the next couple years, whether for Wii or DS.

I’d even take a 3D Mario vs. DK in a jungle setting if it had the kind of passionate design love seen in Sunshine.

well there isn’t much to say that hasn’t been said in the game’s defense, so i guess i’ll just keep it short and say that i agree with what everyone said who has stood up for the game above me, and thanks to rumas for initially starting the conversation with a great piece about something that has undeservedly become the ugly duckling of the mario platform series. all this talk about sunshine realllly makes me want to go play it now, but i was tight for cash to buy my DS so i had to sell my cube… sad day, but oh well i guess i got a DS out of the deal, which i think i have probably played more than my cube by now, which is saying a lot considering how many hours i put in on that thing playing smash and the likes.

I completely agree.
When I heard Super Mario Sunshine was comming out, I preordered immediately. This title was definately going to be unique, I didn’t want to miss.

I stayed inside for like three days, ending up getting to bowser and kickin’ his but real fast. The thing was, I remember it was real rainy outside during the summer months. I always love to go back and see if I can beat the game even faster or find the rest of those d*** blue coins.

True, it wasn’t a hooge leap from SM64, but it was pleasant. I don’t get why everyone absolutely loathed it. The color and graphics are astounding. It makes your eyes hurt almost when looking at the sun. It would change dramatically with the amount of goop everywhere and the time of day.

Now I’m thinking SMG (lol, asian) will be just as good, maybe 2 points better. I notice it takes a lot of influences from SMS, and believe it or not, the style reminds me a lot of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. I love that. It cartoony but very VERY lively.

Yes, this game was extremely underrated for what its worth. But no, it was not underrated as a MARIO game. Besides the technical problems with the camera and the never-before-seen fully voiced cutscenes that didnt have much charm, this game was flawed in many ways for a mario game. The first major flaw was the poorly balanced difficulty. This game had its easy moments, and its hard moments, though they were not presented in a proper manner. Levels earlier in the game (especially the “Secret of” levels) proved much more difficult than some of the later levels. This made the games challenge almost annoying as your own level of control did not match the challenge posed by the designers. Other mario games “synced” these together to form a game that would always challenge you “just enough”. Secondly and mostly I believe the music in this game was some of the strongest in a mario game, atleast the best orchestrated, but the poorest choice for a mario game. The game lacked variation in music. It had a dominant “theme” that was a bouncy tropical take on the mario theme but it didnt hit any nostalgic notes, nor did it ring true “mario”. The music was great but it did not mesh with the mario feel. This leads to a third and final flaw , the art direction. Now please realize I word it “direction”. The graphics, the art, it is all GORGEOUS. I loved every second of the graphical presentation. But once again I feel it was limited due mostly to the “Island” idea. Every level was dominantly above ground or above water.
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The only level that actually defied this was the hotel level and the last volcano level.

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They really limited themselves with the island theme, but they could have done more. There were no “air” levels which could have been done. There were not solid “water” levels. The water was merely an after thought or a tie in with the FLUDD system, not ever a fully realized aspect of the game. Think of the sunken ship level in Mario 64, that is genius. The water in this game is almost too abundant it feels stagnant. There are other things, I could go on for a long time. I myself am a game developer and long time fan of nintendo and mario games and a long time fan of Shigeru Miyamotos work. In conclusion I feel Ive stated the major flaws of this game that many overlooked due to its subconcious manner. It should be known that Shigeru Miyamoto did not actually MAKE this game. He simply directed a team to make it. In fact he directed the team that made Luigis Mansion. (Notice the similarity between the FLUDD and the Poltergust?). Luigis Mansion is victim of the same problems that plagued Mario Sunshine, but thats another story. That is my two cents, please feel free to comment , question or bring up anything else worth delving into.

;)I have fun too playing the game!

um…. I feel that it’s the FLUDD that does this game in.

I didn’t like being forced to STOP platformin to clean up the paint. And I didn’t like how every level ended up with the same situation: clean the place up, then platform around, but oh, you can save yourself from falling by using the fludd! If they had used the fludd better, then the platforming would have FORCED you to use the fludd in creative ways. It just didn’t happen to work that way.