Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube Review) by Lmalsbleckly

Super Mario Sunshine
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
System: Nintendo GameCube
Release: JP – July 19, 2002; NA – August 26, 2002; PAL – October 4, 2002

Once Super Mario 64 was released for the Nintendo 64 back in the 90s, fans wanted more. After six long years, Nintendo delivered with Super Mario Sunshine. But is Sunshine as great as it was originally intended to be? Did it satisfy fans of Mario? Does it deserve all the glory it has received over the past seven years?

Super Mario Sunshine has players take on the role of Mario, a plumber generally considered to be of Italian origin due to his manner of speaking. Mario is en route to Delfino Island, inhabited by the Nikos and the Piantas, with Princess Peach and her Toad entourage via airplane. Upon landing, Mario discovers that the island has been plagued by graffiti attacks by a Mario lookalike, referred to as Shadow Mario, who kidnaps Princess Peach, and that the Shine Sprites, the Isle’s power source, have vanished due to all of the pollution.

Mario is put on trial for the graffiti on the island and found guilty. His punishment: to clean up the mess he allegedly caused. To help him on his task is the Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device, or FLUDD, a device that sprays water and talks. Mario utilizes the FLUDD for advice, to clean up the sludge on Isle Delfino, and to hover briefly by spraying straight down.

From here, Mario must travel to different parts of Isle Delfino to carry out his sentence. These areas are similar to those of Super Mario 64, in that there is a Shine Sprite (in place of a Star) in every mission. These missions can include collecting red coins, riding Yoshi around, chasing Shadow Mario, and fun boss battles. After collecting so many Sprites, Mario learns that the imposter Mario has Peach at an amusement park. However, upon arrival, Shadow Mario reveals that he his Bowser’s son, Bowser Jr., that Peach is his supposed mother, and that he has a very large Bowser robot that Mario must destroy. After this, your task is to continue collecting Sprites until you achieve 60, after which you can finish the story (and optionally strive for 100% completion with 120 Sprites). Don’t worry, though, there are plenty of interesting twists and semi-unlockables along the way.

The Verdict

Sound
15/15 – Absolutely fantastic. Not only are there remixes of old favorites, but Sunshine is loaded with brand new songs that you’ll be humming along to all day. In addition, Sunshine incorporates more voice acting than any other Mario game so far, yet, instead of mixing in large amounts of voice acting into the game, Sunshine uses the acting as more of a spice to give the player a truly delicious game.

Graphics
18/20 – Mario’s goal in graphics has never been to wow the player with realism. That jive just don’t fly with Mario. Sunshine is all about the bright, cheery island of Delfino, and delivers with great cartoony graphics with loads of color. Sure, there are a few minor things here and there, but in the whole scale of things, SMS was a graphical success, looking better than a few of the games released in the past 2-3 years. It further develops a style that is easily recognizable by just about anyone who has some knowledge of video gaming. A true masterpiece of its time.

Appeal
25/25 – Funny, captivating, entertaining. There’s hardly a reason NOT to want to play Sunshine. There are enough easy levels to complete the story, but enough challenging ones to keep you playing. The story is great, and the gameplay is better. You’ll find it hard to stop at 60 Sprites, craving more and more.

Gameplay
37/40 – Super Mario Sunshine is nigh on perfect. The use of water is almost unheard of prior to its release. Not only does Sunshine give you the classic races, adventures, battles, and collection of its predecessor, it has innovative and unique challenges that set it apart. Of course there’s Mario’s movement, which consists of running, jumping, kicking and picking up fruit, twirling in mid air, putting out fires, blasting away sludge, and hovering across otherwise inaccessible gaps, but there’s also Yoshi. Yoshi is ridden on, running at much greater speeds and jumping much greater distances than Mario. Yoshi also can eat fruit, changing his color, and spew out juice to gain access into certain areas. Yoshi also offers a challenge, as he disappears if not fed within a time, or if he falls into deep water. There’s also the introduction of surfing into the Mario series, which is done on manta rays in Sunshine. That’s conquest of land, air, and sea all in one smooth game.

Overall
95/100 – Super Mario Sunshine was and is an astoundingly good game. It deserves all the praise it has received in its seven years of existence. It is as great as it was planned on, if not even better, but did it satisfy its fans? Excellently, but really only left them craving for even more of our Italian hero. Sunshine is truly a game that will be cherished and remembered for years to come.

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