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Personal Completion Time: |
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Super Mario Sunshine is the second 3D mainline title in the Super Mario series, being followed by Super Mario 64, which I consider one of the most revolutionary video games ever. Maybe not as much as other games like the original Super Mario Bros. for the lack of another example, but I digress. Sunshine is also by far the strangest game in the mainline series, even moreso than both “versions” of Super Mario Bros. 2. As a result, Sunshine is my least favorite of the 3D titles, and my second-least favorite of all the mainline titles, followed by The Lost Levels, the Japanese Mario 2.
I’ll start out with what I don’t like about the game, because believe it or not, there is a lot I do like. Let’s start out with the controls. I’ve really only played the Switch version, released as part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which many people have complained that the controls are inferior to the original GameCube version, which I obviously wouldn’t really know. The controls are mostly fine, until you start comparing it to Super Mario 64. In Mario 64, Mario was given a ton of new moves and actions compared to ever before. Long jumps, back flipping, side flipping, and more. Some of those moves make a return, but some don’t, and we obviously have some new ones to tinker with.
The long jump, one of the most iconic moves, is completely absent. When you’re used to any of the other 3D titles, this can get really annoying. The next best thing you can do is dive forward, which isn’t very effective unless you’re going down a slope or spray water in front of you first using FLUDD’s spray nozzle. We’ll talk more about FLUDD later. The sliding can be pretty interesting, and is convenient for moving fast on solid ground, as long as you don’t need to turn, as that becomes next to impossible, which makes sense, considering how exploitable it could be. Mario also has a new spin jump move that can be helpful for jumping really high, but it’s a little hard to both execute and control.
I suppose other than the alterations of Mario’s familiar moves, the controls are fine. Most of the controls are useful for Mario’s new companion, FLUDD. FLUDD is a sentient water-spraying robot, packed with a few different nozzles, used for different situations. The most basic one being the spray nozzle, use it to spray water in front of you. Pressing ZR will allow you to move around while spraying, but pressing R will make you stand still and spray, but also allows you to change the angle and direction. The hover nozzle can be used to glide across large gaps that you can’t jump over otherwise. Later on, you can also find the rocket nozzle, which charges up for a second or two and then shoots a powerful burst of water that launches you straight upward. Lastly, you’ll also find the Turbo Nozzle, when you charge it up, you’ll start running super fast until you hit a wall or run out of water. The water is an important thing I should add; FLUDD has limited capacity. All areas of the game have some sort of body of water or any way to replenish your supply, since you can and likely WILL run out. I think this is balanced well, and adds a bit of strategy so that you don’t waste all your water for no reason.
With all of that out of the way, the next thing I want to talk about is the design of the game. The artstyle is intentionally weird for reasons I’ll explain later. All of the enemies and NPCs are brand new. No Goombas, no Koopas, very few Toads, etc. I don’t have an issue with this, since I don’t have a problem with that many enemies, and they have straight-forward ways of being defeated. As for level design, I think most of the levels are fine, despite all residing on the same tropical island. However, something else that bothers me in terms of “design” would have to be the physics and hitboxes. They’re incredibly buggy, and not in a fun exploitable way, it’s sort of unfair and irritating. Falling onto certain floors at certain angles can sometimes cause you to clip right through them for reasons beyond my comprehension. Overall, the game is pretty buggy, especially in this regard. It’s entirely possible that there was a lack of playtesting or that the game was rushed.
The game also has other oddities that other Mario games don’t do. For example, there are some scenes with full-on voice acting from basically everyone except for Mario. To many people, this was insanely weird and unfitting for a Mario game, and while it doesn’t bother me, I do agree. This wasn’t done again, so take that as you will. One thing I do like in the game is that there’s more of a plot than usual. Mario, Peach, Toadsworth go on a vacation to a tropical island known as Isle Delfino, but upon their arrival, they notice a lot of strange paint-like goo that’s everywhere. After finding FLUDD and cleaning it off of the Airstrip, Mario is confronted by two of the local police officers, arrested, and tried in court. A strange doppelgänger known as Shadow Mario, who wields a giant magical paintbrush, has been vandalizing the island, causing distress to the locals, and the pollution caused the island to be shrouded in darkness, despite it being daytime. Mario, despite not being the actual culprit, now has to clean the entire island, and won’t be allowed to leave until he’s done.
I think the plot is good and unique, even if it doesn’t really get touched on much later. Something else I like about the game are the concepts. I think FLUDD is a cool concept that could be expanded upon in a hypothetical sequel, maybe giving him upgrades and whatnot. Overall, I’m not a fan of a game, and would prefer not to replay it unless I really just get that bored, but it’s not awful by any means. I give it a fair 5/10, with many of the unique concepts boosting its score more than it otherwise would have.
July 19, 2002
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