Super Mario Sunshine

The premise of the game is that Mario's tropical holiday is ruined when he's stitched up by an evil look-alike for daubing graffiti all over the island. Rather conveniently, there's a water pump waiting for him to use, which not only washes away the mess but also doubles as a handy jet pack. The jet pack aspect means that whenever you fall off something you have the chance to immediately recover. This built-in safety net means the game can afford to be far more ambitious in its level design than ever before, with massive levels filled with trampolines, tightropes, water-powered windmills, huge coral reefs, and mountains and mountains of platforms.

The whole thing looks amazing, too, with the most realistic water ever seen in a video game, and a near-infinite draw distance. On top of all this are rideable, fruit-juice-spewing Yoshis, extra water nozzles, super-hardcore platform levels where Shadow Mario nicks your jet pack, and goop-generating bosses who seem to live to make Princess Peach's laundry a nightmare.

After the sweet but rather short pleasures of Luigi's Mansion and Pikmin, you need have no fear that Mario Sunshine is of a similarly brief nature. There are a total of 120 shines to collect--the same number of stars as in Super Mario 64--and the game world is at least as large and far more interactive. This is without question the best game on the GameCube yet. That may be no more than you'd expect from a Mario game, but it's certainly more than most of us mere mortals deserve. --David Jenkins

Story- What's this? The princess being saved ISN'T the main part of the story? Well, she does get kidnapped a few times(I guess it was unavoidable...) but the game offers a fresh plot. Mario tries to have a relaxing vacation, but before he even arrives, Shadow Mario, his archenemy, as been wreaking havoc on Isle Delfino, where Mario plans to relax. Unfortunately, the town artist's drawing of Shadow Mario is in black and white, so all the people think Mario is guilty. His punishment is to clean up the town, and with that, his good name.

Graphics- While not the best on the GameCube, these are very nice graphics that remind me of the days of Super Mario 64 on the N64. There are some nice touches, too, that add to the gameplay, such as enemies exploding or Piantas(residents of the island) celebrating when you free them from Shadow Mario's paint. Very few, if any, graphical flaws make this one beautiful game to look at. 9/10

Control- The controls are very easy to learn and very hard to forget. Once you get down jumping much of the controls are already learned, and the rest of them are really simple, too. The one bad part is the camera, which you have to manually control, making it difficult in some areas, but that's not too much of a problem in most cases. 9/10

Gameplay- Finding all 120 Shine Sprites or those few coins, whatever your task may be, Super Mario Sunshine is a blast to play. You could be surfing on Bloopers or hanging from fences, even riding a roller coaster while destroying a mechanical Bowser(did it come back from Paper Mario?) and all the while you'll be having fun, which is what the game is all about. 10/10

Satisfaction- This game is definitely worth the money for it. Best of all, all of these intricate worlds and characters only take up 7 blocks of memory on your memory card, making it very easy to save. You will not regret purchasing this game, in fact, I've even seen some people get GameCubes simply to own this game. 9.5/10

Sound- The familiar sounds and grunts, along with some cutscenes with full voice features of Mario, the Princess, and any other characters around at the time. The music isn't obtrusive and is familiar of a Mario game. 8.75/10

Overall- This is what Luigi's Mansion was shooting for. They got everything right that was wrong before. The one thing that may discourage players is the aforementioned camera, but in the long run, the tasks are fun enough that even if the camera causes you to fall, you'll just want to climb back up again. Super Mario Sunshine, while reminiscient of the Super Mario 64 game, is a whole new adventure that's loads of fun to play and well worth the time to complete it. Have fun(which you will with this game) and happy gaming. 9.75/10


Super Mario Sunshine   July 6, 2002
Rodolfo Martinez (USA)
166 out of 191 found this review helpful

This new title for Mario will be his first for the Nintendo Gamecube. If you think this game will be the typical rescue the princess from Bowser story, that's where you'll be wrong. It starts when Princess Peach, Mario, and quite a number of toads arrive on an Airplane to a peaceful tropical island full of strange people which inhabit the lands many shops and hotels attracting tourists young and old. Just when Mario was about to relax he was disturbed by the folks of the land accusing him of polluting the island, and writing Graffiti scribblings all over the towns walls. Mario of course is innocent but it appears that the actual perpetrator of this crime was dressed in a Mario suit. Whoever it was his intents are clear to comit crimes dressed as Mario so that Mario would be captured and thrown in jail allowing the true criminal to do as he pleases. Mario though won't allow this so he made a deal with the people of the land to clean up the mess and discover the identity of the man behind the suit. The game features many worlds, and enemys. Enemys from the past are back, from games such as Super Mario World. Not just enemys but old friends, Yoshi made his debut back in Super Mario 64 but he appears again in Mario Sunshine but this time you can ride on him and use his tongue to eat or spit out enemys along wiht the old jump on their heads routine. Mario equipped with a water shooting backpack can use it to clean up oil and attack enemys, he can also use it as a jetpack to reach high places. His old moves are back such as the triple jump, wall kick, Hip Drop, sliding, and much much more. For those who think this game is too short don't worry, all the screenshots shown are just one World, in a game that features many of them each 5 times bigger than the ones in Super Mario 64. This game is guaranteed to keep you at the edge of your seat at all times. Tremble as you fight a Giant Oil Piranha, Giant Squid, and Giant Caterpillar. Sigh as you dive deep into the worlds ocean. Smile while you run across the islands vast fields and lands. This is a game you should not miss, I await this game with great anticipation and you should too.


Mario is back and he's better than ever.   September 19, 2002
Oz Thomas (USA)
26 out of 29 found this review helpful

...to say Super Mario Sunshine had big shoes to fill is kind of an understatement.

Mario Sunshine might dissapoint those who were expecting the next big revolution in gaming. Sunshine is no Mario 64. The 3d genre has been around a while and Mario doesn't really redefine it. What it does do, however is perfect it. Take my word, this is perhaps the best 3d platformer ever. And I've played many of them. If you have a GameCube, buy this game now. It's not perfect, of course, but it's so much fun you won't care.

Super Mario Sunshine follows Mario as he is about to land on fair Isle Delfino for a tropical vacation. However, when he lands, there is a shadow character that looks just like him, and he has polluted the island. The natives mistake Mario for this shadow character and order him to clean up the island. Not a very deep story, but it's better than the old save the princess routine.

Mario Sunshine revolves around collecting shines. Complete a task and collect a shine. Collect more shines to unlock a level. It might sound tedious, since there are multiple shines in a level, but it's not.

The tasks in Mario Sunshine range from beating enemies to cleaning up sludge with your waterpack to chasing down Shadow Mario, completing difficult obstacle courses, balancing on tightropes, racing against time and more. And it all works and blends together perfectly. Another game might have some of the things this Mario game has but they won't have the sheer variety of things to do- and there are plenty and they won't have a character that moves like Mario.

As in all Mario games, the Mario in Mario Sunshine is a breeze to control. You can jump, double jump, triple jump, backflip, wall-jump, spin-jump, butt-stomp and slide. With the water-pack you can spray enemies or paint or you can cahnge the nozzle to hover. It all sounds really complex, but it comes off beautifully. It's easy. Trust me.

Speaking of easy, this game is not. Getting all the shines can be a real task. Some of the platform obstacle courses are very difficult. Most of the time, it's this kind of difficulty- this- I know how to do it, but can't quite- is what makes a game more rewarding. When you get a shine, you've earned it. However, there are a few places in this game where the camera will probably cause you to die. Far from horrendous, the camera in Mario Sunshine is largely controlled by you, but given the complex 3-d platform elements in the game it was only a given that your view would be obstructed here and there and probably more than you will like. It's my biggest gripe of the game.

Now onto the graphics. Sunshine is a beautiful game. The water sparkles and sways. The paint animates beautifully as does Mario and the enemy characters. The design in the game is really well done. For the most part, it's just gorgeous. There are parts of the game that aren't all that great graphically. Far from awful, some of the texture work is best described as simply bland. And some of the obstacle courses seem like they were lifted from an N64 game. But unless you're a graphic nitpicker you won't notice.

The sound in the game is perfect and is represented instereo as well as Dolby. There are classical remixed Mario tunes and some new ones. And they're all beautiful. The voice acting leaves a little to be desired, but really that's too nitpicky- I'm sure some people love the voices in this game.

All in all, Mario Sunshine is a great game. It truly is worthy of the Mario name and legacy. So if you like hopping, bopping, riding Yoshi and beating up Cheep-Cheeps and giant octopusses, wall-jumping and cleaning up paint and cooling down hot-dogs, you'll love this game. I highly recommend it.


What an Amazing Game!   September 20, 2002
Ricky Gray (Vincent, Ohio United States)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

Future Buyers,
I recieved this game for my birthday on September 15, 2002. Let me tell you this is one of the best Mario Games I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Nice job nintendo. The game begins in an airplane. Mario and Peach are flying to the beautiful Isle Delfino for a much needed vacation. Unfortunately, things aren't so beautiful. A shady character has been vandalizing the Island and he looks similar to Mario. Mario is blamed for the mess and is forced to make things right again. No dont worry, this isn't another rescue Peach from Bowser ordeal. Mario meets up with FLUDD, a similar machine to the vacume cleaner in Luigi's Mansion, except it squirts water. Together, your goal is to catch the imposter and clear your good name. There are 6 worlds with 11 episodes(levels) each. Instead of stars, you try to gather Shine Sprites. The Shine Sprites will bring the beauty bacj to Isle Delfino. I believe there are over 100 Sprites you can gather. In Mario Sunshine you can do brand new things never thought possible in the previos series. With FLUDD you can use him as a hovercraft, turbo jet, and jetpack. Yoshi is also available for action. You can also do many other moves with Mario like those from Super Smash Bros. Melee (also a great game) like the triple kick. This game has some of the best graphics I've ever seen. If I could, I'd give this game way more than 5 stars. The only down I can think of is the camera. It's not as bad as people say, but it's not perfect. Otherwise this game if flawless. Here's how I rate it.

Graphics 6/5
Controls 5/5 (Difficult to Master)
Camera 4/5
Story 5/5

I hope this review helped you out. In my opinion, this is a must buy. Great for all ages!


Looks Even Better Than Mario 64   August 6, 2002
HAMID BAND (Waban, MA USA)
23 out of 27 found this review helpful

Nearly a year after launching to Japan, Nintendo's purple (or black or orange, as the case may be) next-generation system at last gets a game starring a plumber... err, at least one that doesn't take place in a mansion and doesn't involve sucking. Mario Sunshine involves the exact opposite of sucking -- squirting, and this turns out to make for one darn fine game.

Things start off with a Dolby Surround logo, followed by an intro in which we see Mario, Peach and Grandpa Toad en route to a vacation on the resort island of Dolphic Isle. As you probably know by now, this particular island has been covered in a paint like substance, and for various reasons (explained in the intro), Mario ends up being the chief suspect and is sentenced to clean the island of all the goo. We learn of all this through pre-rendered CG footage featuring English voice acting; that's right, Nintendo went ahead and recording English voiceovers for all the characters, forcing Japanese gamers to view subtitles. You can judge the voices for yourself in the sample video below -- that is, for all the characters except Mario, as the hero has (perhaps intentionally) yet to utter a word.

As with Mario 64, Mario Sunshine consists of a hub world which allows for access to various levels of play (there seem to be 7 or 8 of these), each of which is large and has a number of tasks to accomplish. This time around, instead of a castle and surroundings, the hub world takes the form of Dolphic Town, on the south-eastern edge of Dolphic Island. As you play, new areas of Dolphic Town become covered in mud, and by cleaning these areas, you gain access to the new levels. The levels are actually separate areas of the same island, and if you manage to access higher ground, you can see through from one level to the next (although invisible walls prevent you from actually running between the levels).

Strangely, it seems that the first goal in each level is to locate and defeat a boss of some form. Later goals include reaching difficult to access areas, all the way to Wave Race-style racing sequences atop a squid to platforming sequences involving moving blocks and stars. Goals such as collecting 100 gold coins and 10 each of red and blue coins, seem to be standard across all the levels.

Don't take this to mean that Mario Sunshine is breaks down to simple collection somewhere down the road. There's a rewarding feeling when collecting the coins due to the way they're placed in the levels; its more charm than tedium. You also won't find yourself overwhelmed despite the obviously free-roaming nature of the worlds; Nintendo has placed arrowed signs guiding you at ever step (even if you don't understand Japanese, it seems that you'll be able to play the game), and the insane view distance, which keeps tiny coins perfectly visible from all the way across the world, helps keep your navigation straight.

Similar to what we felt with Mario 64 years ago, we can't stop playing Mario Sunshine. Classic Nintendo pacing is built into this title, rewarding players quickly with new levels and items, and as with previous Nintendo games, you'll find yourself going back to previous levels once you've obtained the new items. It's already obvious, though, that the Mario franchise has yet another winning entry.

Information courtesy of IGN.com, The Site for gamers of all consoles.