2002 Nintendo - Nintendo - GC
Six years after the last platformer with Mario in the spotlight Nintendo releases one of the most wanted GameCube games so far. Mario himself was, a couple of years ago, ranked the most popular animated character in the world, so I doubt he needs any further introduction.
When I first heard about Super Mario Sunshine I must admit that I was a bit skeptic. In the screenshots I could see Mario running around in a small town, not located in the Mushroom Kingdom, spraying water at stuff. And since Shigeru Miyamoto hadn't been as involved in the game as he was in the creation of Super Mario 64, I was afraid that it had gone downhill. But I was wrong . . .
Storyline
Mario, Princess Peach, and a couple of mushroomy dudes (including Toad, but his part in this game is surprisingly small) have decided to go on a vacation. The spot they have in mind is called Delfino Island, a sunny tropical island populated by the Piantas and Nokis. But as they arrive on the island they immediately discover that something's not right. In the middle of the airport there is a big puddle of umm . . . gloop. Mario is told to find a way to get rid of it and runs further into the airport to find FLUDD. With FLUDD he is able to wash away the gloop. But as he tries to do so a big plant-thing emerges from the puddle. Eventually he gets the job done and the party heads to Delfino Plaza, Delfino Island's capital. But they get stopped by a couple of Pianta police officers who claims that eye witnesses have seen Mario pollute the island with graffiti and also stolen their only energy source, the Shine Sprites. So our hero gets locked up in jail! After the trial it is decided that Mario's punishment will be to clean the mess up, so equipped with FLUDD, the water-squirting thing, he heads out to get it done.
In the southern part of Delfino Plaza there is a big statue, and on top of the statue's head a blue person is standing. A person who looks exactly like Mario (except for the fact that he's blue, of course)! Who is this imposter who tried to frame Mario? That, I won't reveal to you.
Anyway, the blue guy jumps down from the statue and picks up Princess Peach, so now you, playing as Mario, have to save her. This is done within a short amount of time and the blue guy escapes into some kind of portal in the shape on an M. And Mario goes after him . . .
Gameplay
The GameCube control is just about perfect for a game like this. Mario is easily manouvered through the worlds and the control stick is extremely precise. You use the stick to move Mario, the C-stick to move the camera, R to use FLUDD, A to jump, B to slide on the ground or use/go back, Y to look from Mario's perspective, X to change the FLUDD-function, and L to set the camera right behind Mario.
The camera is one thing that really surprised me in this game. The video game developers are getting closer and closer to mastering the 3D-camera system, and Nintendo is now closer than ever! Never have the camera been this good in a 3D game, although not perfect. The only thing I would like to complain about is that the camera sometimes hits a wall, which causes a bad angle, and that when you press Y to look around and then go back to the normal view the camera automatically sets up behind Mario, instead of where it was before you hit Y. But the Y-thing only caused me a few problems in the game, and I'm not sure if it annoys anyone else. But like I said, this is the best camera in a 3D game, ever.
This game have a lot of obvious similarities with Super Mario 64. You collect Shine Sprites in different levels that can be reached through "portals" in Delfino Plaza, and to get to a new stage you'll need a certain amount of Shines. The levels are also divided up into Episodes. Each Episode has its own mission, but unlike in Super Mario 64 you cannot complete, let's say, the mission of Episode 4 when entering Episode 2. A smaller addition to the game, that makes it a bit different from Super Mario 64, are the blue coins. There are a bunch of blue coins hidden in each level, and if you collect ten of them you can trade them in for a Shine Sprite.
But the biggest difference from Super Mario 64 is FLUDD. FLUDD is an invention by Gadd Science Inc. and plays a very big part of the game. This water pack, attached to Mario's back, can both squirt water and be used as a jetpack. There are also two upgrades available for it. One upgrade lets you shoot yourself high up in the air to reach distant platforms and such, and the other one lets you use a turbo thingie that makes you "run" really fast. But the usage of FLUDD is limited since you run out of water after a while, but then you just need to head for the closest lake or river to fill it up again.
Apart from squirting water, FLUDD also comes with valuable information and hints. Yes, it can talk.
The different worlds in Super Mario Sunshine aren't of as big of a diversity as the worlds in Super Mario 64, but the bonus levels compensates for that. These bonus levels remind a lot of the older Mario games, where being good at controlling Mario is the key to success. There are hardly ever any enemies in these worlds and your main objective is to jump on blocks, between platforms, and more to reach the Shine Sprite at the end. In some of them you have to collect red coins, though. A couple of the red coins-stages really annoyed me, 'cause you only got one shot at getting them, and if you missed one single coin you had to do it all over again. But it's still pretty good 'cause it raises the difficulty of the game, and makes it a lot harder to get all of the 120 Shine Sprites (I'm just easily annoyed . . . I even got annoyed at The Legend of Zelda when I accidently run into a bush and have to move my thumb to walk around it).
Mario has way too often been classified as a kids' game, and nothing else. But I hope that this game will change the mind of those people who tries it. I would be extremely surprised if a small kid could get all of the 120 Shine Sprites in this game without getting some help from a "veteran" game player (we all know that kids have a severe lack of brain cells and are generally retarded). Even I haven't been able to get all of the Shines yet, damn it. But I will. Oh yes, I will. (Seven years later: I still haven't. And now I feel like playing this again!)
Graphics
When I was younger and looked at the "3D" pictures of video games, but not taken out of the actual game but instead made in some 3D renderer, I used to dream of the day when the actual games looked like the "3D" pictures in the magazines. And now the technology is there. The graphics in this game are very well animated, and very smooth. Mario's number of moves has been heavily increased since Super Mario 64 and he almost seems to be alive.
When playing this game you kind of miss the characters from the Mushroom Kingdom. On Delfino Island there is not a Goomba or a Koopa as far as my Swedish eyes can see. In the beginning of the game I often hung around the Mushroom-dudes just to feel safe, then I met bloppers and was all excited, and when I eventually met Yoshi that stupid smile, that only a Mario-game can give you, spread across my ugly face. There's nothing outright wrong with the newer characters, though, but they could've been better. The enemies are good, but the Piantas and Nikos, who're populating the island, are just a bit weird, especially the Piantas. But you get used to them, and for some reason they really fit into the world.
Sound
The sound effects in this game are very good, and so is the music. It could've been better, more "Mario," but it's definitely not bad. One weird thing is when you ride Yoshi. When doing so the music always reminds you of a jungle or something, even if the surroundings are dark with ghosts flying around. This can occasionally break the mood a bit, but when riding a Yoshi in bright daylight the music rules.
My favourite music part of the game is when you enter a manhole in Delfino Island. Then a classical, underground Mario-tune is played and you feel nostalgic. The boss-music is also very good. I would've said "boss-musics," but due to grammar, I'm not allowed.
Replayability
It will take you a huge amount of hours until you've collected all of the 120 Shine Sprites, so to replay the game won't even be necessary for some people. I haven't got all of them yet, but when I have I'm quite certain that I will be able to play the game again. Just like I did with Super Mario 64. Collecting Shine Sprites/Stars is always fun.
A big plus here are all of the bonus games. You don't want to play the same bonus game twice in the same game session (at least I don't), but when I started over, just to show a friend, they gave me the same joy as they did the first couple of times I played them. So to get the Shine Sprites in the bonus games is a reason for you to replay the game. In other words, high replay-value, and for some people it won't even be necessary to play again.
Originality
Not as groundbreaking as Super Mario 64, but with Super Mario Sunshine they have stretched the limits. Nintendo has now proven that they are true masters in handling 3D platformers, and also in coming up with new ideas for all of the Mario games. The most original part of this game is clearly FLUDD, which brings a lot to the game. And in the parts of the game where you're not able to use FLUDD the originality is instead brought to you by the way Nintendo have managed to give you the feeling of an old, classic 2D platformer in a 3D game. Excellent.
Overall
It may not hit the history books like Super Mario 64 did, but it's more of a challenge and just as fun. The camera in this game is better than in any other 3D game and you hardly ever fall off a cliff, or something like that, due to angle-problems.
As all Mario games, also this one has great controls, extremely close to perfection. And if I should continue to compare it to Super Mario 64, the storyline in this game is also better than in the last Mario-game and it makes you want to get more and more Shine Sprites until you get to move on to the next level.
Nintendo has brought us yet another masterpiece.
Ratings
Storyline: 8/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Replayability: 8/10
Originality: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
//Benny
