Super Mario Sunshine is a Action game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo of America Inc. in 2003 for the GameCube.

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Overall 9.5    Graphics 9.1    Sound 8.6    Addictive 8.6    Story 7.9    Depth 9.5    Difficulty 7.9


Super Mario Sunny-Side Up! Or Down...   Lexatom
Hey, guys, welcome to my review of Super Mario Sunshine! Super Mario Sunshine is a game for the Nintendo Gamecube released in August 26, 2002. It is published and developed by one of gaming's biggest champions, Nintendo. This is one of my all-time favorite Mario games, and one of my favorite games on the Gamecube. So, without further ado, let's get on with the review.Graphics: 10The graphics in this game look stunning. They actually look like they could come out of the Wii U, and that's pretty amazing for an early Gamecube title. The water is the main focus on the graphics. It wouldn't be an island if there wasn't any water! I think Shigeru Miyamoto's favorite drink is water, because you even ATTACK with water. There's water all over the place! It looks so clear, and real-looking, that I just want to drink it straight out of my TV screen. It's probably salty though, so, ew. But, the water isn't the only thing that looks good, you have the paint as well. Although, sometimes it doesn't always look like paint, but I think that was on purpose.The graphics look amazing, as I've already said, and I hope this gets a re-release or possibly even a sequel on the Wii U.Sound: 8The sound in this game sounds clear as well. However, I'm not a HUGE fan of the music, but the sound does go with each stage perfectly. I dunno, I'm just not a big fan of the music in this game, but it fits well, and that's what counts. I usually hear trumpets of some sort playing in the background music, and I'm not that big of a fan of trumpets. However, as I said before, if it fits well, then it's fine. The sound effects are good, too. Especially whenever you use F.L.U.D.D to attack. I just love hearing the sound of shooting water out of a..tank-thing. I don't know, it's just so appealing to me. Addictiveness: 9This game can get very addicting. However, I usually just go on and off at rare occasions to play this game, and I find myself playing it less and less as I progress through the game. We'll talk more about why this is later. But, for other people, Ii bet they can't put their controller down. Even for the restrooms. It can get that addicting. Unless, of course, you're like me.Story: 9I'm using the story from the back of the box, just...because. Please don't sue me. The story, according to the box, is as follows: "When Mario arrives on the tropical Isle Delfino, the once-pristine island is polluted and plastered with graffiti. Even worse, he's being blamed for the mess! Now, instead of enjoying a relaxing vacation, Mario has to clean up the place and track down the real culprit." I like how they changed the usual 'princess gets kidnapped and you have to save her' storyline a bit. Even though I adore that storyline, I think this is pretty good too. Sometimes, you need to change it up a bit, but not too much, so people will keep on playing the game. So, good job playing it smart Nintendo.Depth: 10Like the main series Mario game before this, (Super Mario 64) there are a ton of stars to collect in each world, each with its own different mission. Completionists like myself will love this, just like Super Mario 64. I also like how they incorporated the stars in this game as well. You'll find out about this yourself as you move on through the game. I think there are even more stars in this game than there was in Super Mario 64. Gee, that's a lot of stars! Have fun getting them all. Hehehe...Difficulty: 9And now, we get to the explanation of why I see myself playing this game less and less as time goes on. Because, it's one of the hardest Mario games ever made. f you don't believe me, then go ahead and try the game out for yourself. Trust me, it's REALLY hard. I usually enjoy my time with this game by screaming at my TV screen and throwing the controller to the floor. I think the hardest parts are those little Super Mario Galaxy-esque levels that Shadow Mario painfully makes you go through. Those levels are some of the hardest levels I think I'll ever see. Despite the painful difficulty, this game is still a blast to play. Just be ready to take some pills, though. And don't spill them.Overall: 9.6As I said before, this is one of my favorite Mario games of all time. The graphics, the sound, the addictiveness, the story, the depth, and the difficulty is what makes this game beautiful and amazing. Sure, it may be extremely hard, but that's good. Games need challenge to make it good, so you won't blast through the game in 2 hours. Heck, I've had this game for about a year now, and I only have about 12 or 15 stars. It's sad, I know. I love this game, and I hope you will enjoy it as well. If you haven't played it yet, I strongly suggest you do, because it's a blast.Thanks for reading my review. Don't forget to reply and give me your feedback so I can see how to improve on my reviews! Happy gaming!
  Graphics 10   Sound 8   Addictive 9   Story 9   Depth 10   Difficulty 9
      Review Rating: 5/5     Submitted: 01-17-15     Review Replies: 0


"Summer Relaxation gone into Peril!"   sonicthehedgeho..
    *Resting upon the beach* ....z....zzz....ZZZZ *bubble pops* OH! Oh hello there viewers again nice to see you back after the last time we met up yeah it wasn't that bright of an adventure huh, all that darkness that occurred and I still have a habit to drink out of a bowl now. But on that note I've just been relaxing here on the nice land of Sirena Beach, which is my favorite relaxation spot here on the island as it has unending sunsets and the beach you can't deny just has the peaceful tone with the nice sea breeze with such a fresh smell....how can anyone just want to skip out at a time like this with the sun all bright and cheery! ...! what in the name of Mega Shrooms is that?! *see's slimy goop covering the main hall and podium* I don't know what the heck that is but I'd better go investigate *swims towards island* This is the strangest thing I've ever seen looks like magma but it's definitely some kind of slimy substance, it can take people below the surface. *See's doppleganger* Hey! What game are you trying to pull here you monster!......Wha..Don't even think about trying to run away you faker.   (Delfino Police) ~ Stop criminal you're coming with us after what you've just done! WHHHAT?! But the criminal is right over the..huh?! He's gone!! (Delfino Police) ~ You're going to be in alot of trouble for this son I hope you're willing to fess up to the mess you've created. I'm telling you, you've got the wrong hedgehog!!....What does this mean for Delfino Island now that the true culprit is loose, what about the cool and relaxed hedgehog come to help out and only turned into a false lead for the criminal? Is our hero going to be stuck in the punishment of the law while more terror is brought upon this land? *Shine Sprite Appears throw iron bars* Only one way to see and it's to go and journey into this story!           - Turning the tropical idea into a beautiful art -         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       I'm sure a few of us have been on a beach or tropical resort at some point in our life so most of us know the sunny, sand and water like atmosphere that surrounds the inhabitants of the island/location. *Sips some tropical punch* Just a nice place to relax and enjoy your time while you're free :) .....huh? Oh I see that "?" over your head, don't worry I'll explain to you what I mean about the surroundings in a bit so that way you understand, but first let's talk about character design and see if things have progressed at all. Mario actually looks alot better than in previous games such as: Mario 64 and/or Mario Party 1-3 on the predecessor to this system so the graphics of the characters have improved overall, Mario's outfit looks more red and colorful like how it should be and the enemies have more upgraded looks as well all of the having different traits and personalities as well, such as attacking in strange or unusual ways and even very smart ones. Either way no seashore distractions are needed here so let's talk about some great sights that you can so inside this game.         - Sirena Beach -    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~       Probably one of if not my favorite location in this entire game due to the sunset flowing beach making the sea surrounding it highlighted with a more orange like tone, as you look around you can also see other locations available to visit with the same aura on it. What can be better than that? Well top it off like most tropical resorts you see in movies they have a hotel located on the island and it may seem small and simplistic on the outside but it's actually quite huge when you reach the inside including the standard rooms and showers but also a big casino area to play in.   But here's my favorite thing about this island: its shape and design. If you jump onto the top platform of the Delfino Hotel then and stand on the podium they have there and look down on the island with the Y button, look from the right to the left do you notice something a little particular about it?....no?...ok I'll let the sunshine slide on this one and tell you that it's in the shape of a typical Gamecube Controller with the 3 puddles representing the Y, X and A button on the controllers and the other large puddle on the left representing the Analog stick. Quite an interesting little easter egg if I do say so myself!         - Noki Bay 8 Red Coins -      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      You may be confused by the title of this part, well that's because I'm not talking about the island in general but one specific place found and only accessible in the last mission (8 red coins). As this one takes place inside a hole found by accessing a jet stream and here you will be greeted with an underwater level with certain gold and red coins floating about in the shape of a fish, and all at the same time you see this huge and yet desolate area it makes me wonder what this place used to have been, as it looks like an ancient version of the original island Noki Bay. The only thing I will say here and that I'll address in the difficulty section here is that one glitch left inside the game (or not glitch but I have no clue why it'd just be left in) wherein the red coins can actually pass through the walls and therefore you have to wait for them to come back out before trying to attempt to catch them again.          - Bianco Hills -    ~~~~~~~~~~~~      Ok now this is one of my more so nostalgic stages as this one actually really reminds me of Bomb-omb Battlefield from Super Mario 64 with the layout of the area and just the fact that there 2nd level boss of this area is located on the top of the tower just like King Bomb-omb, coincidence? I'm not sure but it's a good thought. Either way as the name implies there's alot of slope type movements you'll have when passing through this level with lakes to be found here and there in certain places. I'd say this although being a more so basic level it's a nice look at when you first begin this game.     But all together I think that should about wrap up the graphics section so minus a few problems here and there I'd say an 8 out of 10 would be acceptable here.          - A symphony of music in each course...some great, others meh? -     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       I'll be the first to admit as much as I like this game more so than others you may see, I can't deny that some of the themes in this game should've been worked on or thought about longer as you have some themes that sound perfect but others that just sound plain and uninteresting at times, which I can also attest to in the game mentioned the last section. However that doesn't mean that I dislike  all the music in the game as I will talk about some songs I enjoyed down below, but before we get to that I should talk about how the sound effect fare in this game. One particular sound effect I find to be weird and kind of sickening at the same time is the sound effect that Yoshi makes when you squirt out juice just a "qweuwawawawawa"  or when you eat enemies with yoshi sometimes you'll hear something like "gwwoohhh" or Gwwnooo" it's just *shudders* creepy but a good sound effect though. Other than that it's just generic bumping and enemy sounds. So onto the musical side of things now!       - Red Sea Mare -    ~~~~~~~~~~~~       Out of all the songs throughout the game I'd probably have to say this is the most relaxed and calming out of everything, quite honestly I would consider this to be the late 2000's version of Jolly Roger Bay since it just has a perfect atmosphere which I describe in detail on the graphics section why I think it looks just perfect for a level. So mixed together with the scenery and the music I'm sure you'll enter into this place a few times if not just to look around or listen to the music!       - Sand Bird Is Born Area -      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      Another relaxing and peaceful tone but more so comparable to the Wing Cap music from SM64 or even the Star theme from SMW (Super Mario World). As though the tone is very slow paced it has a nice feel and almost (heavy quote on the word "almost") an accapelic type sound to it as well since it has a nice (bum-bum-ba, bum bum ba ba, exc.) as you ride on literally bird of sand like a sandy phoenix one that couldn't rise and could only remain as ashes. While you have several clouds and skyscraper like towers in the surrounding area so it just sets the music perfectly like you yourself are rising with the sandbird alongside our plumber. Another great area to look at but let's look at our 'final choice'.         - Corona Mountain -    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       So you've reached the final level I see...well welcome to Corona Mountain or as I prefer to call it Magma Falls since there is literally lava everywhere which is basically insta-death my friends, so get to make it across in your trusty ride.....a mud boat...yeah don't ask me what the villagers were thinking. Because of this area you have a deep and dark tone to it like: haha welcome to the final level...I can't wait to see how many 1-ups you lose here! Oh you wanna get to Bowser? Too bad you'll just fail somehow ;) . If I had to compare it I'd say it reminds of the Ship themes from Super Mario Bros 3. Just so menacing and unheartfelt which may sound bad but when you think about it, the theme does fit the area and the monster laying inside it. Nice but spooky job Nintendo.      Looking at everything I'd say the sound is fair enough to receive an 8 out of 10 here!           -  Addictive Shine catching similar to an older adventure -         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~        *Jumps into M graffiti* |Mission #3 ~ The joyful tales| ~ Ok let me just say right now if you enjoy the concept of Super Mario 64 with the collection of stars inside each level then this game is probably a good choice for you, although; there are some glitches that lower this addictiveness level or just factors that make no sense. I'll give you an example: Remember Yoshi in Super Mario World and games prior to this, well he could swim in water and be fine, well in this game...he'll dissipate and die if you do so...I don't get it but that's one thing I don't like. I do on the other hand enjoy mostly all the levels in this game because of the nice concepts, music, and just missions on them are fun and entertaining.  One of my favorite things is the Fluddless levels, why do I feel that way? Well just think about it you're in a 3-D mini world for a mission and you have to jump and trick your way to the end, it's very very much like a game we know and love with this plumber, sure it may seem hard and unnecessary for this game but I'm actually really glad that they did this and the story although being strange is funny and interesting alongside the gameplay, though having some issues here and there is still great! I will admit some stages are annoying (Pianta Village Mission 3 :/ ) and make you just want to turn off the game and I will agree so that does knock down the addictiveness down. I would like to bring something up about one thing this game gets mad at for.   You've noticed I've talked about a certain N64 game alot in this review so why aren't I talking about this game more? Well it's because this game shares alot of similarities with that other game why do I mean by that? Hmm let's see: Star count N64 = 120 and the Gamecube Shine Sprite..... = 120. Huh that's strange they seem to match up quite a bit, well that's probably just coincidence now let's look at another thing. People complain about the lack of new bosses in this game  GC = Blooper is seen 3 times Graffiti Pirahnna = 5x or more, now let me see the N64 version = 3 fights against bowser = ? Strange that the final boss is fought three times and that there are only really 3 bosses left in the game? Kind of harsh I'd say for all the backlash it receives but that's not for me to decide so I'll end this addictiveness section here with my score of only a 7 out of 10.          - A story of misconception and trickery -      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       Have you ever just sat there and wished to have gone to a nice relaxing beach vacation or just dreamt about a dream relaxation spot, I'm sure we all have and we've run into issues from this point to that point during the travels sometime causing issues for yourself or the services around you. This is the same for the main inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom when they are taking a trip  (unknown as to where) but they end up being stopped at the Airstrip right next to the island due to a strange substance blocking the path set to land nicely for check up, everything seemed fine after Mario took care of the problem but off in the distance we see a strange figure almost resembling a human with a staff but it's too far and hot to see clearly. Upon seeing all of this 2 officers with no explanation throw our hero into the slammer and pronounce him guilty when showing the main town being covered in the muk we just saw a few minutes ago, since Mario just arrived here they immediately suspected and wanted to blame him for it. So now our hero in addition to being named a criminal he's forced to go around and change the island back to normal once more and just as he's normally doing that he's the princess was kidnapped right in front of you and as much as you'd love to chase after the foe you're not allowed too because of the villagers of the land and just blocked passages themselves.    So what will our hero in red do? Well you'll have to continue the story yourself  as I can't give away everything to you all, as what would be the point of that? Either way I'll leave my score of the story here with a better than average 9 out of 10!       - Big in depth, interesting secrets, how does it end though? -     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       This game though sadly not as long as long as his last 3-D adventure only consisting of 10 areas instead of 15 (18 including  bowser stages) but it still does have much to do and many secrets to find whether it's just an easter egg, an actual secret, or just a hidden shine sprite/blue coin. I'm not going to give away all the hidden things but I will tell you ways that they can appear around area's or just secrets that you can find around them so lets begin!      - Blue Coins/Shine Sprites -    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       Ok  this will be easy to explain because to my knowledge there are 3 ways to get Shines Sprites or ways to get blue coins, the first and most simplistic way is to find a blue graffitied spot and start spraying it once it's close to going away it will shoot out a blue coin on the other side and you have to find the second spot, this can also happen with a shine sprite symbol but it will give it to you right away unlike a blue coin. The second way is to find a bird colored blue and keep shooting water on it to bring out a blue coin to collect and a yellow one to bring out a shine sprite which is a very simplistic way though there are only a couple of them. Finally the last way is to obtain them by doing favors for pianta's around the town and though this isn't secretive they aren't screaming at you to get them something so unless you go up and talk to them you won't know. Now onto secrets/easter eggs!       - Easter Eggs -   ~~~~~~~~~~~      Well I've already discussed the Gamecube controller one so *washes away easter egg #1* I'll talk about the most seen one in all of the game and it's the fact that there are dolphin statues everywhere, what could the reason of this be? Well if you look at your Gamecube you'll see the words DOL on it and that's because the original name for the system was the Nintendo Dolphin but it was changed later on however the game takes many mentions at it with the statues, name of the land, and even the shape of the island being a huge Dolphin. Easter Egg #2 ~ This one is more of a short one but still interesting so if you are to go and flip a man-hole cover in the main area you'll go underground and have a remixed version of the original underground theme from Super Mario Bros on the NES. Easter Egg # 3 ~ When you meet Fludd your companion for the first time look at the bottom left side of the screen and you'll see moments from the first Super Mario Bros game, Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64.     Either way this seems like enough info so I'll leave my depth score of just about an 8 out of 10!       - Higher difficulty by the faults of mostly programming -    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       As much as I love this game and though it brings me great pain, this game does sadly have a big fault in the difficulty due to issues and glitches that usually aren't activated by will. Most of the time you can be hovering somewhere but because of some unknown reason you're stuck in place and end up falling down wasting precious time and other situations even death which is a very fatal flaw in the programming, other times you could be falling down so then you put down the controller but then you reappear at the top of where you started only to be killed because you didn't react fast enough. Other than that for the most partthe difficulty is quite fair (minus 1 mission in Pianta Village) as you have ways to get around everything usually and you can make several different tactics to use against enemies or the environment to get to your goal. One example of something I never knew was a glitch until watching a let's play was in a level on Pinna Park you're actually supposed to go behind the Ferris wheel and flip plates and walk on them all the way to the top in order to reach that place you need, I never knew about that so I always hovered to the top from a platform given to you (which shouldn't work) but it does so I never gave to heads or tails about it when I played.   All together this game is bugged in ways much like another famous game in peoples minds although this one isn't as bad I'd say, and you can still for about 85-90% of the game still enjoy it without issues, still...I must take measures where they are due and because of these faults I'd have to give this game a rating of 9 out of 10 for unfair difficulty in its area's.       With all the shine sprites needed in hand we head to mountain top into the depths of its core and into the hot and burning crater, and though our mustache might fry and our gloves to sullied and wet to wear. We must make it to the end to clear our name from that impostor, it's time to take down that villain and save this land while proving in more ways than one. That we are all super people, especially when we work together we truly can.....bring the sunshine! *Drops note and Fludds away*               ~ Thank you hero, Sonic57! From Pianta Village and Delfino Plaza ~       ~ Sonic57tm 2014 ~
  Graphics 8   Sound 8   Addictive 7   Story 9   Depth 8   Difficulty 9
      Review Rating: 4.5/5     Submitted: 07-02-14     Review Replies: 13


From Castle to Beach   siksiksikki
   Having lacked a large scale standalone adventure since Mario's triumphant march on to the 3D scene with Super Mario 64 on- well- the Nintendo 64, this new and wondrous tale of Mario's travels in the Mushroom Kingdom's (Mushroom World's?) equivalent to a Floridian resort was more than breath of fresh, salty air. Modeling itself vaguely on the previously mentioned title's controls and take on world exploration, Super Mario Sunshine was an immediate hit.   For many, myself included, Super Mario Sunshine was already the epitome of Gamecube gaming, eating hours out of our time as we hopped, jumped, skipped and jetted our way through beautiful and inspired locales ranging from amusement parks to odd alternate dimensions that will put your platforming skills to the test.GRAPHICS

   No longer is our denim clad crimson hero rendered in the obsolete sharp edged polygons of the past system. The plumber is back in a glorious smooth fashion, and sporting short sleeves for the tropical excursion to boot! But it doesn't stop there!   Everything about this game's design was handled with the utmost love and care. The waters, which of course shows up in abundance, is deep, blue, vast and almost makes you want to find the nearest pool and relax for the rest of the day (temperature permitting, of course!). A player might actually find themselves stopping while on a run through a stage to stop and just admire the scenery. A wonderful new addition to the games rendering is a new Depth of Field mechanic which at the time- for me at least- was my introduction to this little piece of technology. Sadly, it doesn't go into effect near the player and is mainly for the background elements, but it's certainly not lost on the overall experience.   And, as if the beautiful tropical environment, the new sleek character models, and the ocean water that almost makes one TASTE the salt it's so real wasn't enough- just take a good look at your surroundings the next time you're strolling through Delfino Plaza. Nearly every level you might be able to visit by jumping into graffiti or otherwise is actually visible from the main hub world! You can even see the airstrip where the game all started! Talk about detail, folks!SOUND   The sound, while remaining still beautiful and very fitting to the game's overall theme, leaves something to be desired. Koji Kondo and his genius does in fact return as one of the main composers for the game, however I, myself, would be hard-pressed to single out any specific track in the game to recommend to someone else. The exception to this possibly being either the Delfino Plaza theme song- mainly because you spend so much time there- or the memorable tracks remixed for the alternate "secret" levels you'll run into throughout each level of the game.   Music aside, however, everything is just- dare I say it- Peachy. From Mario's trademark grunts and whoops, to the almost sickeningly satisfying sound of bouncing around on a Toad's head. The game introduces even more voice acting than many previous Mario titles with many Pianta characters and even Toadsworth getting actual dialogue through the game. Even a certain bad guy who will go unnamed for spoiler's sake had some dialogue that had me laughing, even if it wasn't aloud.ADDICTIVENESS

   Boy, oh boy is this a game a gem for those looking for a title to waste their free time on. For those who played Super Mario 64, collecting stars- referred to as Shine Sprites in this game- will be nothing new. In fact, the game features a total of 120 Shine Sprites where SM64 had the exact same amount of stars. New to the title in one way, however are the new ways Blue Coins are implemented.   In Super Mario 64 blue coins were a bonus for stomping on a certain corresponding block that would cause a certain amount of them to appear somewhere near the player, challenging them to collect them before an invisible timer ran out. Each coin would yield 5 coins to the players coin counter and help them significantly on their journey to collecting 100 of those golden suckers in each level. But not in Super Mario Sunshine.   Instead, in Super Mario Sunshine the Blue Coins are now their own sort of collectible outside of hunting down Shine Sprites! Though outside of having a counter and a grand total of 240, the Blue Coins themselves are more a mechanic to collect more Shine Sprites, as collecting 10 of them and bringing them to a shop in the main hub town will net the player one of the beautiful golden... Things.STORY

   Now, we all know where the story is going here. Mario shows up somewhere with Peach, someone takes Peach, Mario goes through Hell and high water to save Peach, end game. Everyone bow. Peach doesn't even have to be around Mario to get kidnapped half the time! Well, this game doesn't exactly break the mold in THAT respect, but that certainly doesn't mean the formula hasn't been changed entirely!   Instead, as the game opens we are introduced to the familiar faces of Toadsworth, Princess Toadstool, and- duh- Mario on their way to Isle Delfino for a much needed vacation. Of course after years of fighting a giant turtle dragon and his motley crew of an army will take it's toll on anyone. But not all is well as they touch down on a grafitti riddled airport. Mario dons the F.L.U.D.D. and leaps into action as the goop takes the form of a giant piranha plant!   After saving the day, even though he wasn't even supposed to be at work today, Mario issssss- Jailed! That's right! Now thanks for our mustachio'd jumping machine! As it turns out, it would seem someone who looks exactly like him has been running around the island throwing graffiti all over the place, and that's where I'll leave off before I get into real spoiler territory!   But, for any would-be new players I'll at least leave you with this appetizing little snippet from a certain someone's dialogue: "Mama Peach" 

DEPTH

   As one might expect as the successor to Super Mario 64, the game will take you quite a bit to beat. The content in this game while simple, is abundant. There really isn't much to be said other than that, really. Collecting all 120 stars and all the Blue Coins will definitely take up a lot of one's time!

DIFFICULTY

   Oh yes, while it might surprise someone with all it's bright and vibrant colors, this game can in fact be quite difficulty. Take the controls from Super Mario 64 and adding to them with the new F.L.U.D.D. mechanics in itself will have Mario vets new to the title taking some time to get used to. The platforming can be fun, though frustrating at times- especially once you HAVE gotten used to F.L.U.D.D. and it's controls and you find yourself in one of the "Secret" levels within the levels and F.L.U.D.D. gets taken away from you! You're left with Mario and Mario alone as you're tasked with some of the most challenging platforming you'll experience in a Mario game.

   And, while F.L.U.D.D. can handle like a dream at the best of times, that doesn't mean it is without fault- Specifically when using the jetpack nozzle you're equipped with from the beginning. Very quickly a glide can turn bad when you can't turn quite as fast as you normally would for some odd reason, or when you're trying to steer F.L.U.D.D. while simultaneously trying to fiddle with the camera's controls. (which by the way has been vastly overhauled since 64, and feels much more fluid, thankfully)

OVERALL

   There's not much left to be said that hasn't already been stated! Get your overalls on, that control stick burning, and get ready for one of the most colorful adventures you'll ever have! Well, at least until you play Super Mario Galaxy!

  Graphics 9   Sound 7   Addictive 9   Story 9   Depth 10   Difficulty 8
      Review Rating: 3.7/5     Submitted: 03-17-15     Review Replies: 3


Mario's vacation takes a sticky turn.   RedHotToddy

  Graphics 9   Sound 9   Addictive 9   Story 7   Depth 9   Difficulty 7
      Review Rating: 3.3/5     Submitted: 10-02-13     Updated: 10-02-13     Review Replies: 3


Don't you just love sunshine?   TheFadedWarrior
Oh my good gracious, I'm making yet another review for you guys. Today, I'll be reviewing one of the best, and one of the most unique, non-spin-offs in the entire Mario series. Yep, it's Super Mario Moonshine Sunshine! In Super Mario Sunshine, you obviously play as Malleo Mario. But what makes it so unique? First off, it does NOT take place in the Mushroom Kingdom, or even Sarasaland. It takes place on a remote island. Second, the story plot... it's totally different. And majorly, the third reason - The gameplay. Anyhow, you'll hear more later on. Now onto the review!Graphics - 8.5This game has really good graphics... pretty much. The draw length is incredible and pretty amazing, since you can see the entire map without moving. It also has minimal lag, contrary to the draw distance. That's worth a couple extra points alone. Then there's effects. The water is pretty much perfect, glimmering very realistically. Also, if you step in goop, every step you take tracks some goop. Then there's the physics of the graphics - Everything is done perfectly. The waves of water, the way goop falls, the realisticness of bouncy things like bridges and rubber wires. However, the details and textures and stuff like that are a teensy bit less than expected. Yeah, they're OK, but some of them are fairly ugly looking. I give the graphics an 8.5.Sound - 10.0It's a Mario game, you're probably going to expect great music that's, sadly, been used in every other Mario game. This game, however, has completely custom music, each tune pretty catchy. As far as I'm concerned, all the tracks in the game are used in no other game, with the exception of Super Smash Bros. Brawl soundtracks and 1 Warioware game (and possibly Mario Power Tennis, but I dunno). The sounds are great as well. They fit everything perfectly and sound pretty... soundy? Anyhow, I give the sound rating an incredible perfect 10.Gameplay/Addictiveness - 9.2As I mentioned before in the introduction to the review, this game is very unique in gameplay.Why so unique? It has a platforming twist - You have a water-powered gun / jetpack / rocket booster / speed rocket thingy on your back that talks to you. You, of course, fill it up with water to use each of its modes. You can shoot enemies and goop with your gun, hover around to get to places otherwise unreachable, shoot yourself up to get to higher places otherwise unreachable, or use it to be much faster and pretty much be able to turn yourself into a motorboat. This nifty gadget is known as "F.L.U.D.D." I don't really think it stand for anything, which is somewhat disappointing.If you haven't ever played this game, you're probably wondering, "What's goop?" The main thing about this game is that you have to clean up goop that attacks you. Almost all of the "episodes" require you to clean up goop or try to avoid goop. Some may require you to defeat a goop monster, some may require you to clean up massive pools of goop, one of them even requires you to try to avoid goop without FLUDD (like an obstacle course). You use FLUDD to clean up goop, of course.Sometimes the game can also be a puzzle or a mystery game, such as in one level where you have to find secret doors and stuff to find a pineapple... I both hate and love that level.Then, of course, it has regular platforming like in most Mario games. Jump a bunch of times, try not to fall, blah blah blah. There's even some obstacle courses in the game that take away FLUDD so it's solid platforming. Though it's not necessarily a real rating, I give the gameplay a 9.5.Seeing as the game is so entertaining, I am going to give the addictiveness a great rating too. You can play this game hours on end daily, with additional help from the difficulty and depth. I give the addictiveness a 9.0. Since I gave the gameplay a 9.5, I'll just put them together and get a 9.2. Impressive!Story - 9.5The story of Super Mario Sunshine is very unique as well. You, Princess "Peach" Toadstool, and Toadsworth (the assumed grandfather of the Toads) are on an airplane going to who knows where, when you get an advertisement for a paradise island known as Delfino Island, home of the Piantas. Peach, of course, wants to go there.But wait... At the end of the advertisement, it shows the plaza statue... with Mario on it? This is Shadow Mario, who happens to be (spoilers) Bowser Jr. pretending to be Mario. He has a paintbrush that he uses to write graffiti almost everywhere in Delfino Island. He is responsible for a massive problem in Delfino Island, the goop. Goop has been put almost everywhere. However, Mario and the gang don't know anything about this.When they arrive on the airstrip, Mario discovers FLUDD, who was put with a bunch of boxes. Just after that, a goop monster appears. After Mario destroys it, they take a ferry to Delfino Island. Mario is framed by Shadow Mario, then put in court and eventually jail. They decide to let him go on one condition - Mario has to clean up all the mess "he" made. So Mario is forced to travel across multiple areas to clean up goop and defeat Shadow Mario. I give the story an impressive 9.5, since it's very interesting and unique.Depth - 10.0Super Mario Sunshine is a pretty long game, with 8 areas (including the final area), each (except the final area) with 8 episodes each. That comes up with only 64 stars (which are actually Shine Sprites). However, there are 120 stars altogether, coming up with 56 extra and secret Shine Sprites, along with lots of blue coins. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Super Mario 64 had 120 stars, and that usually doesn't get that high of a rating. Well, each episode is fairly long. BUT GUESS WHAT. If you get the coin Shine Sprites (including golden coins and blue coins) and the plaza Shine Sprites, there are an astounding 240 Shine Sprites altogether. Yeah, that's a lot! It rivals even the longest of Mario games, possibly being the 2nd longest next to Super Mario Galaxy 2. For all of that, this game deserves another incredible perfect 10.Difficulty - 8.8For a Mario game, spin-off or not, Super Mario Sunshine is surprisingly difficult. Some of the platforming is extremely hard, some of the tasks you have to do are extremely hard, and sometimes the enemies are way too tough. Sorry for not being very descriptive, but that's all I can come up with. I give the difficulty an 8.8.Overall - 9.5Oh my good goshes, I just gave a game a 9.5. Super Mario Sunshine is truly one of the single best games of all time (at least in the top 10). It has amazing graphics, an awesome soundtrack, and the gameplay is very unique and very, very fun and addictive. The story is awesome as well. The game is also exceptionally long, and actually pretty difficult. Overall, this game receives a 9.5. That's right, a 9.5, unbiased.That's it. The review is over. Congratulations on reading that far. Now go away.?Feel free to comment and criticize.
  Graphics 9   Sound 10   Addictive 9   Story 9   Depth 10   Difficulty 9
      Review Rating: 3/5     Submitted: 01-07-14     Updated: 01-07-14     Review Replies: 4


Shine Get!   claytune
With the GameCube coming out everyone was wondering how Nintendo would follow-up the success of Mario 64 however, they would have to wait a bit longer than they might of thought at least they had Luigi's Mansion to hold them off. When it finally did come out I can only imagine that many were surprised to see the changes to gameplay and even story that were implemented in this game. I didn't grow up with this game unlike Super Mario 64 which really I didn't play till I was 13 but close enough I only finally got to play Super Mario Sunshine thanks to the release of Super Mario 3D All Stars which is what I'm using to review the game. Gameplay 9/10 - Leave it to Nintendo to somehow make Mario's movement even more smooth and crisp it's honestly impressive how good it feels to control Mario this time around, and what makes that even better is the inclusion of F.L.U.D.D. which can be used to hover to be more precise with where you wish to land mid air. Hovering is far from FLUDD's only use however, it also has a spray feature which is used to go insane looking for blue coins and for clearing off paint. FLUDD also has a rocket which can be used to send Mario flying far into the sky, and finally a turbo that is probably the least used power in the entire game. Yoshi also is included this time around and he keeps his flutter jump but now also has the ability to shoot liquids that have the power to turn enemies into platforms to jump on. Graphics 9/10 - I might be a bit bias on this part but I honestly believe Super Mario Sunshine to have some of the best graphics on the entire Nintendo GameCube and I don't believe that's just the Switch port I used to always be amazed seeing gameplay of it just how good the water looked and I still think it looks pretty good even after all this time. The other thing I have to give credit to when it comes to graphics is just the leap from Super Mario 64 to Super Mario Sunshine is incredible I'm shocked just seeing how far the graphics came just one console later. Sound 8/10 - Sound is an area I'm a bit more critical of when it comes to this game for the sole fact that most of the songs on the soundtrack end up feeling pretty similar but that's not really a fault of the sound design and more the fault of the setting so sound is getting a free pass because the music is still good regardless. Addictive 8/10 - If you get the chance to play this game while on a vacation of some kind absolutely do it I did it after finishing my GED during the summer which means I was back to having all the free time in the world so I took it as a summer break and just enjoyed it as a tropical vacation which with it being summer just made the game all the more addictive. Story 6/10 - I wasn't sure how to rate the story because I don't think it's that good but for a Mario game it's actually brave enough to take some new steps the main one being that they actually tried voice acting which is unfortunately pretty hit or miss. For a basic plot summary Mario and Peach go on a vacation just to arrive and Mario get blamed for making the Isle dirty and then he get's thrown in jail by the worst possible police force and doesn't even get an attorney to represent him in court. Depth 10/10 - This is another hard part to rate I went ahead and gave it a 10 for the sole fact of how difficult it is to collect all 240 blue coins in this game I can't undersell how annoying these things are to find that without a guide to know which episodes had more coins I was missing since you can't get them all in the same mission of a level and to be able to keep a checklist of which ones I already had cause the game only tells you the number of ones you have for each level. Difficulty 9/10 - This is likely the hardest 3D Mario game to complete fully some of the Shines feel like it's luck to complete or well you need extreme luck and skill on top of it to complete the game you are going to die a lot when going for some of the hidden Shines you just have to be ready to keep on trying if you want to get everything. Overall 8.5/10 - I overall don't think this is anywhere near the best 3D Mario game but I do think for the follow-up of a legendary game it did a pretty good job keeping a basic gameplay style while not being scared to try new things out. If your patient this game can be a blast to sit through and slowly find everything but if you value your time a lot you might find trying to get through the game at a good pace a stressful time. When it comes to 3D platformers nothing fits a summer vacation better than Super Mario Sunshine.
  Graphics 9   Sound 8   Addictive 8   Story 6   Depth 10   Difficulty 9
      Review Rating: 3/5     Submitted: 01-14-21     Review Replies: 0


Super Mario Sunshine   Mario0908
This game was a game that I started growing up with. I played this game a lot but I was never really as good as my aunt, until now. I really enjoyed playing Super Mario Sunshine. The graphics in Super Mario Sunshine was good, at least I think so. i think the design for FLUDD is cool. I also like that when Mario walks or slides into the goop, the goop gets on him and it looks really cool. I think that the goop itself looks good too. It looks kind of like paint, but at the same time, you know that it's not paint because it's moving. There is one problem that I know about though. If you grab a shine while spraying water, Mario will do his dance and pose. When he's posed, you can see FLUDD acting like he's spraying water and partially going through Mario's head.That's really the only problem I've noticed throughout the game.I like the music in this game. I like the music like Noki Bay. It seems like it describes the scene very well. I also like the music for Delfino Plaza and Ricco Harbor. I also like the sound for spraying water. It sounds like water being shot out of a machine, because that's what it is. I really like the music for Sirena Beach. It seems like a calm song. which would make sense since you're in a hotel by the beach. Then there's Pinna Park. It sounds just like amusement park music, it feels like you're having fun, it has a happy beat, it's the perfect song!I'm likely to play this game for a while once I turn it on. It all depends if I can get any shine sprites. As long as I keep winning I'll keep playing. Somehow it does get boring though. It might be because I like multiplayer games like Mario Kart and want to play that with somebody. I will play this game for two hours though and get a few shine sprites doing that. If it's a really difficult mission then I would play it for a while.The story in this Mario game is slightly different. Mario and friends decide to have a vacation so they head to Isle Delfino for one. But when they arrive, Mario is mistaken as a criminal, so now he has to clean up Isle Delfino and get the shine sprites back. When you finish cleaning up the first mess, Mario meets his new enemy Shadow Mario. Shadow Mario doesn't have too much of an explanation at the beginning of the game, but when you go to Pinna Park you realize that it's not Shadow Mario, it's Bowser Jr. in disguise. Here he tells you the story. He says that his father told him that Peach is his mama and that Mario was trying to take her away. So turns out, Bowser still captures Peach.This game is an adventure game so of course it has a lot in it.  This game has 120 shine sprites to find. Some of the shine sprites include mini games, blue coins, even real skill and knowing what you're doing in some of them. This game will take you a while to finish. This game isn't that hard if you know what you're doing. However, it has some really difficult parts such as the battle vs. Phantamanta in Sirena Beach. That one took me forever to do it was almost impossible. The final battle wasn't all that tough, I remember Bowser going down without too much trouble. Other boss fights though (like the ones in Gelato Beach) are insanely difficult so you must be prepared. Not just boss fights are difficult in the game, the giant sand bird is really difficult, I did it when I was 5. Now i try it again, and I get to the seventh coin once out of fifty tries. It was really aggravating.Super Mario Sunshine was a really good game and I know it. It has difficult parts, fun parts, other parts too. Overall, I think it was a great Mario game.
  Graphics 10   Sound 9   Addictive 8   Story 7   Depth 9   Difficulty 7
      Review Rating: 3/5     Submitted: 03-08-14     Review Replies: 0

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