Super Mario Sunshine

- Reviewed on Switch -

Super Mario Sunshine released on July 19th, 2002. 

To a lot of peoples delight, Nintendo re-released Super Mario Sunshine as a part of the Super Mario 3D All-stars collection on September 18th, 2020. 

This was great news for me as I never beat Sunshine as a kid and now with the Switch, I successfully beat Super Mario Sunshine and wow, what an intense game this was (difficulty wise). 

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

Starting off with the atmosphere Super Mario Sunshine gives off, I believe this game has one of the best main settings for a Mario game. 

Taking place at Isle Delfino where Mario must take down Shadow Mario (aka Bowser Jr.) and use his new companion FLUDD, Super Mario Sunshine is a bright, colorful experience for all players around the world. 

With that being said I can't ignore the fact that this game was definitely frustrating for multiple reasons and it did make me take long breaks from this installment. 

Although this was a more difficult Mario experience compared to other 3D Mario titles like Galaxy or 64, there was portions of the game where having it be hard to win made the game more enjoyable (for me at least) and a prime example is the levels where Mario must make his way to a Shine without his water abilities (using FLUDD). 

Controls in this game are ok in a sense where, similar to my last statement, the controls can be great in one portion but terrible in another.

Aiming FLUDD to spray water in specific areas can be a pain but again, that's what makes this game great because once you complete a level, and get a Shine, you feel much more accomplished than if everything was so easy and just handed to you. 

To sum up Controls in Super Mario Sunshine, although the basics of the controls are easy to understand and use, the majority of Super Mario Sunshine has awful control segments, and don't get me started on Corona Mountain and the boat! 

I absolutely adore the tropical, musical feel Super Mario Sunshine has and it is so memorable even after a full decade (as of writing this blog post). 

The graphics are acceptable in Super Mario Sunshine, even though there isn't too much of a difference compared to the GameCube version, Nintendo did ok with the graphics as a part of the 3D All-stars Collection. 

The enemy selection in Sunshine is good but the enemies aren't that memorable in a sense. 

If you have enemies in a game, those enemies should be remembered for their time in that specific game. 

For Super Mario Sunshine I don't think of the enemies and their time in this game, instead they remind me of other Mario titles like Mario Kart or Mario Party, this tells me that the enemies weren't the best (memorable wise) during not only my first playthrough as a kid but even as an adult. 

One game aspect that truly amazed me (even for this games era) was the attention to detail in regards of the stages. 

When your in the central hub of the game, you can see the levels you can go to from the docks. 

In other words, when your actually in those levels you can still see the other playable levels off on the other parts of the island, this gives off a feel of truly being on a tropical island where you see multiple parts of the island all in one. 

My final gripe with Sunshine that I've noticed other people didn't really enjoy all that much is the voice acting. 

Maybe it's because I am used to Mario games not having voice acting (besides the catchphrases by the characters) but a Mario game having full on dialogue with Bowser and Bowser Jr. is just weird and Bowser's voice specifically is not what I would imagine his voice to sound like. 

Pros: 

    - Good Looking Graphics
    - Great Attention to Detail
    - Fun Levels and Level Design
    - Outstanding Memorable Music
    - Interesting Story / Plot

Cons:

    - Awful Controls (At Times)
    - Bad Voice Acting
    - Unmemorable Enemies
    - Very Hard Missions (Combined with Bad Controls)

My Rating for Super Mario Sunshine (on Switch):

3 / 5


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All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.



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