Super Mario Sunshine Review
I love the Mario games. I’ve played all of them, and heck, have even watched the movie! The series is the biggest and the most sold game ever, and it’s been six years since we’ve last seen an authentic Mario game. The original Mario game sold over 70 million copies, and its sequels have all been million best sellers. Then why can’t I like it?
The reason is simple: maybe I have grown up and can’t seem to find the kind of beauty and imagination that Sunshine offers, or maybe it is because I’m trained to like every Mario game that comes out, and for the most part, I have loved each and every one of Sunshine’s predecessors.
However, when Sunshine is compared to any of its predecessors, it doesn’t quite measure up in terms of style, gameplay, and imagination. Rather than make this entire review a Nintendo advertisement, I will try to offer you a true review to back up what I say, because I truly believe that Mario Sunshine could have been a much better game.
The overworld of Mario Sunshine has taken on a new twist; Mario finds himself upon a tropical island, in which he must collect shines to advance in the game and find the perpetrator who went around disguised as him and bamboozled the town. Each world is unique in its own way, but at the same time, you can’t help but sense that they all feel the same. They all have the same hot, sandy feel to them, and they lack the variety of other Mario games. Remember the snow worlds where you slip on ice, or fire worlds where Mario holds his posterior as he jumps about? You won’t find any of the variety that is a key to the series’ success and longevity. The world should beckon to be explored, not wait to be explored, as is clearly the case in Sunshine.
Virtually every move in Mario 64 is back, and with some minor tweaks, but the gameplay of Mario Sunshine doesn’t have that certain flow that seems to bring everything together into one neat, bundled package. For example, I enter a tunnel and find myself in a retro level; how does this relate to anything within the level itself? It’s very neat and brings back old platforming games, but it feels more like a mini-game than a substantial part of the game. Didn’t I recall Nintendo saying that Mario Sunshine is a breath of fresh air?
As well, there are certain objectives you have to do in the game, and if you don’t complete them, you die; just like that. I lost to a friendly purple guy, and when I met him at the flagpole, I simply died and got thrown out of the level. This also applies to other objectives in this game, such as water racing. This is extremely frustrating, because when I die, it should be because I feel off a cliff, not because I didn’t win a race.
All in all, Nintendo knows exactly how to formulate gameplay, but in Sunshine it just doesn’t come together. Ideas seem to have gotten thrown in to balance the game out, but they do not seem to be part of the flow of the game; like the retro levels…the main objectives of the game are ridiculously easy, while some retro levels are ridiculously hard. This throws you off completely, and might even cost you a new controller!
The water pack adds on a new twist to the game, but at the same time makes you feel comfortable; safe and comfortable in the way that you don’t really have to time your jumps or watch your footing, because you know you can correct yourself. This was not so in previous Mario games, where fine controller tuning and skill were rewarded accordingly. You toyed with life and death, balancing on the brink of survival, hopping over large chasms and balancing on small protruding cliffs, feeling the adrenaline rush as you do it all again. In Sunshine, the chasms and cliffs are still there, but hey, why bother dying when you can play it safe?
The water pack comes equipped with other nozzles, such as the rocket and the turbo, but let’s be honest here…how many times did you actually have to use the other two? They offer a fun alternative, but hold no significant value when you play, except maybe to accomplish a certain objective or to reach a certain point. What happened to the creativity that you needed to have to accomplish goals? In Mario Sunshine I often found myself acting out a scripted formula rather than devising my own innovative ways to accomplish tasks, which in my mind, makes the game very boring at some stages.
Another strange aspect about Mario Sunshine was the enemies. I will go on record to say that besides the bosses, you otherwise don’t need to kill a single living thing to complete most of the objectives. The enemies are annoying rather than challenging, and often get in your way. Yes, that is the whole point of enemies, to impede your progress, but in Sunshine they seem to me a mere, minor annoyance that wander into our path and bumble about. I never had to use any of the enemies creatively to kill other enemies (remember in past Mario games how a green shell could kill by bouncing back and forth?) There is none of that resourcefulness here. As well, all of the previous enemies seem to have disappeared, which makes the game feel uncomfortable as a Mario game.
The graphics do a really nice job of portraying a tropical world, but they don’t really seem to do justice when compared to what is currently “out there” in next generation consoles. I remember Miyamotyo when he said he intended to take full advantage of Nintendo’s hardware, but you don’t really see Sunshine making the Gamecube sweat. The wall textures haven’t upgraded their plastered-on look since the SM64, which, when combined with the updated feel of the town, puts the game into either you love-or-hate-the-graphics state of affairs.
While Nintendo seems to have attempted to give platform gaming a new breath of life, I believe they are pulling into their demographic by making this game too easy to play, and maybe even too cute to stomach. There were some parts where “cuteness” just wasn’t needed.
However, despite all the criticism I may have just written here, Sunshine is still a solid game, and is still worthy of a purchase. Miyamotyo was exactly right when he said that Sunshine was an evolution, not a revolution, and maybe that is why I couldn’t enjoy Sunshine as much as I should have…I expected a revolution; the same kind of revolution that Super Mario 64 gave gamers. Give it some time, and I think that Miyamotyo and his talented team can revolutionize Mario. They are certainly capable, and this was a good test to see whether we would welcome a new change. While I still have my hopes high for an expected sequel, Nintendo should go back to the drawing board and rethink some of the elements of Mario Sunshine, and try to rekindle the gaming fire that ignited in us when we first played a Mario game.
Visuals: 8
Sound: 8
Originality: 7
Replay: 6
Overall: 7