GameCube: Super Mario Sunshine
November 2, 2008 - 10:55 am - Posted by Sean
It’s always a joy to play a brand-spanking new Mario game, and Super Mario Sunshine radiates with all the magic and charm we’ve come to expect from the pudgy plumber.
The storyline revolves around a Mario look-alike who has vandalized the beautiful Isle of Delfino. Unjustly charged with the crime, Mario is sentenced to clean up the island with the help of a high-powered, water-spraying backpack.
This innovative device really adds a whole new dimension to the standard platform fare. It’s a blast to hose off nasty sludge, and you can even turn the nozzle on your foes!
The water pack has a surprising number of other uses as well, like turning windmills from afar, rocking yourself on a giant swing, and even functioning as a jet pack by aiming the nozzles down.
In terms of graphics, Super Mario Sunshine boasts some of the best water effects that I’ve ever seen in a GameCube game. The reflections on the water are just amazing!
The music is wonderful, and many sound effects are throwbacks to classic Super Mario titles. You can save you place at any time, and the game has a reasonable learning curve.
And last but not least, Yoshi is back! What more can you ask for? Well, a better camera system for one thing! You’ll need to wrestle with it constantly, and sometimes even a simple jump can be difficult to execute due to the awkward camera angles. I’m also not a big fan of the new “triple jump” move.
Nevertheless, Mario Sunshine is too innovative and fun to let the minor flaws like those rain on the parade.
This is a pretty fun game. I recently found this game at my local Game Stop for $10.00.
@Billy: $10.00 for this game is a really good price. Excellent find. The eBay 90-day average is around $13.00 plus shipping, so you came out ahead for sure.
I love this game! The graphics and colors are so beautiful and make me really happy. Unfortunately my copy is pretty scratched up, so I can’t play it anymore. *sniff*
This game had a different triple jump from Mario 64? I don’t remember much about this game other than eventually quitting after getting to the stupid manta ray shadow boss, so what made the triple jump so bad?
@Luke: It’s not that the triple jump is bad per se, I’m just not a fan of it. As for Mario 64, I’d have to do a side-by-side with to see if it’s the same, I don’t remember off the top of my head.
@Stacy: Do you have a Play-N-Trade or other game store in your town? If so, most offer a disc cleaning and/ or resurfacing service. It makes your disc’s like new and play again. They usually charge less then $2.00 USD for the service.