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Mario

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: October 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The fact that this game is a Mario title should be enough to make you buy it, but this game really is good. Super Mario Sunshine graphicly is superior to any other gam on the Games Cube, the palyability is imense and its Mario!!! This games is similar to the last except, you dont collect stars, you collect, Sprites. Yoshi is back, and there is also the addition of new characters and new moves. Buy this game and you wont be dissapointed.

Good game, a teensy bit disappointing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: October 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

What do I love about SMS... almost everything. The classic Mario 64 gameplay makes a triumphant return, if you played it, you'll automatically feel right at home with Mario Sunshine. And the waterpack is a fantastic addition. There's so much that it adds to the gameplay mechanics that it's just PLAIN NOT FUNNY. The controls are tight; some of the tightest ever.

What else do I love... the graphics. Everything is detailed (except for Isle Delfino's inhabitants), and everything is affected by the heat... you can see objects in the distance blurred by the heat. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING reflects in the water, from coins, to the sky, including clouds, to mountains, and Mario himself. Nothing is left out.

I also love it's challenge. It's a little easy at first, but some objectives are very challenging... sometimes too challenging.

Oh, and the camera isn't nearly as bad as everyone is saying it is. Trust me.

What don't I love about SMS... Well, there's not too many levels... 7 or 8. But there's still 120 shines to collect. But after a while you get sick of the levels you're playing in, and when you do beat the game after getting 60 shines or so, you probably won't have the incentive to get the other 60 shines. And if you do, there's not much of a reward. I wish something could've been done about that.

But other than that, SMS is a great game, and you're doing a disservice to yourself by not playing it.

Great Game, What Did We Expect?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: November 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've played this game for hours (demos, rentals, friend's houses, etc..) and I must say that it is addicting. From collecting shines to hovering above the rest of the world, it's hard to find a glitch in Nintendo's latest installment of Mario. Here what I thought of Super Mario Sunshine for the Nintendo Gamecube:

1. The graphics: Beatutiful!!! Perhaps the best to be shown on Gamecube yet, SMS looks awsome! From the shimmering water to the sandy beaches, this game really packs in the feeling of a vacation in the bahamas. Mario looks as good as ever, everything is sharp and convincing. The civilians and people looks about as good as it can get, and the water; my goodness it's incredible! And with the whole point of it being really dark (and shadowy) toward the beggining of the game with no shines to 100 later on, it really goes from dark, cloudy, and gray to sunny, warm, and humid. The graphics bring this game alive, and deliver what past Mario games couldn't: real worlds!

2. The gameplay: wonderful! It's just fun! It really is like Mario 64 in dozens of ways. As with 64, you collect as many stars as u can to beat the game. Only this time they look like mini suns, and are called "Shines." To get shines u must complete various tasks, whether it be cleaning up grafity to defeating a boss. You'll need every skill in the book to collect these shines. To go with that a ton of patience. This game just goes on and on, and every minute that goes by just keeps getting funner! By far the funnest of the series, Mario brings that innocent sense of fun that has been missed recently with games like HALO, GTA3, Max Payne, and other shooters. Mario is back and bettter than ever, now armed with a super-fun hose type thing (don't know what it is) and all of Mario's old moves (super slam, jump, slide, glide, etc...)

3. The overall depth and reaplay value: tons! I'm not sure how many shines there are, at least a hundred. And each shine (whether buying it or winning it) feels like a major accomplshment. Fun to just fool around after beating (which could take weeks, even months) this game does not disapoint. It's long, fast, fun, and easy to control. I could play this for hours, and feel tempted to buy a Gamecube just for Mario.

Overall, I'd just like to say how much fun this is, and how good the graphics are. The new hose thing is a blast, whether it be shooting or hovering, it's safe to say this ladies and gentlemen: Mario is back, fun, and new. A bit of new spice to the old winning formula, Super Mario Sunshine is worth your fifty bucks, and will go down (i think) as one of the classic Nintendo games of all time. Why Nintendo will never die, Mario. Hope this helped, thx!

this game is the best yet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a girl and a lot of girls don't play mario games much now.but I think this game rocks!.the toads are so cute.I think mario is more fun than barbie games.and I THINK THEY NEED TO MAKE A SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE 2!.

SUNSHINE OK - BUT NOT GREAT EITHER

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: September 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First of all, you should know I'm a Super Mario Brothers fanatic. I have played all Mario games imaginable and all have been outstanding. With this being said, I'll go ahead and express that Super Mario Sunshine is ok, but not great.

Mario Sunshine is a very cute game with a sweet feel to it, but it failed to deliver innovation and top quality graphics, soundtrack, and challenging gameplay. Yes, it is initially fun to play, but it isn't anything breathtaking as Mario 64 was.

First, experienced players will find this game to be very easy to pass. The gameplay is easy, and acquiring sunshines becomes repetetive and predictable. For instance, in every world there's always red coin collecting, a Shadow Mario chase, and those Secret obstacle course areas. It's evident that the developers lacked imagination because in many worlds you get to do these tasks even twice. The difficulty level is a piece of cake compared to its predecessor, Mario 64. There are a few episodes that are tricky at first, but you eventually figure the solution very quickly. Now, Mario has a new water tool to play with, but I didn't find that amusing. I could care less if he used it or not. I missed the ability to punch enemies, and transform into different things. I actually felt Mario's powers were more limited in this game. He can jump higher, but that's about it. Managing the camera angles is a constant struggle. There are areas where you are enclosed between walls, and you can't see Mario. I guess that's about the only major difficulty in this game...lol. Bad, bad, bad.

Second, the quality of the worlds you explore are not very impressive. Being a game for the Gamecube console, the graphics are not something to be awed of. With the exception of water, lightning, reflection, and shadow effects, the textures displayed are ugly to look at. I truly felt I was playing a Nintendo 64 sequel to Mario 64. I really was expecting sharper graphics. Another thing that dissapoints is the redundance of the worlds. Almost every single world is the same thing altered in a different way. They're all sunny, colorful, and invaded by water. Another issue is that there are only a few worlds to explore as opposed to 15 in Mario 64. These worlds are a little big, but not as huge as everyone hyped them to be. These worlds are about the same size as those found in the Banjoo-Kazooie titles. The animation sequences are very bad, too. The cinemas don't run smoothly. The screen keeps going black in order to show the next image. I think Mario 64's introductory and final animations were way better. These are the little things that are shameful considering the game was designed for a superior system.

Third, the game's soundtrack is repetetive and non catchy. You get to hear the same theme in almost all the worlds. What else can I say?

Overall, it's an OK game. Many claim Sunshine to be as big as Mario 64, but I think it's only half the size as Mario 64. Yes, this game has about 120 sunshines to collect, but the game feels short due to the easy gameplay and limited worlds. If you are new to 3D Platform gaming, then you will find this game quite a big challenge to complete. But if you're an experienced gamer, you'll catch on very quickly. So, I gave this game 3 stars based on the "experienced player" view. If you are new to 3D gaming, your rating may be higher.

Average Game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: March 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was excited to learn they were releasing a new Mario game on the GameCube, the first Mario action game since Super Mario 64. So here it is SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE. There's many differences from Mario 64 to Sunshine. The story starts off where Mario and Peach are going on vacation, when they arrive at this island Mario is arrested, as a con artist who looks like him as vandalized the entire island with graffiti. Mario must clean up the entire town, so this is where the adventure begins. You have a water nozzle which has different functions: 1) to spray 2) to hover 3) to rocket and 4) to spritz while you run. There's 7 main levels. You collect shines in this game, as opposed to stars like in Mario 64. Each level has 8 main Shines as well as 3 hidden ones per level. The problems I had with this game were simple, Mario has lost all his regular attacks, since you now have a water nozzle. You can't punch anyone, you can't kick, you either jump or spray. Another problem was the levels, they are too similar. It would have been nice if they threw in a desert level or a snow level, something different at least. Instead, most of the levels are pretty similar. Each level has at least one special shine where you lose your nozzle and you have to manuever yourself through these puzzle like mazes, which are incredibly annoying and frustrating at times. As well at times the game was too hard, some of the shines, especially in the later levels, are very difficult, and while I like a challenge this was more than that. Overall the game just wasn't as fun as Mario 64 so if you're looking for a fun filled game like that one, this one isn't it, but worth giving a try to draw your own conclusions.

Challenging in all the wrong ways

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 18
Date: January 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is definately the worst game in the Mario series. Just to let you know where I'm coming from, I am one of the few who seemed to hate Mario 64. If you liked that game you would probably love Sunshine since it is basically the exact same game. Sunshine only differs by having slightly better graphics and a *new* innovation of having Mario wear a difficult-to-control water pack on his back (hey didn't we see that in Luigi's Mansion?)

The horrible camera movements of M64 are back. Think Nintendo would decide to use a more sophisticated camera like those found in various games in the 6 years since M64 was released? You'd be wrong! The camera is just as bad, the only improvement is an insult to the player: when something is blocking Mario you see his shadow instead of nothing. That's it! And the shadow is nearly as useless as not seeing Mario at all since you don't get to see his environment when this occurs. Why not have the interfering objects become totally or partially transparent in those situations like in dozens of other games?

In M64 it was difficult to get Mario to do a basic, ordinary jump. The developers decided to give him a variety of jumps that never come in handy and were probably inserted to look "cool". I can't stand it when Mario pulls one of those annoying backflips. What benefit does this ever serve? And the triple jump that results in an extra long jump: USELESS. And why does he do that uncontrolable flip jump when I push right or left while he's standing? WHAT THE HELL DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET A NORMAL FRIGGING JUMP OUT OF HIM? On a related note, Mario still does those stupid bellysides that he did in M64 and they continue to serve the same purpose: to interfere with gameplay and annoy the player. Note to Nintendo: A character that's difficult to control does not result in fun gameplay. I am not against complexity in controlling a character, Metroid Prime has lots of moves, but in that game the character and controls work with you, in Sunshine they work against you.

One superficial thing that really made M64 such a bad experience for me was the vocal reactions Mario would make. Disney should sue because his voice is identical to Mickey Mouse. Vocal quality aside, the "yippies!" and other comments he makes are overdone and often said when they just don't make any sense. Though I will admit that he is less annoying in this game than M64.

The graphics are barely better than the N64 version. Since the gameplay of Sunshine is nearly identical to Mario 64 in every way (including the buggy camera) I believe that Sunshine was built directly from the old Mario 64 engine and intended for the N64, then tweaked for a Gamecube release.

I cut Nintendo a break on Mario 64 since it was one of their first 3D games and showed off their new technology of console 3D platformers. Sunshine does not show off any technological feats so it has no excuse for being this, well, bad! There were so many fun concepts from the 2D games that I figured were abandoned in M64 for technological reasons (like throwing fireballs) but 6 years later you'd think some of the fun things that made the Mario series so good would reappear, but this game is nothing but a rehash of Mario 64.

I hate to say it, but this game just isn't any fun to play at all. The challenge comes from fighting with the camera and the control of your character's unpredictable jumps, games that base their challenge on those kinds of things aren't fun: they're frustrating. I bought the game in the fall and I haven't played it in months.

Super Mario, how about Mario?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: February 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game was not a thrill to me. The levels and music are colorful and up beat, but the missions are almost impossible! YOu heard me right, IMPOSSIBLE! The secret areas are very aggravating to work with beacause mario moves around to much (he does not stop on a dime) and the camara angle you must constantly change. The good things about the game are it's graphics music and freindliness. What I mean about freindlyness is that everyone is happy all the time in this game, untill the middle when peach is stolen. The last thing i didn't like was fludd. The whole water packback thing never really got to me. Overall if you like challenges get this game.
~FinnyLemons14

It's a sunshiny day

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Link's new cel-shaded PaRappa-paper appearance; Metroid reinvented as an FPS; Mario's latest stint as an Earth-cleansing Greenpeace spokesman; the mere fact that Pikmin even exists-many gamers have taken these as sure signs that Shigeru Miyamoto's sanity meter has finally hit rock bottom. Here's hoping the entire video game industry contracts a crippling case of mad cow disease. In Super Mario Sunshine, paradise turns into a public relations nightmare when a beloved Italian is falsely accused of dirtying up an island resort with ugly magic gloop, chasing away the island's magical Shine Sprites and making things dark and dirty for vacationers everywhere. Now, in order to make reparations, he has to clean up the island using his patented F.L.U.D.D. water cannon and enter a variety of surreal island sub-worlds to explore, jump, dive, race, hover, and squirt his way to the missing Shines. If Mario Sunshine seems a lot like Mario 64 with a water cannon, that's not too far from the truth. Yes, the Shines are the equivalent of Mario 64's Stars. And yes, Delfino Plaza, much like Mario 64's castle, acts as a "hub" that connects the sub-worlds together. The levels are even structured in the same episodic fashion-one level contains eight "episodes" or missions-though the objectives are often less vague (thanks to a quick pre-mission "fly-through"), the changes to the level in between each visit are much more visible, and it's much harder to "accidentally" stumble upon a Shine you weren't supposed to just yet. Levels are crafted with endless care, and each stage is its own preposterous superplayground-and a single level is packed with more gameplay variety than the entire length of your standard Mario-free 3D platform adventure. The "challenge types" are easily categorized, and you'll quickly recognize a pattern for the episodes in each sub-world: Fight a boss; collect eight red coins; explore a complex maze; win a race; fight the boss again in weirder circumstances; find a hidden cave that leads to a trippy obstacle course; chase down Shadow Mario; etc. But even though you may be collecting eight red coins for the eighth red time, you're never doing it quite the same way-and unthinkably clever level layouts mean things rarely get tedious or annoying.
Rest assured, Mario's new ability to squirt water isn't merely a gimmick so Nintendo can say, "Look, it's different"-here, it's as natural and integral a part of Mario's move list as his wall jump, butt stomp, or just good ol' fashioned ability to walk forward. There's hardly a moment when you aren't hovering or squirting or executing some sort of hover/squirt combo maneuver, be it to hose down an enemy, land a tricky jump, water a plant in the hopes of revealing some sort of pleasant surprise, or just giddily annoy the endlessly agreeable citizens of Delfino. The GameCube controller seems specifically designed for the task-double jumps, triple jumps, wall jumps, and backflips are executed with supernatural ease; narrow pathways are navigated effortlessly; and the analog shoulder button makes water cannon control a brainless affair. This is one of the tightest-controlling games you'll ever play. Mario Sunshine's graphics are best described as larger-than-life and absolutely alive. The smooth animation constantly delights, and a curious peek in the distance reveals an entire world of bulbous happy things hopping and bopping and glooping about. The sheer sense of scale is astonishing-sometimes you can see entire levels looming way out in the distance-and often leaves you with the overwhelmed, overjoyed feeling that there may, in fact, just be too many things to do in this damn game. The effects are glorious-the water (squirted or swum-through) is gorgeous, and the mirror effects are mind-bogglingly cool. The voice-acting in cut-scenes is weirdly understated and a bit rushed, but the garbled villager-speak is great, and the music is classic Mario. The one shortfall is the close-up graphical detail, where the primitive textures stand in sharp contrast to the rest of the game's polished glory. In summary: Yes, it's much bigger than Luigi's Mansion; yes, it's very, very much like Mario 64; no, you don't spend the whole game scrubbing dirt off walls as some sort of interactive environmental message; and yes-oh, hell yes-Mario Sunshine is exactly the brilliant, enormous, endlessly fun GameCube purchase-justifying Miyamoto supergame you were hoping it would be. Shine on, you crazy designer.

Decent Game...But Can be Annoying, Frustrating and Confusing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I love mario...I grew up with him, but there's just too much going on in this game. So many noises and enemies (especially the goop things) can be quite annoying. Maybe all of this is to distract you from noticing the game isn't all the great. The goop itself is annoying too and it gets sprayed all over the place faster than you can clean it up and these things jump out at you from all directions when you are near a puddle making it almost impossible to aim at some of the bosses. The sprayer is kinda awkward to use too. This game is actually quite difficult and confusing and I wouldn't recommend it for beginners. Most of the game takes place on platforms and wires above the ground, and you very often find yourself falling and having to start from the beginning. So many obstacles and the game doesn't do a very good job of directing you through the different levels. I have almost never died in any mario game previous to this, but in this game, it's a common occurance. Some levels even take 3 or 4 lives to beat. The controls could have improved, the camera constantly has to be adjusted and the voice acting is subpar. People who have played Mario 64 will find the controls and basic concept very similar. You collect stars and each level has multiple stars for different missions, and the levels are accessed from the town much like the castle in Mario 64. The levels themselves are all pretty repetitive. At least in Mario 64 they were different...like one level would be snowy and another would be a haunted house, but every level in this game is tropical. The hints for puzzles (when actually given) don't help at all. This game seems to be a placeholder for a real mario game which is rumored to be in the works for gamecube. It's a side story that has nothing to do with Bowser or the princess getting captured (until' you get further into the game)...You are cleaning up graffiti on a tropical island? Don't get me wrong, it's a good game with good graphics (I think it was made just to show off the water effects)...if you can look past all of these imperfections.

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