User Reviews (1 - 11 of 460)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Too Good to be True

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 123 / 129
Date: September 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Wow, after getting this game when it came out and playing it for two weeks, I am still amazed by it. Nintendo has once again delivered a huge hit that will be enjoyed by fans for a long time. Let's get to the basics.

Story- What's this? The princess being saved ISN'T the main part of the story? Well, she does get kidnapped a few times(I guess it was unavoidable...) but the game offers a fresh plot. Mario tries to have a relaxing vacation, but before he even arrives, Shadow Mario, his archenemy, as been wreaking havoc on Isle Delfino, where Mario plans to relax. Unfortunately, the town artist's drawing of Shadow Mario is in black and white, so all the people think Mario is guilty. His punishment is to clean up the town, and with that, his good name.

Graphics- While not the best on the GameCube, these are very nice graphics that remind me of the days of Super Mario 64 on the N64. There are some nice touches, too, that add to the gameplay, such as enemies exploding or Piantas(residents of the island) celebrating when you free them from Shadow Mario's paint. Very few, if any, graphical flaws make this one beautiful game to look at. 9/10

Control- The controls are very easy to learn and very hard to forget. Once you get down jumping much of the controls are already learned, and the rest of them are really simple, too. The one bad part is the camera, which you have to manually control, making it difficult in some areas, but that's not too much of a problem in most cases. 9/10

Gameplay- Finding all 120 Shine Sprites or those few coins, whatever your task may be, Super Mario Sunshine is a blast to play. You could be surfing on Bloopers or hanging from fences, even riding a roller coaster while destroying a mechanical Bowser(did it come back from Paper Mario?) and all the while you'll be having fun, which is what the game is all about. 10/10

Satisfaction- This game is definitely worth the money for it. Best of all, all of these intricate worlds and characters only take up 7 blocks of memory on your memory card, making it very easy to save. You will not regret purchasing this game, in fact, I've even seen some people get GameCubes simply to own this game. 9.5/10

Sound- The familiar sounds and grunts, along with some cutscenes with full voice features of Mario, the Princess, and any other characters around at the time. The music isn't obtrusive and is familiar of a Mario game. 8.75/10

Overall- This is what Luigi's Mansion was shooting for. They got everything right that was wrong before. The one thing that may discourage players is the aforementioned camera, but in the long run, the tasks are fun enough that even if the camera causes you to fall, you'll just want to climb back up again. Super Mario Sunshine, while reminiscient of the Super Mario 64 game, is a whole new adventure that's loads of fun to play and well worth the time to complete it. Have fun(which you will with this game) and happy gaming. 9.75/10

Super Mario Sunshine

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 164 / 191
Date: July 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This new title for Mario will be his first for the Nintendo Gamecube. If you think this game will be the typical rescue the princess from Bowser story, that's where you'll be wrong. It starts when Princess Peach, Mario, and quite a number of toads arrive on an Airplane to a peaceful tropical island full of strange people which inhabit the lands many shops and hotels attracting tourists young and old. Just when Mario was about to relax he was disturbed by the folks of the land accusing him of polluting the island, and writing Graffiti scribblings all over the towns walls. Mario of course is innocent but it appears that the actual perpetrator of this crime was dressed in a Mario suit. Whoever it was his intents are clear to comit crimes dressed as Mario so that Mario would be captured and thrown in jail allowing the true criminal to do as he pleases. Mario though won't allow this so he made a deal with the people of the land to clean up the mess and discover the identity of the man behind the suit. The game features many worlds, and enemys. Enemys from the past are back, from games such as Super Mario World. Not just enemys but old friends, Yoshi made his debut back in Super Mario 64 but he appears again in Mario Sunshine but this time you can ride on him and use his tongue to eat or spit out enemys along wiht the old jump on their heads routine. Mario equipped with a water shooting backpack can use it to clean up oil and attack enemys, he can also use it as a jetpack to reach high places. His old moves are back such as the triple jump, wall kick, Hip Drop, sliding, and much much more. For those who think this game is too short don't worry, all the screenshots shown are just one World, in a game that features many of them each 5 times bigger than the ones in Super Mario 64. This game is guaranteed to keep you at the edge of your seat at all times. Tremble as you fight a Giant Oil Piranha, Giant Squid, and Giant Caterpillar. Sigh as you dive deep into the worlds ocean. Smile while you run across the islands vast fields and lands. This is a game you should not miss, I await this game with great anticipation and you should too.

Mario is back and he's better than ever.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 27
Date: September 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

...to say Super Mario Sunshine had big shoes to fill is kind of an understatement.

Mario Sunshine might dissapoint those who were expecting the next big revolution in gaming. Sunshine is no Mario 64. The 3d genre has been around a while and Mario doesn't really redefine it. What it does do, however is perfect it. Take my word, this is perhaps the best 3d platformer ever. And I've played many of them. If you have a GameCube, buy this game now. It's not perfect, of course, but it's so much fun you won't care.

Super Mario Sunshine follows Mario as he is about to land on fair Isle Delfino for a tropical vacation. However, when he lands, there is a shadow character that looks just like him, and he has polluted the island. The natives mistake Mario for this shadow character and order him to clean up the island. Not a very deep story, but it's better than the old save the princess routine.

Mario Sunshine revolves around collecting shines. Complete a task and collect a shine. Collect more shines to unlock a level. It might sound tedious, since there are multiple shines in a level, but it's not.

The tasks in Mario Sunshine range from beating enemies to cleaning up sludge with your waterpack to chasing down Shadow Mario, completing difficult obstacle courses, balancing on tightropes, racing against time and more. And it all works and blends together perfectly. Another game might have some of the things this Mario game has but they won't have the sheer variety of things to do- and there are plenty and they won't have a character that moves like Mario.

As in all Mario games, the Mario in Mario Sunshine is a breeze to control. You can jump, double jump, triple jump, backflip, wall-jump, spin-jump, butt-stomp and slide. With the water-pack you can spray enemies or paint or you can cahnge the nozzle to hover. It all sounds really complex, but it comes off beautifully. It's easy. Trust me.

Speaking of easy, this game is not. Getting all the shines can be a real task. Some of the platform obstacle courses are very difficult. Most of the time, it's this kind of difficulty- this- I know how to do it, but can't quite- is what makes a game more rewarding. When you get a shine, you've earned it. However, there are a few places in this game where the camera will probably cause you to die. Far from horrendous, the camera in Mario Sunshine is largely controlled by you, but given the complex 3-d platform elements in the game it was only a given that your view would be obstructed here and there and probably more than you will like. It's my biggest gripe of the game.

Now onto the graphics. Sunshine is a beautiful game. The water sparkles and sways. The paint animates beautifully as does Mario and the enemy characters. The design in the game is really well done. For the most part, it's just gorgeous. There are parts of the game that aren't all that great graphically. Far from awful, some of the texture work is best described as simply bland. And some of the obstacle courses seem like they were lifted from an N64 game. But unless you're a graphic nitpicker you won't notice.

The sound in the game is perfect and is represented instereo as well as Dolby. There are classical remixed Mario tunes and some new ones. And they're all beautiful. The voice acting leaves a little to be desired, but really that's too nitpicky- I'm sure some people love the voices in this game.

All in all, Mario Sunshine is a great game. It truly is worthy of the Mario name and legacy. So if you like hopping, bopping, riding Yoshi and beating up Cheep-Cheeps and giant octopusses, wall-jumping and cleaning up paint and cooling down hot-dogs, you'll love this game. I highly recommend it.

Looks Even Better Than Mario 64

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 27
Date: August 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Nearly a year after launching to Japan, Nintendo's purple (or black or orange, as the case may be) next-generation system at last gets a game starring a plumber... err, at least one that doesn't take place in a mansion and doesn't involve sucking. Mario Sunshine involves the exact opposite of sucking -- squirting, and this turns out to make for one darn fine game.

Things start off with a Dolby Surround logo, followed by an intro in which we see Mario, Peach and Grandpa Toad en route to a vacation on the resort island of Dolphic Isle. As you probably know by now, this particular island has been covered in a paint like substance, and for various reasons (explained in the intro), Mario ends up being the chief suspect and is sentenced to clean the island of all the goo. We learn of all this through pre-rendered CG footage featuring English voice acting; that's right, Nintendo went ahead and recording English voiceovers for all the characters, forcing Japanese gamers to view subtitles. You can judge the voices for yourself in the sample video below -- that is, for all the characters except Mario, as the hero has (perhaps intentionally) yet to utter a word.

As with Mario 64, Mario Sunshine consists of a hub world which allows for access to various levels of play (there seem to be 7 or 8 of these), each of which is large and has a number of tasks to accomplish. This time around, instead of a castle and surroundings, the hub world takes the form of Dolphic Town, on the south-eastern edge of Dolphic Island. As you play, new areas of Dolphic Town become covered in mud, and by cleaning these areas, you gain access to the new levels. The levels are actually separate areas of the same island, and if you manage to access higher ground, you can see through from one level to the next (although invisible walls prevent you from actually running between the levels).

Strangely, it seems that the first goal in each level is to locate and defeat a boss of some form. Later goals include reaching difficult to access areas, all the way to Wave Race-style racing sequences atop a squid to platforming sequences involving moving blocks and stars. Goals such as collecting 100 gold coins and 10 each of red and blue coins, seem to be standard across all the levels.

Don't take this to mean that Mario Sunshine is breaks down to simple collection somewhere down the road. There's a rewarding feeling when collecting the coins due to the way they're placed in the levels; its more charm than tedium. You also won't find yourself overwhelmed despite the obviously free-roaming nature of the worlds; Nintendo has placed arrowed signs guiding you at ever step (even if you don't understand Japanese, it seems that you'll be able to play the game), and the insane view distance, which keeps tiny coins perfectly visible from all the way across the world, helps keep your navigation straight.

Similar to what we felt with Mario 64 years ago, we can't stop playing Mario Sunshine. Classic Nintendo pacing is built into this title, rewarding players quickly with new levels and items, and as with previous Nintendo games, you'll find yourself going back to previous levels once you've obtained the new items. It's already obvious, though, that the Mario franchise has yet another winning entry.

Information courtesy of IGN.com, The Site for gamers of all consoles.

Super Mario Sunshine Review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 71 / 124
Date: May 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have seen over a dozen of Super Mario Sunshine Movies, and each one was good.

GRAPHICS--9.8/10.0--The lush worlds of Mario Sunshine are so beautifully designed. The water seems real, the environment is huge, and the piranhas, people and Mario look much better than in Super Mario 64.

PLAY CONTROL--9.5/10.0--There aren't that many actions. Spray water, rocket tank, moving, camera angles and pause are some I know of, and it'll be easy to remember them.

Music--9.2/10.0--A booming soundtrack makes this game a delight. Although the water sounds and kiddy voices may be annoying, everything else is perfect!

Fun Factor--10.0/10.0--Has any Mario game you played not been fun? I think not. Plus, you'll be watering plants, fighting enemies that bug you, and you'll be swimming, jumping, water jet-packing, swinging from poles, collecting Mushroom Medals and Stars, listening to a fantastic storyline, and fighting massive bosses, and you'll be cleaning graffiti.

Storyline--8.5/10.0--(Yawn) A Mario imposter draws all over town. Mario must spray all the graffiti off walls, and capture this imposter and bring him to justice. For all we know, the imposter could be Waluigi. Boring storyline, but hey, it's better than nothing.

Overall--9.2/10.0--This game is fantastic; it is fun, has a booming soundtrack, quirky, yet stupid sounds, and the controls aren't too hard, and the storyline could use a little work.

Well, this is the most fantastic review of Super Mario Sunshine. Hope you enjoyed it!

Super Mario Sunshine

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 30 / 43
Date: July 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After escaping the clutches of King Boo in Luigi's Mansion, Mario decided to take a well deserved vacation on a tropical island. When he arrived on the island, he's displeased to discover that someone has turned his tropical paradise into a trash heap. The beautiful landscape is covered with gooey pools of sludge, and strange scribbles are sprawled all over the village walls. What's worse -- it doesn't take long for Mario to realize that the vandal responsible for the damage was disguised to look exactly like himself! No one messes with Mario's vacation, so he straps on a hydro-powered water pump and sets out to clean up the mess, clear his name, and expose the imposter!
With Super Mario Sunshine, you can once again expect awesome play control. This time Mario has more moves and abilities than ever before. Press the A Button once to make Mario jump, again for a double-jump, and once again for a triple-jump. If you use the Control Stick to turn Mario around in a circle before pressing the A Button, he performs a cool spin jump which sends him flying high into the sky. Like in Super Mario 64, Mario can also execute a sideways somersault jump if you press the A Button just as you change directions. It's easier than ever to make Mario wall jump, and of course his trusty hip drop is still in the arsenal. In Super Mario Sunshine, the plumber's most important new moves are centered around his hydro-powered water pump. Pressing the R Button makes the pump shoot out a stream of water which can be used to clean up sludge or damage enemies. The strength of the stream diminishes after you hold down the button for a while, so you have to let it go and press it again to rejuvenate the juice. Mario's water pump will eventually run out, but it can be refilled by sucking up new water or by collecting water bottle power-ups. The coolest aspect of Mario's water pump is that it can be converted to a dual-stream jet pack. Press the X Button to convert the pump, then press the R Button while in the air to keep Mario afloat. You can guide Mario in any direction while using the pump as a jet pack, but it only lasts for a limited time.
The most important thing is that this game is going to be huge. It looks like there will be a lot more screen text and conversation than in previous Mario games, but Super Mario Sunshine will still deliver the challenging -- and surprising -- action elements which have made the series so successful.
Get ready. Super Mario Sunshine will hit store shelves on August 26, 2002.

What an Amazing Game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: September 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Future Buyers,
I recieved this game for my birthday on September 15, 2002. Let me tell you this is one of the best Mario Games I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Nice job nintendo. The game begins in an airplane. Mario and Peach are flying to the beautiful Isle Delfino for a much needed vacation. Unfortunately, things aren't so beautiful. A shady character has been vandalizing the Island and he looks similar to Mario. Mario is blamed for the mess and is forced to make things right again. No dont worry, this isn't another rescue Peach from Bowser ordeal. Mario meets up with FLUDD, a similar machine to the vacume cleaner in Luigi's Mansion, except it squirts water. Together, your goal is to catch the imposter and clear your good name. There are 6 worlds with 11 episodes(levels) each. Instead of stars, you try to gather Shine Sprites. The Shine Sprites will bring the beauty bacj to Isle Delfino. I believe there are over 100 Sprites you can gather. In Mario Sunshine you can do brand new things never thought possible in the previos series. With FLUDD you can use him as a hovercraft, turbo jet, and jetpack. Yoshi is also available for action. You can also do many other moves with Mario like those from Super Smash Bros. Melee (also a great game) like the triple kick. This game has some of the best graphics I've ever seen. If I could, I'd give this game way more than 5 stars. The only down I can think of is the camera. It's not as bad as people say, but it's not perfect. Otherwise this game if flawless. Here's how I rate it.

Graphics 6/5
Controls 5/5 (Difficult to Master)
Camera 4/5
Story 5/5

I hope this review helped you out. In my opinion, this is a must buy. Great for all ages!

A solid game, just as good as Mario 64, and then some!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: January 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've been raised on Nintendo all my life, and when I heard there would be a sequel to Super Mario 64, I almost fainted. As I heard more and more about this game, the more and more I wanted to try it. Finally, in November of 2002, I went to my local GameStop and purchased it. Did it live up to the hype? I can honestly say, yes, and then some. Here's my review of Super Mario: Sunshine.

Story: 4/5

Well, this story starts out with Mario (Who is on a well-deserved vacation) landing on an island named Island Delfino for its Dolphin-like shape somewhere in a tropical region of the world. There he learns that an unknown person has been polluting the island with graffiti and sludge. The person looks - SUPRISE! - like Mario, except that he is transparent blue. Mario is blamed for the pollution, and is forced to clean the entire island by whatever means possible.

Also, the sludge has had an unprecendented effect on the Island's guardian spirits, the shine sprites. In fear of the sludge, they have fled to the far corners of the island, leaving much of the main city without sunlight or power.
Much like the Stars from Super Mario 64, Mario must collect these Shine Sprites to advance to worlds.

After the first few levels, you get used to the controls and the basic moves. At around twenty Shines, The Evil Mario kidnaps Peach. So much for a Mario game that doesn't involve rescuing her. You go after her, and after a brief boss battle in an amusement park, the true identity of Evil Mario is revealed. It is none other than **** ******, one of Mario's old arch nemesis'. So, the villain sets off for the Volcano at the center of the Island, and leaves you to collect Shines until you finally manage to get inside the Volcano. To avoid any more Spoilers, I'll stop there.

Personally, I thought Nintendo could have so much more with this story. But, they ended up making it another Mario-saves-the-Princess game, and that's okay.

Control: 5/5

The controls in this game are incredible. Never again will you throw your controller across the room due to crummy control during a key moment. Combined with the incredibly comfy and well-made design of the Gamcube controller, you simply will not belive your thumbs. All of Mario's moves are back and then some.

Some people complain that the camera angles are horrible and "worse than Sonic." Apparently, these people don't know where the C-stick is. If Nintendo had given us a totally automated camera system, then people wouldn't be happy. If they'd given us a semi-automatic system, people would still complain about it. So, with an almost totally manual camera system in Sunshine, the player has complete and total control over the camera. That's exactly what the C-stick was made for. And it's certaintly not as bad as *shudder* "Sonic"...

Graphics: 5/5

I've heard the reviews exclaiming that the graphics in Sunshine aren't realistic and top-notch. I beg to differ. Some of us remember the olden days when Mario was a barely recognizable bundle of black and white pixels. I've finished Sunshine completely, and so far I've yet to see easily visible pixelation or polygons sticking every which way. Things that are supposed to look round actually look round, not like octagons.

The sludge on the ground looks great, and the water is, without a doubt, the highlight of this game. Whether being shot from your water cannon or rippling soothingly far off in the distance, the water acts like water. And that's a good thing. The shadows under the various characters aren't just psuedo-shadows or black circles; they're the real deal, reacting just they would in reality.
The scenery is incredible. In almost every level, you can look out and see the other parts of the island, just as you could in reality. The trees, poles, windows, fruits, fences, electric wires and even fountains are fully rendered and just plain look great.

Sound: 5/5

The sound in this game is phemomenal, and if you're one of those lucky people who happen to own Dolby Surround Sound Pro Logic II, you're in for a wild ride. There are no glitches in the sound like there was in Super Mario 64. The music in the background is catchy and goes well with the level it's in. If you climb around on a grate, you'll hear it. You'll hear the water splashing on the ground as you shoot your water cannon, and if you accidentally get water on one of the locals, they'll get angry and yell at you for it. Explosions, footsteps and even Mario saying "oof!" as he dives headfirst into sand and gets stuck sounds great. This one truly sounds like a winner.

Overall: 4.75

This one gets marked down slightly, since the story could have been better. But otherwise it is a solid game with great sound, puzzles and graphics that will keep you occupied for months. It is worthy of being the sequel to Super Mario 64, and is just as if not more creative and fun. This game is worth every dollar spent on it, and is easily one of the best Nintendo games of all time. Good job, Nintendo, and happy gaming to you all.

Here we go!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: September 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

It was great seeing Mario and exploring Isle Delfino. The effects, especially the ones involving water and light, were spectacular. I've spent hours already just running around, looking at different parts of the island, or diving in and swimming with schools of fish in Noki Bay. The gameplay involves a steep learning curve, it's hard to master the controls from the very beginning, especially the camera. Once you do master the controls, though, you have an amazing amount of control over your movements that most games just can't equal. Due mainly to the addictiveness of this game, I managed to finish it in about ten days, but there's still lots of blue coins and other secrets that I've yet to collect. I will be playing this game for a while, finishing up all the things I'm missing, and then I'll probably start all over again, just to relieve the experience once more. Very Highly Recommended!

Newly minted Mario fan

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: April 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm a pretty old school gamer who played Donkey Kong in the arcades, and the original Mario Bros. game as well. I liked them but I wasn't crazy about them or obsessed with them.

I've also played the Super Mario Bros. on the older Nintendo systems. These were a bit more fun and involved but I think I only actually finished the first one. Great games to be sure but again, didn't become a giant Mario fan like some people.

I bought an N64 system and played Mario 64 for awhile. This was a pretty cool game as well but again, didn't love it. In fact I liked it the least of all of them if I'm being honest.

Now I'm a parent and bought a used GameCube recently, since I promised my daughter a Wii and couldn't come up with the goods. She was young enough not to care and was happy to get a GameCube, and she enjoyed playing the couple Sonic games I bought for her to start off. I tried playing them myself and they were pretty bad games, so I went in search of something better.

So I picked up Super Mario Sunshine. I thought to myself I probably won't like this game, and my initial impression was, "What a pain in the butt, I have to clean up all this gunk? What kind of game is this?!?" So I didn't really play it at first. But my daughter loved it (she is 6 years old) and was able to capture approximately half of the shine sprites in the game on her own. It is definitely appropriate for her age.

But she would need help with certain obstacle courses and such, so she'd pull me in to play since I had some "skillz." Not bow hunting skills or computer skills, but Mario playing skills. At first I was just doing it to help her, but eventually I got to really enjoying the challenges. I began to see how interesting and fun the game was, and I started my own "save" of the game and started going through it on my own.

Now I'm convinced that this is one of the best games I've ever played, not to mention the best Mario game in my opinion. It's not just because it's fun and has a lot of variety and depth, but because it's truly an all-ages family game, which I appreciate. Even my 3 year old son, who never plays any other video games, loves to jump around and spray water and carry fruit around. He doesn't really go after the shine sprites although he knows they're the goal, and he's managed to really develop a sense of the place and can find his way around. I didn't expect him to have that capability at his age, and I think this game may be good for some aspects of his brain development (but maybe I'm going too far heh, after all it's a video game!).

The atmosphere of the game cannot be understated. The music is fantastic and throughout the whole game you truly feel like you're on a vacation to Mexico or Disneyland or something. I had a crazy experience recently where I actually did go to Mexico with my daughter and we stayed at the Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay resort, and she said "This place looks like Super Mario Sunshine!" That was cute and everything, but the creepy part was one evening while lounging in the lobby bar with my wife and daughter, the piano player started playing old Super Mario Bros. music! Just weird I tell you.

Bottom line is that I'm extremely impressed with how much fun this game can be for people of any age, once they give it a chance. Now I'm a Mario fan eagerly anticipating the arrival of Super Mario Galaxy (once I get my hands on a Wii)!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions