Game Debate #8: Super Mario Sunshine

[MegaMan52 | 2,443]

8/10

It has flaws, sure, but it is worth playing. It came with my GameCube, and I have been enjoying it since 2003. Underrated game; I don't regret playing it all these years.

Edited August 4, 2020 by MegaMan52

[GPX | 1,369]

Loved the game when having played it for the first time. I remember getting stuck on a boss around half way mark, and got distracted with life stuff and never came back to it. 

I think the gameplay is not much different from other 3D Mario games, just the difficulty is actually a lot more challenging, which is undermentioned in my opinion.

I gave this an 8/10 from the OP’s criteria. If judged by GameCube standards, I think it deserves a 9/10.

[fcgamer | 4,723]

Gave it a 1/10.

My brother and I tried this one multiple times over the years. The game looks beautiful, I love the island setting, etc. I also really enjoyed Mario 64 and the two Mario Galaxy games.

The difficulty is what ruins this one for us though. The game's difficulty is not balanced, and so often you get stuck trying to beat a section that's infuriatingly difficult, as there's nowhere else to go and you can't skip it.

That ruined the game for my brother and me , despite us both wanting to like it.

Edited August 6, 2020 by fcgamer

[zeppelin03 | 314]

8.  I started out hating the game as the controls where not what I expected.  Once I adjusted I really liked what was there.  The setting, music, and levels are all great.  It's a very unique experience.  I'm not sure if I will return to it but I would like to.

[themisfit138 | 523]

7/10 - The music, atmosphere, and most the game play is solid. There are a few levels that are pretty frustrating thought. The amusement park, and shipyard come to mind. Overall good but not quite great. 

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

Never played it and probably never will. The Gamecube was the lost Nintendo generation for me. Everyone, including myself, ended up with a PS2. I wasn't attracted to anything related to the Gamecube. The games, the way the console looked, the stupid mini discs, that GOD AWFUL controller. Everything about that console pushes me away.

[AstralSoul | 502]

9/10. Fantastic game though you can't go wrong with Mario. Only pales in comparison to most other Mario games which doesn't say much since the majority of them are 10/10 for me. 

[OptOut | 8,883]

I'd give it a 7, very good but not great.

I skipped school the day this came out, I was HYPE for another Mario game seeing as it had been about a million years since the last one. I figured it looked a little strange in the magazine previews, it didn't really look much like a Mario game. No familiar enemies or locations, and there didn't seem to be that much variety, but I was willing to look past that and give it a go.

Anyway, yeah so it didn't blow me away, it was a big disappointment actually, one of several games that let me down on the GameCube. I managed to beat the game, although yeah so weird they made the whole game basically look the same, none of the visual variety you get used to from Mario games. And the worst thing about it for me, as a fan of collectathon platformers were the blue coins, which were basically impossible to find without a guide. A collectathon where you can't collect everything is a big problem for me, I don't mind challenging platforming or whatever, but just coins hidden in places you'll never find was a bummer.

First time I played through it as a teenager I got 113 shines, only missing blue coin ones. I went back to the game about five years ago and played through again from the beginning, and used a guide to complete it 100%. I wasn't entirely satisfying.

But, I will say, I do like the gameplay and the level designs, for the most part, as well as the little mini platform challenge stages you go into in the levels. That stuff is all really good, and I don't mind the difficulty although yeah I also agree some of the challenges can be frustrating.

Also, Yoshi dies when you go in the water, that shit is WHACK! 

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

This was a game I wasn't sure what to make of it when it came out, and didnt play it for a couple years.

When I finally did, I fell in love. I liked it a lot more then 64, and frankly like it more then Galaxy (still havent played Galaxy 2)

10/10 personally, my favorite 3D Mario Game.

[phart010 | 1,707]

It was long overdue for a Mario game when it came out. When it finally did, it was a minor disappointment. It was still a good game. But it could have gone without the water gun mechanic

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,012]

This is probably the best review of Mario Sunshine. It's under 5 mins as well.

 

[Foochie776 | 1,051]

I played it for the first time this year, only having played briefly prior. (Not making it off the first shine) 

 

I enjoyed it but it does have some flaws. I won’t ever revisit it but I’m glad to have beat it at the very least. Challenge seemed super high on a couple of the shines and the rest was pretty lacking 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,520]

Playing through this for the first time in a very long time, and I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying it.

Sandbox Mario games are sweet.

[TDIRunner | 2,734]

I'm seeing a pattern here, so I'm going to get ahead of this.  I haven't played any of the games on 3D All Stars enough to rate them.  I'm hoping to play through all of them at some point, but Sunshine is the game I'm most interested in playing.  

I actually never fully played a 3D Mario game until Odyssey.  But fortunately, Odyssey convinced me that I can enjoy 3D Mario games (prior to that I had zero interest), so now I want to work my way through them all.  I can say I've played through and beaten all 2D Mario mainline series games.  It would be nice to say the same about all the 3D games.  

[RH | 4,903]

I've only played SM64 and Galaxy of the three games on All Stars. I need to quickly get through SM 64 so I can give this one a good try.

[Adorabear | 69]

I've never played this, but I am very interested in trying it out! I'm glad it was included with 3D All-Stars and I'm planning on starting this one I'm done with my playthough of Mario 64!

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

7/10.

Solid game. Probably my favorite 3D Mario, but that isn't saying much since I've never been a huge fan of the series since the NES. I'm hoping Galaxy will take it's place.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Unless there's something dramatically wrong with it on the Switch vs the Gamecube, My feelings have greatly diminished on liking this game, or my memory intentionally blocked some pretty aggravating annoying parts of the game.  WHich parts? The almost Crash Bandicoot-esque stages where you are forced to run into the screen w/no FLUDD attached.  They're an unfair aggravating uptight pain in the ass request of high level precision even from the very first in the first world of the game no less.  Same can be said for those wannabe 8bit throwback stages too, and the overly easily dissolved Yoshi which can really screw you on some places.  The camera most will complain about, it doesn't bug me really other than a rare case of a tight wall but the shadow is there.  What gets me is the controls just seem more sloppy, floaty, non-precise, can't nail it down exactly but the game seems built around good ideas sadly 90% executed so there's issue after issue.

I was happy to re-do this game on the 3D Allstars package, but after putting up with a few hours of its crap I went back to Mario 64 and Galaxy instead which are razor precision as far as gameplay, mechanics, camera, fun, variety, and well flowing stuff that moves as you would expect watching it go.

Sunshine, the sun is kind of setting on it.  And no, not just because it's a Mario game, but because it has a lot of good going for it just with a bunch issues that mar it, I'm thinking it needs a 7.  Black sheep of the 3D Mario free roaming console titles for certain.

[Nintegageo | 582]

I gave it a 7. Mario games are supposed to have tight controls and the whole water jet mechanic does not do this. 

I would also mention that a main reason I have Mario 64 higher than OoT is necause the latter has you traversing the boring countryside doing nothing. This game's hub can make accessing some challenges a pain in the ass and don't even think about getting a Game Over because then you have to jump on those boats with Yoshi and not touch the water. Y'know, that thing that is prevalent due to the water mechanic in the game.

Saying that, it is a good game.

[Brickman | 3,983]

On 8/1/2020 at 9:11 AM, Shmup said:

5/10- I played it on launch but could only bring myself to finish the first half (70 stars or whatever it was).

It was a big disappointment after Mario 64, but maybe I’ll revisit it one day with a different perspective.

Score still holds up. This game is as bad I remember it being. @Tanooki sums it up perfectly, although a more generous score than me haha.

Thankfully Galaxy is amazing, so on to replay that.

[Brickman | 3,983]

Edit- double post

Edited October 23, 2020 by Shmup

[Tyree_Cooper | 753]

8/10, amazing game and managed to innovate over past mario games while keeping the experience close to them. takes some time to get used to the fludd thing, and some parts are annoying, but some parts of mario 64 were annoying too

i loved the parallel-world mini levels and the warm atmosphere of the tropical island was really nice and unexpected

don't know why so many people hate this game, but then again, are they really so many, or just a vocal minority, or maybe they all refer to the same bunch of bad reviews it got at launch? dunno

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,012]

On 9/25/2020 at 9:17 PM, Tanooki said:

was happy to re-do this game on the 3D Allstars package, but after putting up with a few hours of its crap I went back to Mario 64 and Galaxy instead which are razor precision as far as gameplay, mechanics, camera, fun, variety, and well flowing stuff that moves as you would expect watching it go.

I had the same experience on the All Stars. I put in around 5 hours into Sunshine and I actually forgot about it. I saved it for last bc I never had completed the game so I was looking forward to it. After I finished the first couple levels, I literally forgot about the game until I saw this thread.

Mario 64 and Galaxy had the complete opposite to where I was waiting to sink my teeth into knocking out a few more stars to get closer to the finale. I even put off finishing Galaxy bc I didn't want to see the ending scene without finishing every level.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

19 hours ago, Shmup said:

Score still holds up. This game is as bad I remember it being. @Tanooki sums it up perfectly, although a more generous score than me haha.

Thankfully Galaxy is amazing, so on to replay that.

You and @RegularGuyGamer there too.  The problem isn't that the game is bad, it's just not that it's great.  It's not up to what I guess would be called 'up to code' where it may be a complete job, but one job with a lot of faults that keep it from being qualified as great to the standards of what work is considered right by the designers.  The game is a big fat slip up, and maybe it's being hard on it as it's a fault, maybe it would be looked nicer upon if it wasn't Mario?  Or maybe because it is Mario that 7 or near that stands when others would give it like a 4 or a 5 as it's competent and by and far not all bad.  It's just broken, and they didn't even try and un-screw it up in the Switch version which both makes sense and is sad.

In the end I have it still on Gamecube and back in the day I never remember skating through it enough to get to the ending, but never once in all these years EVER returning to the game to get another shine sprite at all or to even re-start it, not once.  I can say every other full 3D world Mario game on a handheld or console I have except Odyssey, but it hasn't been out long enough to get knocked off being the most recent.  That one too had some quirks, overall far better, nothing so much as broken, just that overkill moon syndrome is a real demotivator for me.  It's like you close your eyes, think of that crap Oprah used to do, and pretend instead it's Mario saying ...and you get a moon, and you get a moon, everyone gets a moon!

[Foochie776 | 1,051]

7 hours ago, Tanooki said:

You and @RegularGuyGamer there too.  The problem isn't that the game is bad, it's just not that it's great.  It's not up to what I guess would be called 'up to code' where it may be a complete job, but one job with a lot of faults that keep it from being qualified as great to the standards of what work is considered right by the designers.  The game is a big fat slip up, and maybe it's being hard on it as it's a fault, maybe it would be looked nicer upon if it wasn't Mario?  Or maybe because it is Mario that 7 or near that stands when others would give it like a 4 or a 5 as it's competent and by and far not all bad.  It's just broken, and they didn't even try and un-screw it up in the Switch version which both makes sense and is sad.

In the end I have it still on Gamecube and back in the day I never remember skating through it enough to get to the ending, but never once in all these years EVER returning to the game to get another shine sprite at all or to even re-start it, not once.  I can say every other full 3D world Mario game on a handheld or console I have except Odyssey, but it hasn't been out long enough to get knocked off being the most recent.  That one too had some quirks, overall far better, nothing so much as broken, just that overkill moon syndrome is a real demotivator for me.  It's like you close your eyes, think of that crap Oprah used to do, and pretend instead it's Mario saying ...and you get a moon, and you get a moon, everyone gets a moon!

That first paragraph, hits the nail on the head Tanooki. The game isn’t bad but it does seem lacking for a Mario game specially. I played it for the first time this past summer and finished it. I liked the challenge (despite a few shines being very randomly hard) but the camera and controls didn’t flow that great. Kind of felt it just needed a little more polish