Alolan_Apples
“Assorted” Collector
Since it is summer again (and since I completed Super Mario Odyssey 100% last fall), I started playing Super Mario Sunshine again. I may not be very far in the game as of now, but I felt that this game is more enjoyable than Odyssey.
Today’s entry is about the differences between Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Odyssey. It also covers what was right about one game and what was wrong with the other.
Plot:
First of all, let’s talk about the story. Both Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Odyssey have better plots than the 3D Mario games, but guess what? The princess gets kidnapped, which is predictable. But here’s what’s interesting:
Super Mario Sunshine is not about the kidnapping itself, but rather something else. It portrays Bowser Jr, not Bowser, as the main antagonist of the game, as he disguises himself as Mario just to set him up, and he turned Isle Delfino into a polluted island, and Mario has been blamed for it. The game is more about someone getting accused of a crime and is forced to do community service even when he didn’t get involved to begin with, and less about the kidnapping.
In Super Mario Odyssey, Peach gets kidnapped as the main plot, but here’s what it did differently. Bowser isn’t about getting power. He wants to get married. So while he kidnaps Peach, he’s trying to steal various items for his wedding, and Mario and Cappy are chasing after them the whole game. So once again, it’s about a kidnapping of the princess, but at least they did something new.
So even though the plots were better, I’m with the odds with Sunshine as the better of the two games.
Gameplay:
In all 3D Mario games, there are two common fatal flaws. One of them is repetition. Some repetition is fine, but lack of diversity isn’t. In Super Mario 64, the secrets stars, red coin stars, boss stars, racing stars, and “find this star” stars were the only missions. Super Mario Sunshine had you fight the polluted piranha five times very early in the game, as you have way too many red coin stages (including replays of the FLUDD-less missions), blue coins, two bosses you fight more than once, and ten FLUDD-less stages, but there were some more interesting ones (like finding the caged shine sprite in Ricco Harbor, the shine sprite in the pool area in Sirena Beach, and dragging Chain Chomp to his bath in Pianta Village). Super Mario Galaxy repeated several bosses, had two or three repeat levels, and repeated bonus levels. Don’t even get me started on the prankster comets. However, one Mario game took this to the extreme, and made collecting meaningless. That is Super Mario Odyssey. There are too many ground pound moons, moon rock moons, costume moons, hidden art ones, and many others. Even Donkey Kong 64 isn’t that tedious.
The other fatal flaw is the difficulty. Mario games can be easy, but when a mission in a 3D Mario game is hard, it’s hard for ridiculous reasons. This is especially true in Super Mario Galaxy when you count for those garbage cleanup missions, the Lava Spire Daredevil Run, and the harder purple coin missions. Super Mario Sunshine isn’t any better either. Think of the Watermelon Festival. Or those blue coins in Corona Mountain. Or the Pachinko red coins. Or that FLUDD-less stage where the Piantas chuck you as you must focus on timing and precision. The most infamous mission was that toxic river one, which not only is hard, but getting there is also pretty complicated. Super Mario Odyssey may not be bad, but when you get to the Dark Side of the Moon, the Darker Side of the Moon, and some of the moon rock missions (especially the golden koopa freerunning races), it’s just as bad because they’re hard for ridiculous reasons. Oh, and let’s not forget the Jump rope one, or the one where you shoot coins at a plant to earn a power moon, or that lava island one.
SMS haters would say the SMS was rushed, broken, and frustrating, but SMO was very repetitive, made just to meet the demands of gamers, and too basic at times. But compared to the other 3D Mario games, SMO was better. Super Mario 64 has aged badly, Super Mario Galaxy was a disappointment due to linearity and gravity mechanic, and Super Mario 3D World was too simple. So tell me Nintendo. Why didn’t you give us an HD Remake of Super Mario Sunshine?
Levels:
The levels in Super Mario Odyssey may be among the best levels in all 3D Mario games, but I still like Super Mario Sunshine’s levels more. SMO’s levels are just a repeat of what you would see in most Mario games. A lava level, a winter level, a desert level, water levels, a sky level, and several other levels. But they were more creative. The desert level is based on Mexico. The lava level is more culinary themed. The winter level is based on Russia. The water levels were actually good.
But Super Mario Sunshine has one thing that’s unique. The levels are different regions to the main world - Isle Delfino. Not only that, but they are the most expansive levels in the Mario games. So I’m going to say SMS wins.
Overall:
Super Mario Odyssey may be good, but Super Mario Sunshine is still the best 3D Mario game.
Today’s entry is about the differences between Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Odyssey. It also covers what was right about one game and what was wrong with the other.
Plot:
First of all, let’s talk about the story. Both Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Odyssey have better plots than the 3D Mario games, but guess what? The princess gets kidnapped, which is predictable. But here’s what’s interesting:
Super Mario Sunshine is not about the kidnapping itself, but rather something else. It portrays Bowser Jr, not Bowser, as the main antagonist of the game, as he disguises himself as Mario just to set him up, and he turned Isle Delfino into a polluted island, and Mario has been blamed for it. The game is more about someone getting accused of a crime and is forced to do community service even when he didn’t get involved to begin with, and less about the kidnapping.
In Super Mario Odyssey, Peach gets kidnapped as the main plot, but here’s what it did differently. Bowser isn’t about getting power. He wants to get married. So while he kidnaps Peach, he’s trying to steal various items for his wedding, and Mario and Cappy are chasing after them the whole game. So once again, it’s about a kidnapping of the princess, but at least they did something new.
So even though the plots were better, I’m with the odds with Sunshine as the better of the two games.
Gameplay:
In all 3D Mario games, there are two common fatal flaws. One of them is repetition. Some repetition is fine, but lack of diversity isn’t. In Super Mario 64, the secrets stars, red coin stars, boss stars, racing stars, and “find this star” stars were the only missions. Super Mario Sunshine had you fight the polluted piranha five times very early in the game, as you have way too many red coin stages (including replays of the FLUDD-less missions), blue coins, two bosses you fight more than once, and ten FLUDD-less stages, but there were some more interesting ones (like finding the caged shine sprite in Ricco Harbor, the shine sprite in the pool area in Sirena Beach, and dragging Chain Chomp to his bath in Pianta Village). Super Mario Galaxy repeated several bosses, had two or three repeat levels, and repeated bonus levels. Don’t even get me started on the prankster comets. However, one Mario game took this to the extreme, and made collecting meaningless. That is Super Mario Odyssey. There are too many ground pound moons, moon rock moons, costume moons, hidden art ones, and many others. Even Donkey Kong 64 isn’t that tedious.
The other fatal flaw is the difficulty. Mario games can be easy, but when a mission in a 3D Mario game is hard, it’s hard for ridiculous reasons. This is especially true in Super Mario Galaxy when you count for those garbage cleanup missions, the Lava Spire Daredevil Run, and the harder purple coin missions. Super Mario Sunshine isn’t any better either. Think of the Watermelon Festival. Or those blue coins in Corona Mountain. Or the Pachinko red coins. Or that FLUDD-less stage where the Piantas chuck you as you must focus on timing and precision. The most infamous mission was that toxic river one, which not only is hard, but getting there is also pretty complicated. Super Mario Odyssey may not be bad, but when you get to the Dark Side of the Moon, the Darker Side of the Moon, and some of the moon rock missions (especially the golden koopa freerunning races), it’s just as bad because they’re hard for ridiculous reasons. Oh, and let’s not forget the Jump rope one, or the one where you shoot coins at a plant to earn a power moon, or that lava island one.
SMS haters would say the SMS was rushed, broken, and frustrating, but SMO was very repetitive, made just to meet the demands of gamers, and too basic at times. But compared to the other 3D Mario games, SMO was better. Super Mario 64 has aged badly, Super Mario Galaxy was a disappointment due to linearity and gravity mechanic, and Super Mario 3D World was too simple. So tell me Nintendo. Why didn’t you give us an HD Remake of Super Mario Sunshine?
Levels:
The levels in Super Mario Odyssey may be among the best levels in all 3D Mario games, but I still like Super Mario Sunshine’s levels more. SMO’s levels are just a repeat of what you would see in most Mario games. A lava level, a winter level, a desert level, water levels, a sky level, and several other levels. But they were more creative. The desert level is based on Mexico. The lava level is more culinary themed. The winter level is based on Russia. The water levels were actually good.
But Super Mario Sunshine has one thing that’s unique. The levels are different regions to the main world - Isle Delfino. Not only that, but they are the most expansive levels in the Mario games. So I’m going to say SMS wins.
Overall:
Super Mario Odyssey may be good, but Super Mario Sunshine is still the best 3D Mario game.
