My review for Super Mario Sunshine

[-Apples-]

Due to the upcoming release of Super Mario Odyssey, I'm thinking about replaying one of the 3D Mario games this summer, even when I have a town to work on and my Glow City project to put together (it's not a real game in development yet, but the ideas are written down). Since my Wii U is not hooked up to my TV (it's going to be put away soon), and since the Switch has no VC feature yet, I have no access to Virtual Console. So the only game left to play is Super Mario Sunshine. My GameCube is at least hooked up, and I can play any GameCube game I own at any time I want. Not only that, but I have a strong bias for Super Mario Sunshine. SM64 had a better core gameplay than Super Mario Sunshine, but the game has aged poorly. Last year, I written a list of many things Nintendo can do in an SM64 remake, pointing out what I have problems with and what needs fixing. The gameplay is too simple by today's standards. And the graphics are too cringeworthy to look at. Even Ocarina of Time and other N64 classics had better graphics than SM64. Super Mario Galaxy may seem like a larger game, but it's not sticking to the vein Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. I don't hate SMG (in fact, I think it's the best Wii title), but I was super disappointed. The gravity mechanic and prankster comets pretty much ruined it. Super Mario Galaxy 2 I couldn't even get into because of how bored I was of SMG1. I don't even own SM 3D Land or SM64 DS, and I lost interest in SM 3D World after two worlds. They aren't bad games at all, they aren't. But I only have access to just one, and I personally think Sunshine was better than Galaxy and SM64. Hopefully, Super Mario Odyssey finally puts Super Mario Sunshine behind.

The next few blog entries are going to review what I thought of Super Mario Sunshine and its levels. I will also go over details of what I do like and what I don't like about it. But here are some general details:

• The game actually had an unusually good plot for a Mario platformer. In general, good plots is not needed for a 3D platformer, but this game is more than just "princess-gets-kidnapped, and stars-have-been-stolen". It's about Mario being framed for committing a horrible crime so bad that it lead to the environment getting dark, and was forced to clean it up when he wasn't even involved in the first place. If it had a sequel, my prediction is that the Piantas found out that Bowser Jr was the culprit the whole time, so he was put in jail for two offenses (one was for setting up Mario, and the other for polluting the island). Bowser gets angry and pollutes the island much worse than what we seen in the old GameCube game, and refuses to clean up. So Mario was called to clean up the island, even when he's not guilty. I don't know if they will ever make up a sequel, but this is what I think would happen if an SMS sequel is a reality.
• Last year, when I talked about the difficulty on my blog, I wasn't far off on some of the missions when I said that it's like doing the dishes while wearing roller skates. I agree that the difficulty of the game can be unreasonable. Even finding the length of a curve (which is a Calculus-related subject) can be easier. But the rest isn't all that bad. Even the harder stuff is easier than finding the standard deviation.
• The lack of diversity of themes may be a problem, but I like how each level adds character development (or world development) to the island. We have a town, a footstep village, a shipping port, a resort beach, an amusement park, a hotel beach, and two villages dedicated to one race each. Oh, and let's not forget the volcano with a name similar to the outer layer of the Sun.
• The game seems rather unique compared to the other Mario games. Some of the uniquenesses make it more interesting, but the others (like how Mario doesn't talk or how the toads always cry after Peach is gone) are dumb.
• Mario games in general are guilty for the issue of repetition, but this game is worse. I enjoy repetition in some stuff, but not a lack of variety of missions.
• I know the lack of back flip and long jump is bad, but the water pack (Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device) is a pretty cool.

Stay tuned for more comments on the tropical game of cleaning. It may be the worst reviewed 3D Mario title, but in this time and age, it fits the model of what we are looking for now.