Super Mario Sunshine

Summary

Genre: Action
Number of players: 1

Review

It's surprising to think that the last proper Mario platformer was Super Mario 64, released more than half a decade ago. It has thus been a long wait for the new title, and now that Super Mario Sunshine has arrived, was it worth it?


Gameplay: Gameplay is very similar to Super Mario 64, in that you control Mario in large 3D environments where you must defeat enemies and perform various acrobatic feats in order to collect rewards. Instead of collecting 'Power Stars' as the reward for finishing a task, you earn 'Shines', which are essentially the same thing. The similarities even continue to the point that there are 120 of the things to collect in all, of which 70 are needed to win the game - exactly as it was for SM64. I certainly appreciate that the system works well, but it might have been nice to see some variety in the reward scheme.

Nevertheless, there are many differences from SM64, and these are mostly very welcome. The biggest difference comes in Mario's arsenal of moves: he still has a few of the moves he had in SM64, such as the triple jump, bottom bounce and somersaults, but most of his attack moves have been removed and replaced by a new gadget called the 'FLUDD', which is a water pump strapped permanently to Mario's back. The pump provides Mario with a number of skills involving water sprays: he can fire a jet of water in any direction as an attack move or to clean up the many paint and other stains littering the game world; he can hover for a short distance; he can perform a gigantic leap into the air; and he can move at super speed, all by utilising the various 'nozzles' that can be found in the world and attached to the pump. One gripe I have, though, is that the rocket jump and, especially, the speed nozzle are horribly underused, only appearing occasionally and making very little impact on gameplay. Even so, the pump addition works very well indeed, though it would perhaps have been better had they left Mario with some other attacks of his own for the sake of variety.

The number of levels in SMS is quite few: there are only six worlds, plus the hub level, although there are a lot of Shines to collect in each and they do change quite a lot with each different Shine mission. The hub level, set in a seaside town, has a few bonus levels to uncover and complete, although I don't think it's nearly as fun to explore as the SM64 castle was. You're probably getting sick of that comparison by now, but I do think that the setup of the earlier game was a little better than Sunshine - although that isn't to say that Sunshine's structure is bad in any way.

Overall, Super Mario Sunshine is great fun to play. Mario controls very well, there is great variety between tasks, and there are a lot of secrets to uncover and explore. There are one or two bosses to battle over the course of the adventure, as well, and these are mostly both fun and challenging - although the final boss is neither, unfortunately!


Challenge: As mentioned, there are a total of 120 Shines to collect, which will take a fair while to accomplish, although (inevitably for this kind of game) replay value isn't particularly great once you know how to do everything. Challenge is quite high, too: many Shines are far harder to get than the harder ones in SM64, and difficulty does ramp up quite quickly after the first few easy levels. Overall, then, SMS is quite a challenging game, and one that should take a long time to clock.


Graphics: The game's graphics are mostly of great quality. Of particular note are the very impressive water effects found throughout: bodies of water shimmer realistically, with great wave effects and even refraction, while pools of water which come from Mario's water spray will reflect him if he walks over them. Characters and enemies are all very detailed and look great. The only niggle I have with the graphics are a few of the cliff textures, with some very pixelated-looking rocks drawn on some walls, giving a distinctly ugly appearance. Still, the overall effect is one of graphical solidity, and you can see a very long distance across the game's wide worlds without any fogging or draw-up.


Sounds: The music is quite good, with a range of tunes for the many worlds, although most of it is a little nondescript, and the hub music will make you want to kill yourself after five minutes. Sound effects are all fine, and the speech and voice acting is okay, although some character voices are a little annoying, and Peach seems to get stupider in every game...


Summing up: Super Mario Sunshine is a highly-playable, graphically impressive and downright fun game that does mark a slight departure from the usual Mario title by virtue of the water pump and the 'vacation' theme. It's not perfect, and the music, as noted, isn't quite up to usual standards, but overall it was certainly worth the wait. Perhaps it's time for a multiplayer mode in a Mario platformer, though...


Gamesmark: 92%


Reviewer: Maverik



Tangycheese's opinion: Nintendo seem determined to further enhance their reputation as the Disney of video games, and that's not a very good thing. Mario 64 was great fun to play and, although it was obviously aimed at a younger age, was certainly entertaining even for older gamers. Mario Sunshine, however, is far too 'kiddy' for my taste. Case in point: "Fludd" - no more do you kill your opponents via a brutal punch to the face - instead, hit them with a glorified waterpistol. Also, the camera is absolutely terrible in places, and in a game where accurate jumps are required this simply is not good enough. I really hated the music too. If I was a diabetic I would have been reaching for the insulin a long time ago. However, despite all these complaints Mario Sunshine is still a pretty good game, but let's just hope that Nintendo grow up a bit and start making games for the older gamers as well.