Developer –Nintendo
Publisher - Nintendo

This summer Mario Sunshine will finally makes its appearance on the game shows and gamecubes around the globe.

This Mario is a sequel to the Mario game on the N64. This is not official, but it looks like it. The story of Mario Sunshine is like al Mario games so the standard Peach-has-been-kidnapped-by-Bowser-and-Mario-has-to-rescue-her formula.

Mario and Peace are on a holiday, after the last kidnapping of Peace. They want to go to an exotic island somewhere far away from mushroom country. Unfortunately for our hero, not everyone wants him to take a break. When the two arrive at the sultry destination, graffiti can be found all over the buildings. What’s worse is the villain behind it went around dressed up as Mario! Mario straps on his gear, a new improved water pumping backpack, and sets out to find the villain in disguise. The water-pumping gadget can be used to clean up the graffiti and to give water to everyone who needs it. Mario will have more than one pack to strap on throughout his adventure.

I think the game is al about the water, and I think the village must be saved from drought. This is only speculation so it could by false, but I give you some information why I come to this conclusion.

1. Mario wipes his brow often and rests with his hands on his knees. Obviously it's hot.
2. Heat does what to liquid? That's right, it evaporates it.
3. Mario has a water gauge and a gadget whose use is unknown.
4. Notice how there's actually shade!?!? Not too many games go to that trouble simply for a tree.
5. The inhabitants of the world are plant-like creatures, and plants need water to survive.

There are a few holes in this theory, for example, if the village is suffering from a drought, then why are there swimming pools and canals filled with water all over the place? The one thing that is obvious, heat plays a major role in the game.

But the story isn’t that important. A lousy story can’t make a game bad. It’s all in the game play, especially for Mario and Platform games. You will always have a desire to play this game, ore any other Mario game. You will be addicted to this game, like anyone else. The only bad thing about it is, that the story never changed, so you already know wath’s going to happen, and it will take a bit of joy away. Other little nuggets I know about are the Sunshine Coins (just your normal Mario coins), Sunshine meter and new Mario abilities. Mario can now leap off of walls and the like, in a style vaguely reminiscent of the scenes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Its like he’s flying trough the air.

The graphics look a bit like the N64 version, but with much more detail. When I first looked at the screenshots, I thought that they came from the N64, but maybe this is the intention of Nintendo. The locations have been changed to fit the settings of an exotic island, with cobbled streets and sprawling outdoor environments with plenty of minutiae and an immense draw distance. Most of all the streets on the island look warm. Mario clearly benefits from a much higher polygon count, and is much more vivid then he was on the N64. His mustace danses in the wind and the facial animations that display emotion are very real.

Mario Sunshine is due for release in Japan on 19th July and in the States on 26th August. The game is not yet showing up on Nintendo’s European release schedule, but we fully expect to see it in time for Christmas, unless they too plan to celebrate Christmas on some obscure day in March…