I absolutely loved Sunshine, more than I ever did Mario 64.
While most people who hated it felt FLUDD was a travesty, an unnecessary dilution of a pure platforming experience, I thought it was a saving grace. Since you were in the air a lot (and a nasty fall would result in a lengthy trek back to the top), if you fell you could use FLUDD as a second chance. This saved a load of potential frustration. I thought FLUDD was a lot of fun to use, and it had a large effect on the environment. Staircases, hidden areas, coin-hoarding enemies, FLUDD was key to exploring Delfino. And I don't know about you, but spraying people with FLUDD was pretty amusing for a while.
One of my favorite things about Sunshine is an organic feeling that was represented wonderfully here. There's a wide range of moves, yet there is no complicated button combo to it all. It felt like I had more direct control over Mario than in most other platformers. I could focus on the objective, not the controls, which is great and fixed a problem I had a few times with Mario 64. And because there's such a huge variety of moves to perform, the strength of which is almost always controllable, the challenges are much less like pre-determined chores. The game's hub and eight levels are large, but not imposingly so, and navigating them can be navigated in a number of ways. Luckily the tasks themselves throw up one unexpected surprise after another, so you are given numerous different ways to try out your skills.
The challenges are incredibly satisfying. From discovering Yoshi to Blooper-surfing across the sea, there's a fine balance between freedom and deviously designed precision. If you simply have to get somewhere, the game'll throw dangers in your way. All the keys to success in other platformers are represented greatly here. Accuracy, quick reactions, and timing are all key. Sunshine doesn't rely on the minigames but they still keep the experience feeling fresh and varied. Yet the actual platforming is the best part. Ricco Harbor, for example, is full of such sky-high scaffoldings with brilliant design that spotting that final 100th coin you need for a Shine Sprite is almost sweat-worthy. Getting that caged Shine Sprite was an absolute joy.
And that's only the second level. You'll be taking a huge number of risks and trying wild things with the water pack, and they often work. The settings between levels may not be that different, but the sheer creativity of the mix between what's in the levels, the tasks, and the design is notable. Moving a huge watermelon down a beach filled with melon-smashing enemies, or fending off a giant manta ray spreading electric goop everywhere are moments that stay with you. It's nearly impossible to put the game down because the game refuses to stop throwing new things at you. It's platforming at its giddiest, and the designers apparently knew that you knew all of this as Sunshine goes all out with busy, moving levels and twists to the design (such as extra nozzles). While I'm at it, the camera is often bashed a lot. I find this remarkable, as I've never had such little trouble with a platformer camera. I actually find most other platformer cameras too restrictive after Sunshine.
It's often underestimated just how much the character adds to the experience. For the first time in a Mario platformer, there are characters to interact with. Not just ones who challenge you or give you tasks, but ones who generally just live out their lives. Ones who comment on scenery you're climbing. Ones who fret about the spreading darkness. The worlds feel like more than just levels, and the character factor is miles ahead of Mario 64. Mario 64 was static. Mario Sunshine was lively. With the limited theme, a lot was achieved in making the levels feel different, and the relaxing beach-life visual motifs make for a comfortable feeling of consistency. The bustling, lively worlds that stretch out into the horizon, being colorful and exploding with energy, is almost overwhelming. The level design is amazing.
Super Mario Sunshine is brilliant. It has a few flaws here and there, but are eclipsed by the joy and excitement the game produces at high frequencies. Hate it all you want. I love it.
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