What should have been this generations platforming benchmark instead only lives up to last generations standards.
User Rating: 8.5 | Super Mario Sunshine GC
Back in 1996, Nintendo released its third console, the Nintendo 64, and the hottest title was the newest incarnation of its beloved mascot titled, appropriately, Super Mario 64. This game set the standard for platformers for an entire generation of games. Every game in the genre was compared to it. And why not? Nintendo had almost literally created 3D gaming, at least as its known today. Analog joystick allowed Mario to walk, jog, or run wherever he was going. The camera complied beautifully on its own and obeyed commands from the controller well. Enter 2002. Six years after the release of Super Mario 64, Nintendo gives its loyal fanbase a game that was expected to deliver as much innovation to the table as its predecessor. But what Super Mario Sunshine did for most was only dissappoint and hint at what could have been. Don't get me wrong. I honestly enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine, but more than a few mechanical and gameplay quirks sometimes dragged on the fun-factor. When the camera wasn't torturing you by hiding behind something it was giving you the worst possible angle to make jumps from. Judging distance and jump timing became an irritating task as the camera swiveled about, making it harder than it should have been. The camera is probably the worst thing about the game, which is something that a company like Nintendo shouldn't have let through the testing gates. Then you have the games difficulty, or lack thereof, to consider. Sunshine is almost too simple most of the time, only becoming difficult when the camera decides to misbehave. Then end boss is probably the easiest I've ever seen in a game. Which is disappointing when you consider how difficult Super Mario 64 was throughout the game, including the finale. What saves this game for the most part though, is its fun factor. While gameplay may have gotten tedious from time to time, it was still honest fun for the most part. There were many things to do with the water-gun and its varying capabilities made for some interesting, albeit fairly simple, puzzles. Just about anything had a reaction to being sprayed, including the odd island inhabitants. Sunshine's shortcomings can be vexxing at times. If you can tolerate them and look past them, though, its a great platformer, though it falls short of the series standard. 
