A Vacation Away from the Mundane
| Platform | Presentation | Controls | Variety | Audio | Depth | Value & Fun | OVERALL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GameCube | 8.50 | 7.00 | 9.00 | 9.00 | 9.00 | 8.50 | 8.51 |
| Presentation | 8.50 |
| Games featuring Mario since his foray into 3D have tended to be colourful, but in no way standout. Super Mario Sunshine is the exception. Stellar water effects are appropriately present where water is abundant. Other effects such as the Shines, which you collect like stars in Mario 64, are also very well done. Even Mario is fairly detailed, as are the toad people. But the inhabitants of the island Delfino are a little low poly, and some parts of the environment are a little on the bland side, although as a cohesive whole make for vibrant levels. There are also a clarity issue when it comes to what surfaces you're able to run on without sliding down it. | |
| Controls | 7.00 |
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Super Mario Sunshine is a platformer, and as such, controls problems can be more evident than otherwise. The camera is almost entirely manual, except for unwanted shifts when the camera won't go through a wall. This can often be a hindrance and even cause you to lose sight of Mario behind an object, which the developers did make you able to see Mario's silhouette when that happens. You'll likely come across the situation where Mario is on the other side of a wall or object and you can't swing the camera around, and thus have to run blindly until you are able. On the control of Mario, there are also a few difficulties. Most prevalently is to try and do a backflip jump. This is arguably the most valuable jump due its height for the short distance that it can be performed. However, it's not always simple to pull off, as Mario may not turn quite right, and it can be particularly bothersome on a moving platform; and ironically, it can get in the way if you run back to make room for a triple jump and when you turn around, do the backflip instead a small hop. Lastly in this area is collision detection. Particularly with enemies (uh oh) collision detection problems exist. They are flagrant, but they are bothersome. The controls are poor at all. Controlling Mario himself in general is rather intuitive, and is demonstrated in levels in which you chase Shadow Mario. There are constant hindrances that, had they not been there, made for a markedly better experience. |
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| Variety | 9.00 |
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Where I found Super Mario Sunshine to improve on Mario 64 greatly was in the variety sect. Not only were the worlds more diverse and engaging, but there were great expansions beyond them. There are seven different islands of Delfino, each having 8 Shine missions (although you can get 11 Shines in total from each area). There are also Shines to be had around the overworld island. The Shines in each area include a red coin mission (collect all 8), chase Shadow Mario level, Il Piantissimo level (race him to the flag), a "Secret" Level, and a fight the boss level. While the red coin missions are often a bit of a bother, and the Shadow Mario levels simplistic and easy (yet somehow fun), Il Piantissimo and the secret levels are easily the highlights of the game. The races with Il Piantissimo are disappointingly short, but they aren't without any challenge (although it would be nice for them to have been tougher); short but thrilling. And best of all, the "Secret" Levels comprise what I always wanted a 3D platformer to be, which is a style I call the "long hallway". Take a 2D platform where you run along a path and stretch it into 3D where you can move in all directions while maintaining that general path, as opposed to an open world where you do something. These are both familiar and completely fresh at the same time, all the while playing a rendition of the original Mario theme comprised of people going "Do do do". Where the levels drop off are in Yoshi missions, and to a lesser extent, boss missions. The Yoshi missions require you to first find the fruit that the Yoshi egg wants (which can vary) then squirt the orange goo that only Yoshi can get rid of. These tend to be in frustratingly difficult to reach or find areas, and if you should, say, fall in the water, Yoshi is lost and you have to swim to shore and start over. One such mission has you getting the fruit from the fruit machine, which shoots out a random fruit, which can make it a long while to get the fruit you want. As for the boss battles, you fight one boss three times, and it gets rather familiar and simplistic by the end. It also features a rather simplistic final boss, which is a bit of a disappointment; although it's not as if it's really easy, it's middle of the road, but to win is very simplistic. The story is very convoluted and linear, and helps in no way explain how you'll reach your goal. It's not that I want a great story from a Mario game (or any story at all), but if you're going to bother making a story, make it passable. |
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| Audio | 9.00 |
| The music is of the quality you'd expect from a Mario game; appropriate and catchy, with only rare occurences of feeling repetitive. The voice-work is surprisingly good (aside from Princess Peach, which is remarkably bad) in the few cutscenes in the game. Mario in-game is even quite good. In the game, there isn't actual voice-acting, but merely the pseudo voice-acting with an inaudible slur of jargon from the character before you read; in that, the Toads sound as much like Toads as possible. And who doesn't love a classic Mario remix? | |
| Depth | 9.00 |
| FLUDD, love it or hate it, provides a new level of depth to the game. You start with the spray nozzle and a hover nozzle. The spray nozzle is always there, but the hover nozzle, which you use to stay in the area for a limited time longer (much like the Princess in Mario 2), can later be switched to a turbo nozzle or rocket nozzle. The turbo nozzle lets you boost through the water as if you were a speed boat, and the rocket nozzle launches you into the air. The turbo nozzle is largely useless, and you'll get easily the most use and benefit from the hover nozzle. Aside from simply how you use your nozzles, there is also the conservation of your water tank, which can at times be something you'll have to deal with. You have a limited supply of water, so making good use of it can be key in certain areas; but overall, there is often plenty of water. | |
| Value & Fun | 8.50 |
| Remarkably for a Mario game, Super Mario Sunshine has often gone overlooked, snd undeservedly so. This is a very good platformer that could have been one of the best had it not been for some technical issues, as the nearly all design elements were spot on. If you've assumed that FLUDD has made this something other than a Mario platformer, and ignored it, then you are mistaken and are missing out on a great game. | |
| Overall | 8.51 |
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Super Mario Sunshine does a great job of creating missions that would be fun to do again, which is entirely required in a platformer of this nature. The secret levels are incredibly memorable and the boss battles that aren't repeat are actually quite imaginative and engaging, even challenging at times. The difficulty balance is on the side of easy, but manages to make it so that it's not just a matter of lackadaisically doing what you're told and you get a Shine, rinse and repeat. There's much more to that, and by that, much more incentive to go back. Along the way, the game has plenty to do to collect blue coins (collect 10 for a Shine) or get the 3 Shines that aren't part of the main game. It's unclear when the game will let you progress to the final boss, but it happens naturally once you beat the Shadow Mario level of each island. A downside to the replay value is that there are no real diversions in the game, such as minigames. While there is blooper racing, it really doesn't reach the quality of the downhill sliding of Mario 64 (especially considering that you can't stop, and if you hit something, you die). |
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Posted by Ellyoda Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:00:00
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