Super Mario Sunshine is not a bad game by any means, but it doesn't hold up as well as Mario's other titles.
Cons: Terrible camera; Imprecise controls; Discomforting voice acting
I think we can safely say that no one could have predicted the premise of Super Mario Sunshine before it came out. Somehow, the folks at Nintendo decided that it would be a great idea to have Mario go on vacation, get framed for vandalism, and have to clean up the resort while chasing down the real culprit. I don't know about you, but that doesn't read like an elevator pitch to a really fun game. But then again, surprise left turns are part of the Nintendo charm, and certainly a reason why they've stayed relevant for thirty-something years. What's really surprising, about Super Mario Sunshine, is that nothing ELSE is.
When you get past the strange premise and absolutely cringe-worthy voice acting, you find yourself essentially playing Super Mario 64 part 2. This is partially a great thing, since the imaginative scenario design of that game leaks over into Super Mario Sunshine, despite the latter taking place in a more cohesive world. The gameplay is likewise still solid. However, the similarities give the whole experience a remarkable sense of familiarity: go here, kill and/or collect something, and get rewarded with one of 120 shiny objects as a result.
The formula is the same, right down to its flaws. Super Mario 64 could get away with loose controls and crappy camera because it was so ahead of its time, and no one had done anything quite like it. These flaws don't cut it so much in Super Mario Sunshine, detracting from the fun more than anything. The camera is particularly atrocious, always either zoomed out too far or placed at an angle that makes gauging distance difficult. This of course, makes the imprecise controls fairly problematic at times and leads to several undesired deaths.
The only place where significant improvements were made is in the graphical department. Now, I'm not going to pretend this is anything other than a Gamecube game, and obviously it looks it. However, there are some really impressive graphical details, namely in the water and some blur effects (to imply heat). These are not far behind what is included in most modern releases, which makes their existence in a 2002 game actually really neat.
I really want to say, that Super Mario Sunshine is in no way shape or form a bad game. Indeed, I had fun, and I'm sure back in 2002 it would have been a pretty easy recommendation from me. However, this is 2013, and replaying Super Mario Sunshine not only reveals its many flaws clearly, but also makes it evident just how little it did to innovate. Super Mario 64 innovated and is worth checking out for an important gaming history lesson, Super Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2 refined and still hold high standards for 3D platforming. Super Mario Sunshine meanwhile, while not a bad game, doesn't really have anything going for it, and thus honestly can't be recommended when there are so many good games out there.