An instant classic in the Mario series, but a few problems take away from the overall experience.
I've created five categories over various important aspects of the game, Story, Gameplay, Graphics, Replayability, and one category that changes to address something specific in the game.
For every category I view as a good feature, i'll give two points, and for everything I dislike, i'll subtract one.
So, with the explanation concluded, lets begin the review.
Story:
The story in Super Mario Sunshine is simple, yet it gets the point of the story across perfectly. Mario and the gang are on their way to the tropical Island of Delfino. Recently, a villain that looks exactly like Mario, despite being made of shadows, has been using a magic paintbrush to paint graffiti, and generally just make a mess all over the island. This graffiti has forced the Shine Sprites, small beings that shower the island in sunlight, to flee to safety, covering the island in a blanket of darkness. Mario gets blamed for the crimes that his shadowey doppleganger commited, and is left with no choice but to clean up the mess and recover the Shine Sprites.
Judgement: 2 Points Granted.
Total Points: 2
Gameplay:
The gameplay here is what you would typically expect from a Mario game. You travel from level to level, defeating bad guys and collecting sprites. The only difference this time comes from the water pump you carry on your back. This device, called FLUDD, gives you various new moves, with different power ups given later in the game. This device is used for all new quirky ways like hovering over gaps, and spraying enemies in the mouth with water until they pop. The only real flaw in the game comes from the difficulty curve. Some of the stages are so easy you wonder why they were even included, while others make you litterally want to rip out your hair. A few of the missions repeat over all of the levels, making part of it a bit tedious too. But overall the gameplay's solid and wont leave you too frustrated.
Judgement: 2 Points Granted
Total Points: 4
Graphics:
Not much to say here about the graphics, everything looks nice and polished, and the lighting effects are really nice. Being a tropical island, the sun tends to be extremely bright, letting the colors shine and pop. And if it tends to be too bright for you, they even offer a solution by placing a character in most levels that gives you sunglasses that down down the brightness. The character design is well done, with the island natives having a unique style, and the bosses all look great.
Judgement: 2 Points Granted
Total Points: 6
Replayability:
This is where the game takes a dive, at least for me. As mentioned in the Gameplay category, the difficulty at some levels is so frustrating that you may very well think of quitting. There are a few parts of the game where simply thinking of having to go through some of the tedious, overly frustrating parts makes me want to get rid of the game. Its clear to say that at this point, im never going to play the game again. As fun as most of the game is, the bad outweighs the good here.
Judgement: 1 Point Deducted
Total Points: 5
Controls:
The Flux category for this game, is controls. While the game controls fine at some points, there are times when the camera and the controls simply dont mesh. I dont know how many times i've died because I miscalculated a jump by a tiny tiny amount, because the camera made the angle look entirely different. Aside from that, controlling FLUDD was a bit of a hassle at some points, but that was mostly kept to a minimum.
Judgement: 2 Points Granted:
Total Points: 7
Final Tally:
Story: +2
Gameplay: +2
Graphics: +2
Replayability: -1
Controls: +2
Total Points: 7