Hard, but fun. Pretty, but also plain. A classic oldschool platformer in todays world with enough gimmick to make it new
User Rating: 8.6 | Super Mario Sunshine GC
Note: This review was written in 2002, so some graphical refernces might be outdated, as well as some other comparisons. ---------------------------------------------- Please note I haven’t finished it 100%..I have 64 shines, and 40 blue coins. I did beat the final boss though I got the game on October 21st (2002), and I played it maybe once a week, for an hour, so I beat it very fast. After Luigis Mansion, this is the fastest I’ve ever finished a game. Anyway, ill try to keep this spoiler free. Graphics: The game is based on water, and so, that’s what shines out the most, Its the best water Ivey ever seen in a game. The reflection works great, in either a puddle or a lake, everything is reflected fine. The lighting also is awesome, especially Sirena beach, which always has a sunset. That’s awesome. Many complained about the textures and stuff, but I really don’t give a squid about that. There are 2 flaws though: Collision detection. You see, in SMS there are some plain pure platforming levels, without the water pack. They tend to be difficult, and so jumping is very important. Problem? When you jump and go through a platform, when you’re meant to have clinged on. That’s EXTREMELY annoying, since the levels are hard and that causes you to repeat the level. The 2nd one is unforgivable. The game all the way through is fine, and BAM, slowdown on the final boss. I won’t spoil it, but there isn’t that much action going on. There’s some fire, a few things being thrown at you…and it slows when you run. Another part is this: you see I didn’t understand what was to do the first time around, so I went into "1st person" to get a look around, and aim...INCREDIIBLY slow....water and fire don’t go that slow. Anyway, the worlds are large, the framerate fine, and the draw distance great. One last thing: when you talk to a villager, the camera zooms in, and its very uncomfortable. Besides that, the game is fine. 9/10 Sound: Ouch. i love Mario music...and this game doesn’t seem to like it. The overworld music is bland and boring, the platform level music is ok, but its remixes classic Mario music with Jazz. It doesn’t work. The only good music IMO was the underground one...its the classic underground song, and the final world music, that’s classic bowser castle stuff. Another annoying part was when Mario carries something...he moans and grunts. Repeatedly. Ugh. The voices aren’t bad...but they’re used infrequently, so that’s fine. 6/10 Value: I beat the game quickly, but in a way this is good. You see, Im a slow gamer...and this game is addicting, it made me come back, again and again. I still need to get to 70 shines to keep some dignity, but after that, Ill open up file 2, and beat the game again, its worth it. The lack of extras does hurt the score though. 8/10 Gameplay/ tilt: It’s Mario. What does that mean to me? Nothing. The last Mario game I played was Super Mario world...so my opinion isn’t clouded by nostalgia. I’m not a big platform gamer, so comparing it to my other 2 GC platformers, SA2B and Bomberman; this is many times better. The waterpack ads allot to the game, and the four nozzles add some variety, although 1 is barely ever used. The go anywhere, do anything attitude is fun, which is very different from Sonic which forces you in one direction. Talking to people is great, and even while keeping an island theme; the worlds are different enough to keep it from being stale. The platforming levels...the ones without the water pack, are also great. I loved them for the most part, except for one or to. But those 2 suffered other problems, such as a bad camera, and bad collision detection. The one platform level I hated was one based on guess and check...the chucking level, for those that played it. The others were based on skill...and it made me VERY mad sometimes, but when completed, I felt like...no wait, I did kiss the controller. The levels gave me a strange feeling...Id get to near the end and die, and be mad at myself. "Why don’t I just finish it and go on...its easy, the shines right over there". It’s not frustrating. The game has a small story, which do help explain a few things, and make it seem less mindless. I do have to complain about the camera...some parts, when you die because of it, or where the camera refuses to move, because something is in the way is just wrong. What kind of game allows somebody to fall off a huge tree, and not die, but not allow the camera to move through a building? Piña Park was by the worse offender, since its a very full level. The enemies in the game are fine, but not that hard...I actually didn’t die that much. I finished the final level with 11 lives...and that brings one point: The boat controlling is wrong. When water is shot left, I expect to go right... You all remember how people where saying the game was difficult right? BS. i got 3 game-overs...one because I kept losing at a timed level, and the others because of the platforming levels. The final boss was VERY easy...the one in Luigi’s Mansion was harder....the level to get to the boss was harder then the boss itself…that’s sad. It’s a fun game, and Id definitely recommend it. The only part that disappointed me where the music and the difficulty...to easy. 9/10 Total (based on average): 8.2 My final score: 8.4 Gamespot Score: 8.6 One last thing...I agree with this GS quote. "On its own merits, Super Mario Sunshine is a solid game with a really distinctive look and some great moments, but it also has its fair share of shortcomings." That’s right on.
