I’ve recently started playing video games after not playing them for about three or four years. Not new games, no, old games. I’ve mostly stuck around my console of choice (the Sness) but recently I’ve been replaying Super Mario Sunshine for the GameCube and I’ve realized how underrated that game really is.

I got the game when it came out in…well I was in 7th grade so whatever year that was. 2002? Somewhere around there I think. I’m too lazy to look it up even though I just Google searched an image of the game. So yeah. Anyway. I liked the game. I still like it actually though quite a few people I’ve talked to about it in casual conversation (most of conversations are casual, I think) seem to consider it at best: “lame” and at worst: “double lame”. Which is weird to me. Whenever asked why they always say “it’s not as good as Super Mario 64″.
Uh, it’s NOT Super Mario 64 for starters. For one it has better controls and graphics. I mean sure, yeah, the premise is the same but it’s a Mario game. What do you expect? Innovation? Actually, every new Mario game seems to set the standard for the platforming genre so yeah I guess you should expect that. Though I still feel the comparison to the first 3D Mario game is unfair for two reasons.
1.) SM64 came out around 1996 (I think; again, too lazy to look it up) back when 3D games were mostly craptacular explorations into why buying the new console on the market was a dumb move. SM64 changed that. It basically said “Hey blockheads, THIS is how you make a 3D platformer. Morons.” And half a decade later Sunshine come out and by that point we’ve had billions upon billions of 3D platformers that didn’t suck (granted I can’t remember any of them except for the Sonic Adventure series pre-Heroes) so it’s not surprising that the game wouldn’t be as revolutionary as its predecessor.
2.) As mentioned just a few sentences ago Sunshine came out half a decade after SM64 which is just long for nostalgia to set in (especially since SM64 was like the first game of the N64 whereas Sunshine wasn’t the first game for the GameCube) and that nostalgia tends to gloss over the many flaws of that game. The controls and camera were not that good compared to later games because, well, things get better with age more often than not. Case in point: Majora’s Mask is better than Ocarina of Time but that’s whole another thing altogether.

Anyway. Enough of that noise. The game is good if frustrating at times. Oh yeah. The game loves to go back and forth between traditional Nintendo fun and traditional Nintendo hell. Some people complain about the water jet pack thing you’re forced to use throughout the game as a gimmick like Luigi’s Mansion’s vacuum cleaner of doom. But unlike the ghost-sucking Hoover of LM the water pack thing actually works pretty well. Well, the jet pack version of it anyway. It makes jumping easier as it gives more control over where you land. The motor add-on is basically useless outside of specific areas as is the rocket add-on. The main squirt gun mode is, well, a squirt gun.

The graphics of the game are pretty well done. Though compared to stuff now they may not stand up but they definitely fit the tone of the game which being a Mario game is light-hearted and fun. The effects of the painty sludge stuff are pretty cool especially when Mario gets covered in it and it actually remains on him until you either clean off with water or enter a level or something.

Oh, and the story. Well. Bowser kidnaps Peach. Again. There’s also the thing of someone impersonating Mario and painting up the whole isle of Delfino (the game’s location) and blah blah blah. It’s a Mario game. Who the F cares about the plot?

The controls work and are pretty fluid. Jumping around the main hub world is definitely a fun way to kill time for shits and giggles. The inclusion of the jet pack makes it better.

As for weaknesses, well, there are plenty to be found. First off: the difficulty. Overall the game isn’t hard but there are certain Shine Sprites (the game’s Stars) that near impossible to get purely because the obstacle course you have to navigate through (sans jet pack) are unforgiving. One mistake and you die unless you manage to snag an extra life before then. And then there are some parts that just too easy. But this isn’t like a contrast between early and late game levels. This happens almost from the beginning. Another major weakness of the game is the boss battles. They’re easy. I mean RIDICULOUSLY easy. Even the last boss (SPOILERS: it’s Bowser) is easy. You also fight the same bosses two or three times a piece so it gets redundant fast.

So yeah, all in all, the game isn’t bad. It’s actually pretty good. It’s kinda like the Wind Waker (another GameCube release). It got a lot of flak for changing the series (aesthetically anyway) and as such is looked down upon as the Cousin Oliver of the series. So, uh, check it out if you haven’t? I’m done.