• Play as Mario and use your water cannon to clean the graffiti and fight back against angry villagers

• Climb walls, run across rooftops, and jump like never before as you wash off the scribbles on walls, floors and even the ground

• Explore the massive island setting, completing tasks, and getting clues

• Collect the gold coins and new Sunshine Coins to finish the level and build up the points you need to unlock new levels

• Then get to the bottom of the mystery and find out who's been impersonating Mario!

Story- What's this? The princess being saved ISN'T the main part of the story? Well, she does get kidnapped a few times(I guess it was unavoidable...) but the game offers a fresh plot. Mario tries to have a relaxing vacation, but before he even arrives, Shadow Mario, his archenemy, as been wreaking havoc on Isle Delfino, where Mario plans to relax. Unfortunately, the town artist's drawing of Shadow Mario is in black and white, so all the people think Mario is guilty. His punishment is to clean up the town, and with that, his good name.

Graphics- While not the best on the GameCube, these are very nice graphics that remind me of the days of Super Mario 64 on the N64. There are some nice touches, too, that add to the gameplay, such as enemies exploding or Piantas(residents of the island) celebrating when you free them from Shadow Mario's paint. Very few, if any, graphical flaws make this one beautiful game to look at. 9/10

Control- The controls are very easy to learn and very hard to forget. Once you get down jumping much of the controls are already learned, and the rest of them are really simple, too. The one bad part is the camera, which you have to manually control, making it difficult in some areas, but that's not too much of a problem in most cases. 9/10

Gameplay- Finding all 120 Shine Sprites or those few coins, whatever your task may be, Super Mario Sunshine is a blast to play. You could be surfing on Bloopers or hanging from fences, even riding a roller coaster while destroying a mechanical Bowser(did it come back from Paper Mario?) and all the while you'll be having fun, which is what the game is all about. 10/10

Satisfaction- This game is definitely worth the money for it. Best of all, all of these intricate worlds and characters only take up 7 blocks of memory on your memory card, making it very easy to save. You will not regret purchasing this game, in fact, I've even seen some people get GameCubes simply to own this game. 9.5/10

Sound- The familiar sounds and grunts, along with some cutscenes with full voice features of Mario, the Princess, and any other characters around at the time. The music isn't obtrusive and is familiar of a Mario game. 8.75/10

Overall- This is what Luigi's Mansion was shooting for. They got everything right that was wrong before. The one thing that may discourage players is the aforementioned camera, but in the long run, the tasks are fun enough that even if the camera causes you to fall, you'll just want to climb back up again. Super Mario Sunshine, while reminiscient of the Super Mario 64 game, is a whole new adventure that's loads of fun to play and well worth the time to complete it. Have fun(which you will with this game) and happy gaming. 9.75/10

169 of 195 found the following review helpful:


Super Mario Sunshine  Jul 06, 2002 By Rodolfo Martinez
This new title for Mario will be his first for the Nintendo Gamecube. If you think this game will be the typical rescue the princess from Bowser story, that's where you'll be wrong. It starts when Princess Peach, Mario, and quite a number of toads arrive on an Airplane to a peaceful tropical island full of strange people which inhabit the lands many shops and hotels attracting tourists young and old. Just when Mario was about to relax he was disturbed by the folks of the land accusing him of polluting the island, and writing Graffiti scribblings all over the towns walls. Mario of course is innocent but it appears that the actual perpetrator of this crime was dressed in a Mario suit. Whoever it was his intents are clear to comit crimes dressed as Mario so that Mario would be captured and thrown in jail allowing the true criminal to do as he pleases. Mario though won't allow this so he made a deal with the people of the land to clean up the mess and discover the identity of the man behind the suit. The game features many worlds, and enemys. Enemys from the past are back, from games such as Super Mario World. Not just enemys but old friends, Yoshi made his debut back in Super Mario 64 but he appears again in Mario Sunshine but this time you can ride on him and use his tongue to eat or spit out enemys along wiht the old jump on their heads routine. Mario equipped with a water shooting backpack can use it to clean up oil and attack enemys, he can also use it as a jetpack to reach high places. His old moves are back such as the triple jump, wall kick, Hip Drop, sliding, and much much more. For those who think this game is too short don't worry, all the screenshots shown are just one World, in a game that features many of them each 5 times bigger than the ones in Super Mario 64. This game is guaranteed to keep you at the edge of your seat at all times. Tremble as you fight a Giant Oil Piranha, Giant Squid, and Giant Caterpillar. Sigh as you dive deep into the worlds ocean. Smile while you run across the islands vast fields and lands. This is a game you should not miss, I await this game with great anticipation and you should too.

16 of 17 found the following review helpful:


What an Amazing Game!  Sep 20, 2002 By Ricky Gray
Future Buyers,
I recieved this game for my birthday on September 15, 2002. Let me tell you this is one of the best Mario Games I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Nice job nintendo. The game begins in an airplane. Mario and Peach are flying to the beautiful Isle Delfino for a much needed vacation. Unfortunately, things aren't so beautiful. A shady character has been vandalizing the Island and he looks similar to Mario. Mario is blamed for the mess and is forced to make things right again. No dont worry, this isn't another rescue Peach from Bowser ordeal. Mario meets up with FLUDD, a similar machine to the vacume cleaner in Luigi's Mansion, except it squirts water. Together, your goal is to catch the imposter and clear your good name. There are 6 worlds with 11 episodes(levels) each. Instead of stars, you try to gather Shine Sprites. The Shine Sprites will bring the beauty bacj to Isle Delfino. I believe there are over 100 Sprites you can gather. In Mario Sunshine you can do brand new things never thought possible in the previos series. With FLUDD you can use him as a hovercraft, turbo jet, and jetpack. Yoshi is also available for action. You can also do many other moves with Mario like those from Super Smash Bros. Melee (also a great game) like the triple kick. This game has some of the best graphics I've ever seen. If I could, I'd give this game way more than 5 stars. The only down I can think of is the camera. It's not as bad as people say, but it's not perfect. Otherwise this game if flawless. Here's how I rate it.

Graphics 6/5
Controls 5/5 (Difficult to Master)
Camera 4/5
Story 5/5

I hope this review helped you out. In my opinion, this is a must buy. Great for all ages!

30 of 35 found the following review helpful:


Mario is back and he's better than ever.  Sep 19, 2002 By Oz Thomas
...to say Super Mario Sunshine had big shoes to fill is kind of an understatement.

Mario Sunshine might dissapoint those who were expecting the next big revolution in gaming. Sunshine is no Mario 64. The 3d genre has been around a while and Mario doesn't really redefine it. What it does do, however is perfect it. Take my word, this is perhaps the best 3d platformer ever. And I've played many of them. If you have a GameCube, buy this game now. It's not perfect, of course, but it's so much fun you won't care.

Super Mario Sunshine follows Mario as he is about to land on fair Isle Delfino for a tropical vacation. However, when he lands, there is a shadow character that looks just like him, and he has polluted the island. The natives mistake Mario for this shadow character and order him to clean up the island. Not a very deep story, but it's better than the old save the princess routine.

Mario Sunshine revolves around collecting shines. Complete a task and collect a shine. Collect more shines to unlock a level. It might sound tedious, since there are multiple shines in a level, but it's not.

The tasks in Mario Sunshine range from beating enemies to cleaning up sludge with your waterpack to chasing down Shadow Mario, completing difficult obstacle courses, balancing on tightropes, racing against time and more. And it all works and blends together perfectly. Another game might have some of the things this Mario game has but they won't have the sheer variety of things to do- and there are plenty and they won't have a character that moves like Mario.

As in all Mario games, the Mario in Mario Sunshine is a breeze to control. You can jump, double jump, triple jump, backflip, wall-jump, spin-jump, butt-stomp and slide. With the water-pack you can spray enemies or paint or you can cahnge the nozzle to hover. It all sounds really complex, but it comes off beautifully. It's easy. Trust me.

Speaking of easy, this game is not. Getting all the shines can be a real task. Some of the platform obstacle courses are very difficult. Most of the time, it's this kind of difficulty- this- I know how to do it, but can't quite- is what makes a game more rewarding. When you get a shine, you've earned it. However, there are a few places in this game where the camera will probably cause you to die. Far from horrendous, the camera in Mario Sunshine is largely controlled by you, but given the complex 3-d platform elements in the game it was only a given that your view would be obstructed here and there and probably more than you will like. It's my biggest gripe of the game.

Now onto the graphics. Sunshine is a beautiful game. The water sparkles and sways. The paint animates beautifully as does Mario and the enemy characters. The design in the game is really well done. For the most part, it's just gorgeous. There are parts of the game that aren't all that great graphically. Far from awful, some of the texture work is best described as simply bland. And some of the obstacle courses seem like they were lifted from an N64 game. But unless you're a graphic nitpicker you won't notice.

The sound in the game is perfect and is represented instereo as well as Dolby. There are classical remixed Mario tunes and some new ones. And they're all beautiful. The voice acting leaves a little to be desired, but really that's too nitpicky- I'm sure some people love the voices in this game.

All in all, Mario Sunshine is a great game. It truly is worthy of the Mario name and legacy. So if you like hopping, bopping, riding Yoshi and beating up Cheep-Cheeps and giant octopusses, wall-jumping and cleaning up paint and cooling down hot-dogs, you'll love this game. I highly recommend it.

13 of 14 found the following review helpful:


A solid game, just as good as Mario 64, and then some!  Jan 10, 2003 By Ethan Savickas
I've been raised on Nintendo all my life, and when I heard there would be a sequel to Super Mario 64, I almost fainted. As I heard more and more about this game, the more and more I wanted to try it. Finally, in November of 2002, I went to my local GameStop and purchased it. Did it live up to the hype? I can honestly say, yes, and then some. Here's my review of Super Mario: Sunshine.

Story: 4/5

Well, this story starts out with Mario (Who is on a well-deserved vacation) landing on an island named Island Delfino for its Dolphin-like shape somewhere in a tropical region of the world. There he learns that an unknown person has been polluting the island with graffiti and sludge. The person looks - SUPRISE! - like Mario, except that he is transparent blue. Mario is blamed for the pollution, and is forced to clean the entire island by whatever means possible.

Also, the sludge has had an unprecendented effect on the Island's guardian spirits, the shine sprites. In fear of the sludge, they have fled to the far corners of the island, leaving much of the main city without sunlight or power.
Much like the Stars from Super Mario 64, Mario must collect these Shine Sprites to advance to worlds.

After the first few levels, you get used to the controls and the basic moves. At around twenty Shines, The Evil Mario kidnaps Peach. So much for a Mario game that doesn't involve rescuing her. You go after her, and after a brief boss battle in an amusement park, the true identity of Evil Mario is revealed. It is none other than **** ******, one of Mario's old arch nemesis'. So, the villain sets off for the Volcano at the center of the Island, and leaves you to collect Shines until you finally manage to get inside the Volcano. To avoid any more Spoilers, I'll stop there.

Personally, I thought Nintendo could have so much more with this story. But, they ended up making it another Mario-saves-the-Princess game, and that's okay.

Control: 5/5

The controls in this game are incredible. Never again will you throw your controller across the room due to crummy control during a key moment. Combined with the incredibly comfy and well-made design of the Gamcube controller, you simply will not belive your thumbs. All of Mario's moves are back and then some.

Some people complain that the camera angles are horrible and "worse than Sonic." Apparently, these people don't know where the C-stick is. If Nintendo had given us a totally automated camera system, then people wouldn't be happy. If they'd given us a semi-automatic system, people would still complain about it. So, with an almost totally manual camera system in Sunshine, the player has complete and total control over the camera. That's exactly what the C-stick was made for. And it's certaintly not as bad as *shudder* "Sonic"...

Graphics: 5/5

I've heard the reviews exclaiming that the graphics in Sunshine aren't realistic and top-notch. I beg to differ. Some of us remember the olden days when Mario was a barely recognizable bundle of black and white pixels. I've finished Sunshine completely, and so far I've yet to see easily visible pixelation or polygons sticking every which way. Things that are supposed to look round actually look round, not like octagons.

The sludge on the ground looks great, and the water is, without a doubt, the highlight of this game. Whether being shot from your water cannon or rippling soothingly far off in the distance, the water acts like water. And that's a good thing. The shadows under the various characters aren't just psuedo-shadows or black circles; they're the real deal, reacting just they would in reality.
The scenery is incredible. In almost every level, you can look out and see the other parts of the island, just as you could in reality. The trees, poles, windows, fruits, fences, electric wires and even fountains are fully rendered and just plain look great.

Sound: 5/5

The sound in this game is phemomenal, and if you're one of those lucky people who happen to own Dolby Surround Sound Pro Logic II, you're in for a wild ride. There are no glitches in the sound like there was in Super Mario 64. The music in the background is catchy and goes well with the level it's in. If you climb around on a grate, you'll hear it. You'll hear the water splashing on the ground as you shoot your water cannon, and if you accidentally get water on one of the locals, they'll get angry and yell at you for it. Explosions, footsteps and even Mario saying "oof!" as he dives headfirst into sand and gets stuck sounds great. This one truly sounds like a winner.

Overall: 4.75

This one gets marked down slightly, since the story could have been better. But otherwise it is a solid game with great sound, puzzles and graphics that will keep you occupied for months. It is worthy of being the sequel to Super Mario 64, and is just as if not more creative and fun. This game is worth every dollar spent on it, and is easily one of the best Nintendo games of all time. Good job, Nintendo, and happy gaming to you all.

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