Well, for one, I revived the blog Instagram account, if anybody's interested in that? That was on the 5th, while the 9th saw me accidentally break Sonic 3 & Knuckles when trying to glitch it.
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| Case in point. 👍🏻 |
Then I restarted Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City (the Wii game), which lasted about two weeks before I stopped playing it.
Then we went to IKEA on the 27th, where we had food (obviously), which was nice because I'm pretty sure the last time I had it was about three years ago?
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| Lunch was tasty. |
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| Ice cream was also just as tasty! |
Either way, that about wraps things up for what I've been doing this month. Now, it's on to the new(ish) part of my blog posts - this time, a Retro Review on Super Mario Sunshine!
Today, I'll be looking at a game that really began Nintendo's "interconnected Mario world" era!
(i.e. when Mario games referenced their contemporaries en masse, creating a world which felt interconnected)
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| I'm taking my screenshots from the Switch version because it's far easier than looking endlessly for GameCube screenshots |
Super Mario Sunshine
Release date: 4th October 2002
Platform: Nintendo GameCube
Genre: Platformer
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Overview
Super Mario Sunshine is the second Mario 3D platformer game. Its release began an 'interconnected Mario world' era (by which I mean that Mario games of all kinds featured many references to Sunshine and to each other as well, building up a world that felt connected.)
no I didn't just paraphrase the review's opening sentences, what are you talking about
Plot
The game starts with Mario, Princess Peach, and her adviser Toadsworth taking a plane to Isle Delfino for a holiday. But their troubles begin when the runway at Isle Delfino is blocked by a strange mass of goo.
Mario ends up sentenced to community service -- until the island is completely clean, he's not allowed to leave!
After a scare involving the ACTUAL culprit almost kidnapping Princess Peach, Mario is finally able to set to work cleaning up Isle Delfino and gathering its lost Shine Sprites.
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| Bowser Has a Family 2: Electric Boogaloo (no, the Koopalings aren't his children -- not any more, at least) |
...Bowser's 'creatively' named son, Bowser Junior. He takes Princess Peach to the highest point on the island, Corona Mountain. Mario, with nothing else to do, resumes cleaning the island and gathering the Shine Sprites from where they've fled. He does battle with Bowser Jr. in each major area, until...
A huge amount of water floods out of the entrance to Corona Mountain, flooding Delfino Plaza and finally removing the grate that previously blocked access to the volcano.
Mario makes his way through the volcano, avoiding its (extremely numerous) death traps, and reaches the very top, finding (in a surprise to nobody) Bowser!
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| apparently he stole Mario's, Peach's and Toadsworth's idea or something |
The two do battle - with Mario victorious, as always - and Mario rescues Peach, the two of them falling safely (somehow, despite it being from THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN) back to the ground.
And then FLUDD dies, the Bowsers have an awkward conversation and it turns out that being a robot protects you from death, in that order. The end.
Joking aside, though, this game's story is notable insofar as it has a decently-defined story that is shown throughout the game -- something its predecessor 64 didn't have.
On top of that, it doesn't fall victim to what I like to call 'late-90s-early-2000s edge', by which I mean the tendency of games then to try far too hard to be dark and ending up looking like something out of the imagination of an emo teen.
(If you want two games that DO fall victim to this, Shadow the Hedgehog and Pokémon Colosseum are good examples of what I'm talking about.)
Actually, the full name of what I'm talking about includes swearing, but I only tend to swear in person, not online
Either way, I give the plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's quite surface-level, and could do with being shown more in the gameplay, but it doesn't try to be dark or edgy, and that's worth a lot in my book.
Gameplay
Super Mario Sunshine is - like Super Mario 64 - a 3D platformer, meaning its gameplay is built around the concept of running around and jumping from platform to platform in 3D space.This isn't really any different from any other 3D Mario game, though I would like to mention that its controls feel much more responsive than 64, especially in the ability to change direction in mid-air, which is far easier in this game, as well as the GameCube's C-Stick allowing smooth camera controls.
The game's central mechanic is, of course, FLUDD. Its four nozzles provide a range of movement and attack options:
the Squirt Nozzle can be used to stun enemies and complete puzzles,
the Hover Nozzle can be used to give a jump that extra distance,
the Rocket Nozzle can be used to get to otherwise-inaccessible areas,
and the Turbo Nozzle can be used to get around quickly, as well as jumping a long distance.
The game is divided up into seven main areas (nine if you include the final area Corona Mountain and the hub area Delfino Plaza), each of which (apart from the two just mentioned) has eleven Shine Sprites to collect (eight main levels, or 'episodes'; two secret Shines; and one for collecting 100 Coins.)
As well as that, there are 240 Blue Coins scattered throughout the island, with the player being able to trade 10 of them for a Shine Sprite; also, there are 18 additional Shine Sprites hidden throughout Delfino Plaza and various sub-levels accessible from there, and a 100-Coin Shine for Delfino Plaza as well -- making for a grand total of 120 Shine Sprites.
The areas themselves are... somewhat homogenous in their theming. Granted, the entire game takes place on a tropical island, so it's not like they could fit in an ice level, and on top of that, they did try to diversify them where they could, but they do still feel quite similar to each other, especially the two beach levels (though the second one has a hotel where most of the action takes place.)
At any rate, I give the gameplay a score of:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I find it to be fun, and I think it's certainly aged well. But its setting begins to feel repetitive, so that's why I'm not giving it five stars.
Replay value
Super Mario Sunshine has three save files to pick from. On top of that, while certain cutscenes (i.e. from the beginning of the game) can't be viewed, certain levels and bosses (i.e. those from the start of the game, the two Proto Piranha mini-boss fights in Delfino Plaza, and the 1st variation of the box-smashing minigame) can't be replayed or refought, and Blue coins can't be recollected, everything else in the game can be replayed as many times and as often as you wish -- the highest form of replay value.
So, in light of that, the replay value earns:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
These platformers often do this, but I thoroughly enjoy being able to replay any part of the game at my leisure. So that's why it earns five stars!
So, with all three categories being taken into account, Super Mario Sunshine earns a final score of:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
It's not perfect, certainly having its shortcomings. But in spite of that, it's aged very well and continues to entertain me, even years after I first played it- and eighteen years after its own release.
Anyway, that's all from me for today! I'll see everyone back here next month - until then, stay safe!