Super Mario Sunshine Review (no fat)

Game Description

Another release from the adventurous archives of the most famous plumber in the world. Super Mario Sunshine is based on a vacation theme in which Mario is now armed with a water cannon and has to go around cleaning the island on which he is vacationing with his sidekick Yoshi. There are the usual obstacles as well as gargantuan boss characters that have to be defeated before Mario can succeed.

Super Mario Sunshine Storyline

Mario takes a vacation with Princess Peach in Isle Del Fino, hoping for a break from his adventures and a bout of the tropical beach and island living. Mario’s hopes come crashing down when he discovers that the island is being vandalized environmentally with great patches of ooze and the perpetrator is a Mario look - alike. With the case of a mistaken identity our hero is sentenced to cleaning up the muck and also catching his nemesis.

Super Mario Sunshine Gameplay

The primary weapon used by Mario in this adventure is FLUDD, a water cannon used to clean graffiti as well as to attack enemies. There are two standard nozzles built into FLUDD - one is the Cannon nozzle used for attacking the enemies, a well directed squirt of water will stun the enemy. The other is the hover nozzle which lifts Mario into the air but Mario can remain airborne for as long as the pressure from the nozzle can keep him there. As you proceed in the game you will find nozzles that may replace the hover nozzle such as the rocket nozzle which can be used to blast Mario through the air but does not allow you to hover.

Due to all the pollution in the island, the "shine" in the island has been lost and it is up to Mario to collect as many of these as possible. There are a total of 120 shines which can be collected but the game can end even if half of them are obtained. There are seven levels in the game and each level contains eight episodes. Even though the progression is linear, each level has to be traversed multiple times, either to destroy all enemies or to collect the remaining shines.

. The activities in each level vary from fighting a huge boss character to traveling on a squid. The island has a central square and all the locales branch out with the square as the hub. There is a predominance of beaches and water and other types of scenery are pretty uncommon. Mario can also perform mini tasks like collecting fruit and selling them to the denizens of the island for blue coins. Ten blue coins will let him buy a shine. Yoshi makes an entrance at higher levels and his unique power is that he spits out a juice that can only remove a special type of stains.

Super Mario Sunshine Controls

The controls of this game are similar to the controls of Mario 64 including the triple jumps and the back flips. Though Mario is always visible in the screen, either in front of you or as a shadow, some higher level fights become very tough as the camera angles are atrocious and frustration creeps in at some point. There are quite a few mini games where the Mario look alike steals the water cannon and Mario is back to his usual way of navigating by jumping. The controls are very sensitive and intuitive for this.

Super Mario Sunshine Audio

Mario still doesn’t speak and his stock phrases like "Here we go" sound as expected. Since the theme of this game is water, sound effects related to water like splashing waves and roaring waterfalls are very well prepared. There are a few tracks taken from previous Mario versions and remixed for this. The other sounds and voices of other characters like the bad guys and the princess are very disappointing. Some of the other sound effects are quite impressive as mesh quite well with the game play.

Super Mario Sunshine Graphics

True to its legacy, Super Mario Sunshine is beautiful game. The locations are colorful and water effects have been very well picturised. When Mario steps into water you can see his reflection and when he steps onto the slime and walks away, black footprints add to the details.

The animations for Mario’s jumps have been rendered well. The tropical island is shown in a very detailed way and the lush scenery is brought out excellently. However, the game is not completely devoid of glitches, there are some clipping problems that let you fall through objects and get stuck in walls and fences. When you are up against walls sometimes there appear to be portholes behind you and the camera tends to blur some textures as you zoom in.

Super Mario Sunshine - Summing Up

To sum up, this is again a must have game for all the Mario fans. Even for ones who are not particular fans of this series, there is great replay value and you will never be bored. The production values are very good and so the minor glitches like camera effects pale in comparison to the smooth frame rates and slick and lush look of the landscape.

Super Mario Sunshine - Cost

Super Mario Sunshine currently retails for $19.99.