*** Official Mario Sunshine (Gamecube) Review & Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[MikeAlletto]

I've got 13 shines. Its pretty hard...that stupid sand bird! How the hell???

On a sidenote for those that have it, is the options and game select screen the coolest? Side scrolling mario in psuedo 3d! I love how that looks and would love a remake of all the old mario games to look like that!

 

[Calvin Watts III]

Oh man, The Fog came out today?
We have got to put more hours into a day...

Back to topic - SMS is having the desired effect in my household - mainly my 3 yr old daughter sitting quietly watching me play, & my fiancee' getting into the moment and playing herself.

Mario hasn't lost his touch.

BTW, got the "rocket" nozzle. This game gets better each time I play it...

 

[Masood Ali]

So far I'm finding the game very easy to get into. I'm enjoying the graphics too. My only complaint is the camera, which almost never reacts to Mario's moves. Unlike Eternal Darkness' camera, which effortlessly glides into place, I'm finding myself tweaking the camera very often during gameplay. I think it'll get less annoying once I get used to switching angles on the fly.

5 shines.
8 blue coins.
About 40 minutes into it.

I've done a lot of running around the town too, practicing moves.

 

[Oscar_R]

so who here is an anal retentve completis that refuses to advance to the next level until all shines in one particular level have been found?

*raises and*

 

[Jeremy Illingworth]

The camera is awful. I've been playing Spider Man lately and am so used to pushing the C stick down to center the camera behind me; that is the best camera I've used lately.

I love

pulling the arms out of the squid.


The animations are fantastic. Which way to the Yoshis?

jeremy

 

[MikeAlletto]

Gripes:
The camera is absolutely horrible! I can't believe how bad it is. Having to micromanage where the camera is pointing each time I make a major turn or jump is really annoying me. Maybe this whole 3d mario is just too hard to manage for me...I had difficulties with 64 also.
I have had numerous occassions where I've fallen through solid objects. I would be running on a platform and get hit and I wouldn't get knocked off, but I'd get knocked back, but then appear below the platform and fall, wasting many minutes that it took to get up there in the first place. I also died by jumping up and I got within a solid wall...I fell through it and off the map even though the wall of the building was no where near the edge.
I don't like it that getting the shines in a level is linear. You can't get the red coins before its their time, or other stuff like that. In mario 64 if you happened to discover a star you could grab it even if it wasn't the one you were supposed to be looking for. I was wandering around in the amusement park and everything was closed off to me except the ride that had the 8 red coins. I couldn't do anything else.
Solving the puzzles is not the hard part, the hard part is control. Having to spray and move at the same time...maybe I'm relying too much on the jets to hover and go up.
I still think the whole idea of cleaning up pollution is really really stupid, but I guess they were out of ideas and had to do something.
Good things:
I like the levels where it takes away your water cannon and you just have to jump and run through the small section...but man do they get hard! The music is also really cool in those, very retro.
The water and liquid looks really cool. The waves are sweet, but sometimes it doesn't look like water, but instead the water looks thicker.
I get a kick out of bouncing off NPC's heads and spraying them with water
Overall?
Its ok. My first impressions were, this is awesome, but after playing it its dropping. I mean it is Mario, and he just has always been able to crack me up, but I expected more. I guess I'm yearning for old school 2d Mario flashback (I ran around jumping around for a good 5 minutes in just those 2 screens that let you load a game and select your options. I think mario there looks really really good and would love to see that look in remade super mario brothers games compilation disc! You listening Nintendo!!! If you build it, we will come...) I think gamespot (was that it?) rating was pretty right on. Its not that its bad, but its just normal...nothing really special. I'll play it till the end and then look forward to metroid and zelda.
I've got 18 shines with enough blue coins for 1 more (I'll get it tomorrow...time for bed). Although I'm not sure where else I can go except for the few levels I've gone to so far.

 

[Oscar_R]

I have had numerous occassions where I've fallen through solid objects. I would be running on a platform and get hit and I wouldn't get knocked off, but I'd get knocked back, but then appear below the platform and fall,

clipping has been a big problem for me as well

 

[Calvin Watts III]

Man...some of these levels are frustrating.
I'm up to 20 shines.

Here's what I'm doing now:
fighting a mecha-Bowser while riding on a roller coaster - OMG

Sweet!

Oh well - tomorrow is another day.
Romier - looking forward to hearing your take on SMS...[

 

[Romier S]

Romier - looking forward to hearing your take on SMS...[

5 shines in right now, taking a break to watch the fog then playing for another hour or so. So far I think its great. The water cannon took a bit to get used to but I'm really liking it. Theres something really really fun about those tightropes too! Mario comes packed with an enormous amount of moves and I'm suprised they are so ridiculously easy to do. It just feels SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! good to have a new Mario game after so long. Just seeing the little fat guy was enough to bring a big ole grin to my face.
With that said, even at this early stage the camera is a bit frustrating. The camera in this game is very reminiscent of Phantasy Star Online (at least to me it is). Constantly having to readjust it to get the best view. The big difference is there is no platforming in PSO. Hopefully it doesn't become a big big problem further into the game. Being so early in the game its not enough to kill the enjoyment for me but its there.
My take? Besides some camera issue I'm loving it. Thank you Nintendo!

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

I picked this game up today and came home early from work in order to be able to play it. I currently have about 22 shines and have opened several levels.
First off, let me say that the camera in this game is quite annoying at times. I'm surprised that Nintendo, a company that created one of the best camera systems in any game (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) could create a camera system which is so poorly executed. What I find most frustrating about it is not that it constantly needs to be readjusted, but that it almost never reacts to anything Mario does. For instance, in Ocarina of Time, the camera would change locations depending on where you were. If you stood along an edge atop a high platform, the camera would crane up and look down upon you so that you could not only see the edge of the platform, but also so that you could look down at what was below you. No such system exists in this game and the only way you can get the angle that serves you best is to move the camera there manually.
Of course, there could be a benefit to this system that many of us are overlooking. The complete flexibility of the camera does allow us to put it wherever we like. I sincerely doubt everyone would choose the same angle for different occasions, and Nintendo has given us full control so that each one of us can position the camera where we like before we make that impossible jump. Still, after playing Eternal Darkness, a game that requires no camera control at all, I do wish that the camera was not something we had to worry about when it game to 3-D games. I'm sure we all would like to just play the game without needing to worry about such things.
If you haven't picked up the game yet, please don't let those last two paragraphs deter you at all from buying this wonderful game. As frustrating as the camera can be sometimes, this game is so much fun that it pretty much cancels the bad stuff. Let me just briefly point out what I like.

• The Graphics
  This game looks very clean, very polished from this standpoint. I can't say that I have never seen anything better, but this game does have it's strengths in this category. The draw distance is breathtaking. The water textures sparkle unlike any water in any game before. The colors reach out with a vividness that pours out of the screen. And best of all, the game runs completely smooth.
  Sadly it also lacks 16:9 support.
• The Sound and Music
  Can anyone say acopella Mario theme? While some of this familiar music may get the most attention, some of the new tunes aren't bad either, although it may take some more time for them to seep into my consciousness like past Mario tunes. The game makes good use of Dolby Pro-Logic II and those lucky enough to have a receiver with that capability will certainly enjoy this aspect of the game.
• The Control
  Tight, easy to learn, and simple. Mario performs a ton of moves with a few simple button combinations. It's amazing that they can make him do so much with so few buttons.
• Level Design
  Anyone who loved the flipping chain link fences from Super Mario World will freak out when they see this game. Nintendo takes that old idea and brings it into the 3-D realm, adding all of the ingenuity and complexity it has to offer.
  I'm also surprised at the variety of levels in the game. Granted, it doesn't have the diversity of past Mario games (snow world, dessert world, etc.) but what the designers put in each of these levels gives them enough variety to keep them interesting. Visually the most stunning level I've seen is Noki Bay. Those of you who haven't made it this far will love it.
• Tight Rope Walking
  This is one of the most exciting aspects of the game. It can also be the most maddening. If this game accomplishes one thing, it's creating a fear of heights in its players. Bouncing around on these stretchy wires can be a teeth-grinding experience. It's great!
• The Warp Zone Levels
  You know, the levels where Mario loses his water pack? They're incredibly hard and force you to perform jumps you never thought possible. Of course, isn't every Mario game supposed to feature one or two impossible jumps?
• The Water Pack
  This is an interesting novelty that has opened up new possibilities for the Mario series. Some of the special nozzles you can get later on are very interesting too. I'll let you guys discover those on your own.

As you can see, there is a lot of good stuff to talk about when it comes to this game. Truthfully, I'm having such a blast playing this game after not having a real Mario game for so long. Let's hope that it doesn't take another six years for the next installment to arrive.

 

[BertFalasco]

Once I get home from school I am going to "dorkily" do my homework immediately and then at around 6:30, Sunshine arrives. So very psyched, plus it is forecasted to be rainy today and I love either going to movies or watching them at home and also video games. So awesome and "couzy."

-Bert

 

[DonRoeber]

Has anyones preorder from Nintendo shipped yet?

 

[MikeAlletto]

How many major areas are there besides the hub area? I think I've gotten 4 of them...the volcano that you see will be 5, there is an area off to the side in the distance of the amusement park that I can't get to yet, thats 6. I'm kinda stuck in all the areas now, but was hoping for a new one to open up. The hardest one so far that I haven't completed is:

The sand bird where you have to stay on the back of the bird and collect the red coins. I always get kicked off when it turns and goes sideways...can't figure out how to stay put.

 

[felix_suwarno]

this game is frustrating so far. harder than mario64 by a mile. they made it in such a way that one mistake means you have to re-trace your trek from beginning.

i have opened about 4 worlds. and i got a feeling of dejavu! it seems like i have visited these new places before. i think that is why there were some reviewers who didnt like the vacation theme. every world looks similar to each other, with the same color pallete.

 

[Steven Simon]

Being a long time die hard Mario Fan, I picked up this game in a heartbeat!!! This Mario game is a ton of fun, and visually can't be beat. I only played for around 15 minutes last night, but I get the feeling that I'll be in store for a few long nights..... This is a true platform game...

 

[Joseph Young]

I am not disappointed with SMS. Let me just get that out of the way before anything else. I am also a Mario apologist, especially for developers like Miyamoto & Crew, who most certainly thought long and hard about the camera issue before implementing it.
I only have 10 Shines so far, but just obtaining those has felt like an entire game in itself! I've made visits to the first three worlds, and spent marginal amount of time in the town square just jumping around. I can't stay away from the beach and the ocean, because the water effects are sort of hypnotizing. I noticed a boat way out on the water, which (like many of the other objects in the distance) looked like a backdrop. Nope.. I swam out to it and before too long was standing on the boat, switched to first-person and gazed out over the entirety of the bay. I like how you can see other levels in the distance along the coastline, but can only access them by jumping into the warp zones.
This is largely a go anywhere/do anything sort of game. Each level is like an amusement park (especially the amusement park level, which I have not seen yet) - for instance, in the Bianco Hills, as you come over the side of a gentle slope leading into the town valley, you notice there are sprinklers on the side of the downward sloping road, turning it into a slip and slide with shallow running water. What do you do? You slide!!
The one aspect of the game that lacks a linear quality is the order in which you retrieve shines. However, consider that within each shine mission you have a number of things you can or cannot do. I could literally run around Bianco Hills for hours not doing anything in particular and never get tired of it! Each area also has a linear path of progression, as witnessed by Pete Piranha's first appearance and subsequent 'revenge.' The first 'shine get' in Bianco also involves getting the trees back out of the ground, which are then present for each subsequent shine mission and by the sixth one are sporting enemies in their branches.
In short, there is a little more structure to the mission design.
Some notable effects: the water (both the reflection pools and the undulating ocean waves, the reflective mirrors (those who have seen this know what I'm talking about), the heat shimmer on everything, the transitions from light to dark around the island, the goop, and the way the screen appears to get wet when you aim your nozzle at it.
The arsenal of moves are also very diverse. I found myself just discovering crazy moves by running around. For instance, Mario has kept (from Mario 64) his triple jump ("woo... Hoooo...Wahooo!!"). On the third jump, as he spins in the air, fire your nozzle and watch the water fly around!
Miyamoto has maintained the golden rule with platform adventure games: if you can see it... you can go there. There is noticeable blur and heat shimmer on objects, something that optimizes frame rate, to be sure, but also creates a definitive mood on the island. I was disappointed about the lack of snow/desert levels as much as the next person (maybe next time), but what they have done with what could be a very tired theme is very very impressive.
The retro sans-water pack levels are very difficult. I especially liked the blocks made of sand which dissolve as you touch them in the giant sand castle
. It is here that the camera problems make themselves evident, but I think ultimately the freedom to change your perspective on the fly is quite helpful.
Mario 64 had a camera that optimized itself depending on your location. This created gameplay which was near flawless. While SMS does not have such a camera, the worlds in SMS are a lot more cluttered and immersive. I prefer Mario 64's camera ultimately, because it allowed the player to focus on gameplay, not on the camera. It also allowed the player to pull back or close up (there were three levels of gradation I believe) which the location of the camera moved for you. So yes, the camera system is flawed here in SMS, but the pluses far outweigh the cons.
I had to force myself to sleep last night. The gameplay has proven addictive and the game is [rant]fun[/rant].
Joseph

 

[Andre F]

I prefer the ability to move the camera and often do on the fly while running, jumping etc. It almost feels like a new game due to this. I also like the fact that when you 'stuck' behind something you still know where are by the shadow. Overall, this game is a true Mario game, easy to get into and very addictive. I'm loving it!

 

[Rob Lutter]

WORDS cannot describe the amount of ANGER I have against Target's electronics department today. I went in to pick up my preorder, waited for the electronics person to get back to their "island" and handed him my reservation slip (clearly printed with something to the tune of: "Come in on August 28th to get your reserved copy!"
Me: "Hey, I need to pick up my preorder"
Employee: "Uh"
Me: "Uh, what?"
Employee: "There have been about 20 people here asking about that, it won't be in until NEXT TUESDAY.
Me: "The ship date was Monday"
Employee: "I am sorry... what is your problem anyways? It is just a game.
Me: [rant]edited for content [/rant]
Well, I went to customer service and filled out a complaint (about them not having my preorder and the attitude of that employee) and went across the street to Best Buy and (luckily) they had about 5 copies left.
[rant]NEVER, EVER will I buy a game at Target, again![/rant]
(and this comes from a former-Target employee)
Ok... that feels better

 

[Paul Richardson]

I played a bit last night. I'm having a good time. It's good you can go back through the levels you've been to in order to hunt for the goodies you missed the first time around. Also, the central plaza has a lot of fun things to discover as well. There's a lot of freedom to play the game at your own pace, in whatever order you'd like.

I don't understand all the criticism with the camera. I've had no problems myself. A couple times I've gotten to a spot where I can't see myself, but one tap of the left shoulder button took care of that.

The graphics won't be winning any awards, but they're pretty enough. I was taken aback by how nice the water is...it rivals even Waverace. I also like the long draw distance...at times you can actually see the other levels on the island as you play...this really helps envelop you in the world.

My biggest problem is forgetting I have the hover jets at my disposal. I'll attempt a difficult jump three times, suddenly remember about the jets, and the coast over like it's nothing.

 

[JasonK]

I also had to force myself to stop playing last night. I'm only up to 11 Shines, but to echo the sentiments of others, it's nice to have a game that's good ol' plain FUN.
The main level is fun to just wander around in. I've spent a lot of time just running and jumping on the rooftops, or in the sewers. Or spraying the NPC's and jumping on the Toads.
But the game is also pretty hard, but not to the point of frustration. Even though one particular Shine took me over 20 minutes to obtain, I never wanted to quit, but just kept on truckin'.
One part of the game really kicked my ass, though.
The Mecha-Koopa at the theme park. The bullet-bills took me out quickly, and I said to myself "I shouldn't be here yet..." and left the Theme Park.
This game should keep us entertained for a good amount of time. Thanks Nintendo!