Super Mario Sunshine: Introduction
Mario, deserving a nice vacation heads to a sunny island in the middle of nowhere; the perfect spot to relax with plenty of sunshine, fresh air, wonderful beaches, and friendly inhabitants. Barely beginning his vacation, unfortunately, some problems arise. It turns out someone disguising themselves to look just like Mario scribbled all over the town walls, and the natives are angry. Falsely accused, Mario decides to get to the bottom of this, and thus his adventure begins.
Story: 7 (out of 10)
Not true to Mario games, but I guess it was alright. I didn’t care for it too much. It went like this… Mario and Peach (along with all of your favourite little Mushroom Toad look-a-likes) decide to go on vacation to some far away island. When they get there, they find a really dirty spot on the airstrip. Mario being the hero he always is picks up the water sprayer (as I’ve come to call it) and washes the goo away.
Everyone is happy. Moments later, an ‘evil’ Mario appears and begins running around the town causing chaos with the little brush from which the goo spawns from. As Mario, you chase him around town spraying him with water until he gives up the chase. I forgot the rest of this part, but let’s just say afterwards the authorities accuse Mario of spreading the goo. They then make him do community service and clean every last bit of it up, and at the same time Mario has to capture the Mario that really did it to clear his name.
Oh, and the other half of his quest is to return all of the little star-sprite things back to their home. It looks like a big tower with a star on top. Anyway, that part is similar to Super Mario 64, where you have to gather all 120 stars. I forgot what you’re gathering them for, but I know the village people get angry if you come back from a level empty-handed. You have to do all of this when he’s still on vacation. Don’t look at me, I didn’t write it.
Music: 10 (out of 10)
I love every song in Sunshine. Most of it is like island music, it’s hard to describe but it makes you feel like you’re on the beach. Awesome.
Graphics: 10 (out of 10)
The graphics are stunning. No, really I was stunned when I saw them. Not because it’s on little Gamecube, these graphics are good for any system, including [crappy system]. You can see heatwaves, which is probably my favorite part. The lens flares are cool, although not that important. The water looks amazing, and moves realistically. Mario gets the goo all of him and looks great doing it. SMS gets a perfect score in this department.
Replay Value: 24/25 – Well it’s actually pretty addictive. Who knew cleaning up someone else’s messes would be so fun if you were doing it electronically? It’s fun until I get stuck on something, then I almost want to go off and do something else. (and that’s not like me to quit because I’m stuck.) Anyway, great replay value as with most Mario games.
Gameplay: 10 (out of 10)
Handles very similar to Super Mario 64. Some of Mario’s moves are still there, like the run-and-stop-jump-the-other-way backflip, the wall jump, and the triple jump. With the water nozzle on his back, it just adds to the many combinations Mario can pull.
Overall Score: 9 (out of 10)
I think this one ties with my review for Super Mario Bros. 3, doesn’t it? I hope Nintendo is reading this. (which they aren’t) Fix that story!
