Super Mario Sunshine is... Weird (And I Love It)

This was the generation of tropical islands for Nintendo. Wind Waker, Mario Sunshine, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, and the Metroid Prime beach OVA.

I was absolutely not let down by the thorough breakdown of the Mario universe's judicial system. Thank you Liam.

I have a favorite bad memory of this game. I was doing the 100 coins mission in Bianco hills and reached 99. I found 1 last paint plant enemy, and sprayed him into a wall to kill him and get that last coin. Except that instead of properly dying and letting me end things, he just stuck to the wall pulsating and playing his death sound over and over. Taunting me. Refusing to die or despawn no matter how far away I roam. Laughing through his eternal torment stuck between the boundaries of life and death as Mario wandered around forever spraying random trees and windmills just trying to find that last coin.

Sunshine’s tropical environment is one of the most calming and visually appealing maps ive ever seen to this day

A childhood classic, full of pain and suffering.

Fun fact: Pinna Park was originally intended to be part of the hub world. It has a cannon on the beach with unused functionality to return you to Delfino Plaza, it has portals to Pianta Village and Noki Bay in the files (the Pianta Village one is located on the mouth of the big Pianta head), and Mario's animation for returning from a level portal is present in the files like in the plaza. This also explains the level's greater significance to the story, with the Mecha Bowser event occurring there and a Pinna Park mission being required to unlock Yoshi.

Some people: “Sunshine is a wash.” Liam Triforce: “lol get hosed”

I once heard a reviewer say they theorize Nintendo was so impressed with how good they could make water look on the Gamecube that they made an entire game around it😁it's nothing short of incredible how the water still holds up from a 2002 game.

The jank and imperfections that we rarely see in a Mario game are part of why I kind of love this game.

One thing that I can praise Mario Sunshine for in hindsight is its willingness to just...be different. The theming, as you say, is really on point. It's tropical island themed. Pretty much every Mario game since has emulated Mario 64's approach of throwing every environment imaginable at the plumber, and while that's cool...Mario Sunshine's levels stand out. Everything feels purposeful and varied within the theme so that every area fits together nicely. There's no other Mario game since that has tried to feel like that, and that brings with it a nice level of worldbuilding and lore that makes Isle Delfino so awesome. This is also true of the gameplay. No game after this gave Mario something that altered his entire moveset like FLUDD did. Like yeah they had power ups and other gimmicks but FLUDD is so consistent and the new moves it gives you are always part of the level design and always a consideration in how you approach problems. It, again, makes this game unique among the "safer" variations on 3D Mario that would come after. Also as an aside, I really wish there were more missions about cleaning up goop because you're right...that's so satisfying. To be able to visibly make that progress, feel like you're helping...it's really really nice.

One of my best memories as a kid was waking up on my birthday to open up a copy of Sunshine. I’ve never stopped loving the game any less since that day

This is probably the best way to describe this game. It's really frustrating, really confusing, but at the end of the day, it's still a good game.

Pro tip for the watermelon mission: If you don't wanna deal with the cataquacks, you can lure them to a dune bud and permanently kill them by launching them in the air with the bud. It's a tad tricky, but you can even lure down the ones on the ledge.

This game and Luigi's Mansion were some of my first games ever. I'm gonna rate them extremely high from that attachment.

I'd never finished sunshine before, just until 3D All stars. Man, what a game it was. I would say this is the most relaxing Mario game and at the same time the most challenging one. Pretty unique with the inclusion of FLUD, they make you feel naked when they put you on those secret platforming levels. But I don't plan on collecting every blue coin, that's just insane

About your intro... Japan has a conviction rate of over 99% so Mario being guilty in the trial is fitting.

I was so thankful to experience this gem in 3D All-Stars.

When the ferris wheel in Pinna Park is spinning faster in Episode 5, it doesn't have any collision, so instead of having to climb through that jungle gym puzzle to get to that turtle thing, you can just hover to it straight through the wheel

For those struggling on the Chuckster star, the angle they throw you is based on the angle you talk to them from, so line them up directly between you and the next platform. It's pretty easy once you know that!

This game will always hold a special place in my heart. The day I got it, my mom and siblings went out of town so my dad and I went to town, picked this up, got a pizza and played this all weekend. I'll forever treasure that memory