Miyamoto Shrine > Gamecube > Carl's Mario Sunshine Impressions

To say that I've been waiting a long time for a chance to play the sequel to Super Mario 64 would be a catastrophic understatement. In fact, Super Mario 64 is the one videogame I would feel perfectly content living in. When I encounter gamers that have either never played Super Mario 64, or for some reason or another didn't like it, I'm given great pause. "Why" I ask. The answer never suits me, because no answer is ever good enough. Super Mario 64 was the end-all be-all videogame experience, and continues to be the standard to which 3D adventure titles strive to live up to.

My love of SM64 is probably attributed to many things. Right off the bat I could tell the title was a labor of love for Shigeru Miyamoto, if not a technical nightmare. SM64 was one of the first successful 3D platformers and included a complex camera system, along with environments that inspired awe at regular intervals. It controlled like a dream and allowed players to truly become Mario for the first time. It featured course designs that made you feel right at home, never suspecting that under all of the nice textures and brilliant layouts there were endless strings of code making it all happen. It was filled to the brim with things to do, places to go, and enough variety that things never got stale or tiresome. It was epic in size, and you could stand in certain spots and see entire courses laid out in front of you. Such epic views sent chills down my spine, and still elicit much respect today.

I could go on and on about Super Mario 64 and why it will probably always remain my favorite videogame of all-time... but this isn't about Super Mario 64. This is about its sequel. Just writing those words I can feel the chills once again, because I've been waiting since my 120th star for this day to come.

Comparisons are important, but Super Mario Sunshine is not SM64, just like Super Mario World is not Super Mario Bros. 3. The gameplay has changed significantly, graphics and environments have changed significantly, and game characters are mostly new, aside from a few friends from the mushroom kingdom. Here's what happened when I first picked up the controller...

I made Mario run. I jumped. I triple-jumped. I side-jumped, then side-jumped back (as I've done nearly 3-million times in 64.) Then I pressed R and water squirted from Mario's head. Not his head exactly, but a device on his head. Cool. Now I had to do some more moves. Backflip. I couldn't get Mario to do a backflip. Drats. Long jump. This is how I got around in SM64, it's faster that way. Couldn't do a long jump. Double drats. Crawling. Couldn't get Mario to crawl. Oh well. Then I spun the control stick and jumped. Wow! Mario flew up in the air rotating at some crazy amount of RPMs. I turned my watergun into a jetpack, then double jumped, then engaged the pack. I was hover flying!

Mario's new moves make up for his old ones, as is the case in any Mario title. But it was certainly nice to see that they kept most of the fundamental moves, and added some highly original ones for good measure (plus some that I'm sure I haven't even discovered yet.) Just as Luigi's Mansion was themed around the vacuum device, Sunshine is themed around the water-device. Only this time around the gameplay is much less reliant on the device, and offers a whole lot more versatility than Luigi's vacuum. It's just plain cool to use the jetpack, and after a while spraying enemies becomes second nature, and even enjoyable.

Control is every bit as spot on as the control in SM64 aside from having to learn how to use a mechanical device, something not typically found in Mario control schemes. Mario is mega responsive to your every command and the analog sensitivity of the control stick allows Mario to walk slowly if you press the stick just a little, then faster, and so on. This is important in many instances in the game, as it was in 64. Enough with the similarities, something big has changed this time around.

Mario's new adventure does not take place in the Mushroom Kingdom. Whether or not Bowser is involved no one is saying (they're saving some details for the sake of surprise.) The trailer explained the setup like this, "on a tropical island far from the Mushroom Kingdom, among a people enchanted by sunshine, Mario has taken a break from the hopping, the bopping, and saving the princess to take a well-deserved vacation... or so he thinks. This fall, something is amok in paradise. Throw fireballs at him, laugh at his mustache, but do not mess with his vacation." Right then you realize that this adventure is bound to be far different than the last, in typical Nintendo style.

The game looks plain stunning. Mario titles have always been a showcase for hardware, and that fine tradition doesn't stop here. Easily one of the best looking games at the show and definitely the best looking platformer, Sunshine's bright colors, graphical tricks, and expansive environments never fail to please the eyes. The game looks like a tropical paradise, which makes me think it will feel that way as well. Move over Mario -- I'm coming on vacation with you.

One graphical trick of note is Mario's shadow, which is visible through walls and objects when your view of Mario is blocked. This proves to be a very handy and innovative feature. Another graphical feature of note is the sludge that Mario must dissolve with his sprayer. This stuff looks delicious! Not just because it's reflective and is graphically great, but because it looks identical to liquid chocolate (like when mom used to pour hot fudge in a pan to cool. Yum!)

Being in a new place with new friends and new enemies can seem a bit intimidating at first. In this case Yoshi is around to make things in a whole new island seem a bit more familiar. And he's ready for riding no less! While the version I played seemed Yoshi-free, the video shown on the floor and screenshots revealed during the show had Mario riding Yoshi, something that was sorely missed in Mario 64 but touched upon at the very end of the game if you got all 120 stars. I have to say, the ability to ride Yoshi again is something I expected in a big way. It truly is great to have expectations met, and (knowing Miyamoto) probably even exceeded.

While it hasn't been revealed exactly how course selection works, the game's levels are divided apart from each other in one way or another. It does look like little or no gameplay will take place off of the island, but I wouldn't doubt seeing whole levels taking place in caves or other island-related environments. Oh, and water levels are back, of course.

In a level, getting from place A to place B often requires a trip into the island's sewer system via manhole cover scattered throughout, and while your down there the camera stays above ground and offers a look at Mario's handy shadow beneath the surface. This works well, and provides a nice dose of innovation once again. Level surfaces themselves morph and change in certain areas if you so choose to trigger the event. In one area spraying a small bud will make a plant swell to an enormous size, then disappear underground for a second, only to make the ground explode upward creating a large mound and sending Mario flying toward the sky. Tricks like this are incorporated into the gameplay nicely.

Sound-wise the game sounds very much like a Mario title, both in sound effects and soundtrack. The E3 show floor was extra busy (especially in the Nintendo booth) and so I couldn't really hear the game while playing there. Good thing Nintendo was smart enough to set up separate screening areas for each main title, so we were able to get a true feel of what the game's sound had to offer. I'll admit that gameplay was a distraction (and a very good one) from the sound, but all the bells and whistles seemed to be in place.

Overall whether or not I enjoy Sunshine as thoroughly as 64 depends on a number of things that couldn't be determined at E3. I can tell by playing several areas that the game is going to be of the highest quality, but living up to 64 is a daunting task. When I get the completed product into my game room and boot it up a number of things will be under heavy scrutiny. The title screen, the opening cinema, the selection screen, and the first area of the game (usually something very special in a Miyamoto title) will give me some clue as to how magical the experience will be for me. From then on, Nintendo titles almost always get better with each subsequent level. I will say from what I saw that I am not at all disappointed in Sunshine. I was actually blown away by several things. However, I am very anxious to see how it all turns out.

The end of August is looking to be one big holiday for me.

Carl Johnson

Missed an Update? Click here!     Bored? Hit the Forums!