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2017 has been a big year for a certain red-hatted plumber. Mario Mario – to use Nintendo's iconic mascot's full name – has enjoyed crossover success in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, revisited one of his best RPG adventures in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions on the 3DS, and taken to the tracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the definitive edition of the racing spin-off.

This month is particularly auspicious though. No, not just because of the upcoming release of Super Mario Odyssey – though everything we've seen on that so far points to a spectacular addition to the drain-hopping hero's canon – but because October 2017 also marks the 15th anniversary of Super Mario Sunshine


Released in Europe in October 2002, Sunshine was the main, major entry in the core Super Mario series for the Nintendo GameCube. Yet despite being a signature title, earning glowing reviews on release (and even now maintaining a Metacritic score of 92), the game has not proven to be held in the same high esteem by Nintendo fans as earlier or later entries.

It's a strange legacy, as Super Mario Sunshine is a legitimately fantastic title in its own right. Returning to it now, even with the travails of connecting a GameCube to a modern television and enduring the low-res output, the game holds up as one of the stronger entries in the Mario franchise. It's as bold, colourful, joyously inventive, and fiendishly challenging as any great entry in the series, with beautifully realised worlds to explore, hundreds of secrets to uncover, and endlessly reflective of Nintendo's trademark charm.

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Its greatest sin? It had the poor fortune to follow Super Mario 64.


The Nintendo 64's flagship title was undeniably historic – the first 3D Mario game redefined the franchise for a new era, and did so brilliantly. Yet just as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker had to live under the shadow of the similarly groundbreaking Ocarina of Time, so too was Sunshine judged more on the accomplishments of its predecessor than its own merits.

It was ultimately a case of 'little sibling' syndrome. When its metaphorical older brother had already revamped an entire gaming genre, proving 3D platformers were even seriously viable, Sunshine faced an uphill battle to impress. Mario 64 was painted onto blank canvas; Sunshine had expectations to live up to.

With the motion controls the Wii would gift to Super Mario Galaxy still a console generation away, and the GameCube not offering much technological innovation beyond more processing power and the adoption of a faster, high capacity disc format, Sunshine was relegated to being merely the second 3D Mario game. In some ways, it was doomed from the start.

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It's easy to see why Sunshine may have rubbed some Mario fans the wrong way, though. While Super Mario 64 was directed by a triumvirate of original creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, and Yoshiaki Koizumi, for Sunshine Miyamoto and Tezuka stepped back to producer roles, leaving Koizumi to direct alongside Kenta Usui. Without a hardware revolution to rely on, the pair instead experimented with environment, mechanics, and format, resulting in a game that's markedly different to Mario's typical Goomba-stomping adventure.


Shadow Mario served as the main antagonist through much of Super Mario Sunshine - but his true identity became a fixture of the wider Mario series Nintendo

Sunshine doesn't take place in any familiar corner of the Mushroom Kingdom, instead opting for the sun-kissed Isle Delfino, where Mario, Princess Peach, and an entourage of Toads are off on a frankly well-deserved holiday. Instead of mojitos on the beach, they find a paradise in peril, with an unknown troublemaker polluting the tropical island with floods of inky paint. Unfortunately, said troublemaker looks uncannily like Mario, leading the resident Piantas to distrust our hero. The solution? Track down dozens of Shine Sprites to clean up the island, and defeat his imposter.

The change in location alters both the mood and the structure of the game. Sunshine is arguably less freeform, as there's a clear narrative direction for the first time: Mario is out to clear his name, and uncover his mysterious doppelganger's true identity. That already made it the most story-driven Mario to that point, and with nearly everyone on the island happy to have a chat – often giving clues to side missions or ways to progress – it took on almost RPG levels of plot direction. For anyone who appreciates a bit more impetus to a game than "rescue Peach (again)", this actually proved a nice evolution for the series, allowing Nintendo's writers – lead by Makoto Wada – to add more depth to the proceedings, and more personality and humour to the cast.

Too chatty? Super Mario Sunshine's resident Piantas could be spoken with regularly, adding more story and background to the game's events. Nintendo

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The biggest change by far though was giving Mario his FLUDD backpack. The Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device – designed by Professor E. Gadd, a nod to the inventor behind the ghost vacuum in Luigi's Mansion – was an aberration in the series. Unlike power-ups like the Fire Flower or Tanooki Suit, Mario used the FLUDD consistently throughout Sunshine, using its replenishable supply of water to spray away pollution and enemies alike. While Mario still possessed all his athletic acumen, the high tech backpack gave him a new repertoire of moves that were pivotal to completing the game.

Not only could Mario hop, triple-jump, and spin-jump around Delfino with more agility than anyone would expect from a man of his physique, the FLUDD was incorporated into his moveset, making him more versatile than ever. With the tap of a button, it switched from a water cannon to an aquatic jet pack, hovering over enemies and splashing them into oblivion, or breaking falls from great heights. Fired forward, the FLUDD created slip-n-slide paths, allowing Mario to glide lightning-fast around the environment. Jump on a lilypad, and the FLUDD's streams of water serve as propulsion across vast lakes. Master its functions, and there was a real joy in navigating Sunshine's worlds.

Those worlds – eight in total, ranging from the gentle delights of Bianco Hills to the vertical rock columns of Noki Bay – were larger and more inventive than those found in Mario 64 too. Challenges to acquire more Shine Sprites not only tested Mario – and the player's – platforming skills, but often further built out the world and the story.

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However, Sunshine does fall prey to moments of excess, as if Nintendo thought "bigger is better" would be enough to improve upon the predecessor. Unlike Peach's castle, where paintings served as portals to levels in Super Mario 64, Isle Delfino is a vast hub world to explore in its own right, packed with hidden secrets. It's perhaps a little too large though, and easy to get lost in – especially in the networks of underground tunnels, seen only in silhouette.


The biggest problem in returning to the Super Mario Sunshine of 2002 in 2017 is one of controls. The GameCube's stubby yellow C-Stick allowed more command of the camera than in Mario 64, but there's no way to modify or invert those controls, making moving Mario where you want counter-intuitive for some. This also has the side effect of making the crucial jump mechanics of the game sloppier, and especially frustrating in the case of boss fights.

These are archaic complaints though. If Nintendo were to revisit the game on Switch, giving it a similar high definition treatment to the one that Wind Waker received on the Wii U, better camera options would be a basic and easy fix. It's strange that Super Mario Sunshine hasn't received a re-release already, in fact – beyond the strength of the core game, it massively expanded the Mario Universe, even adding fresh core villains with the first appearance of Bowser, Jr – who's still menacing Mario to this day.

Without an HD remaster forthcoming, it's harder to revisit Isle Delfino along with Mario – short of digging your GameCube out of retirement or tracking one down second hand – but it's worth making the effort to do so. Some of the criticism the game has earned over the last 15 years is deserved, but most is down to it having the unenviable task of following Mario 64. Sunshine has been subtly influential on the entries that have followed – Mario's body-capturing new hat Cappy in Super Mario Odyssey feels like an echo of FLUDD being a perpetual partner – and deserves some fonder recognition on its anniversary.