Super Mario Sunshine

Did You Know?

• The game was re-released alongside Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection for the Nintendo Switch in 2020.
• Bowser Jr. became a major recurring character in the franchise, appearing in many mainline and spin-off games, as well as the Super Smash Bros. series and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
• F.L.U.D.D. has been featured as a part of Mario's moveset since Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Plot

Mario, Princess Peach, her steward Toadsworth, and several Toads head to the tropical Isle Delfino for a vacation. Upon landing at Delfino Airstrip, they find a strange paint-like goop. Mario gets a water cannon called the Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device, or F.L.U.D.D., which was built by Professor E. Gadd. He uses it to defeat a slime-covered Piranha Plant that comes out of the goop.

But then evidence appears to show Mario has been covering the island in graffiti. This causes the Shine Sprites, which power the island, to vanish, and shadows cover the land. Even though the evidence is shaky, and Peach and Toadsworth try to defend him, a kangaroo court judge finds Mario guilty. He is sentenced to community service: clean up the island and find the real vandal.

That vandal is Shadow Mario, a blue, shadowy copy of Mario who uses a special paintbrush also made by Gadd. Shadow Mario tries to kidnap Peach, but Mario stops him. After Mario collects ten Shine Sprites, Shadow Mario does grab Peach and takes her to Pinna Island. At Pinna Park there, Mario fights and destroys Mecha Bowser, a giant Bowser robot piloted by Shadow Mario.

Bowser Jr., Bowser's son, then reveals he was the one disguised as Shadow Mario. His father told him Peach was his mother and that Mario was trying to kidnap her. Mecha Bowser's head turns into a hot air balloon, and Bowser Jr. flies Peach to Corona Mountain. Mario cannot enter the volcano, so he keeps gathering Shine Sprites.

Development

Super Mario Sunshine was developed by Nintendo EAD and first appeared at Nintendo Space World 2001, with another showing at E3 2002. It followed years of attempts to create a direct sequel to Super Mario 64, including the canceled projects Super Mario 64 2 and Super Mario 128. The game marked Yoshiaki Koizumi’s first lead directing role after a ten-year apprenticeship. Producers were Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, the creators of Super Mario.

This was the first first-party Nintendo game released after Satoru Iwata became president, replacing Hiroshi Yamauchi. Yamauchi’s final request before resigning was for the team to develop a Mario game for the GameCube. Development began in late 2000, after the showing of Super Mario 128 and the success of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, when Koizumi came up with the idea of a water pump. The project took about 18 months.

Initially, Koizumi, Miyamoto, and Tezuka felt the setting was too far out of character for Mario. Koizumi drew on childhood memories for inspiration, such as a hero leaping between rooftops, playing in water, and enjoying its coolness. Ten water nozzle designs were considered; F.L.U.D.D. was chosen because it suited the game’s setting, even though it wasn’t a favorite. Some Yoshi features were cut, including the ability for Yoshi to spit out water he had consumed.

At E3 2001, Miyamoto said he wanted this 3D Mario to appeal to a very broad age range, as he felt his earlier design leaned too young. The score was composed by Koji Kondo and Shinobu Tanaka. Kondo wrote the main themes for Isle Delfino, Bianco Hills, Ricco Harbor, Gelato Beach, and the ending credits, while Tanaka composed the rest. The soundtrack includes new versions of classic Mario tunes, such as the underground and main stage music from the original Super Mario Bros.

Reception

Super Mario Sunshine received strong praise from both critics and players, with many highlighting its graphics, music, story, gameplay, and the new water backpack F.L.U.D.D. IGN noted that F.L.U.D.D. improved the gameplay, while GameSpy pointed out the wide range of moves and the beautifully made environments. Nintendo Power gave the game a perfect score, calling out its superb graphics, excellent music, clever level designs, funny cutscenes, and ingenious puzzles.

The game won GameSpot's award for Best Platformer on GameCube. GamePro also awarded a perfect score, describing it as a masterpiece with superior design, endless variety, creativity, and life. Game Informer called it arguably the best Mario game up to that point, and Computer and Video Games said it was better than Super Mario 64. Official Nintendo Magazine ranked it 46th on its list of the 100 greatest Nintendo games.

AllGame offered a more measured review, noting that while platformers had grown more epic, interactive, and visually impressive since Super Mario 64, Sunshine did not significantly shake up the genre beyond expected sequel improvements.

Some reviewers were critical of certain elements. The camera system and high difficulty drew the most complaints. The use of full voice acting for some characters and the inclusion of F.L.U.D.D. received mixed reactions. GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann criticized additions like F.L.U.D.D. and Yoshi as mere gimmicks and also faulted the camera. He felt the game seemed unpolished and rushed, a view shared by Matt Wales of Computer and Video Games. GameSpot named it the most disappointing GameCube game of 2002. Despite this, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Super Mario Sunshine for Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year.