Super Mario Sunshine Retrospective

[@Kohana64]

I apologize in advance for any audio discrepancies you may notice. I got a new microphone and I’m still working out the kinks. Everything should be fixed by the next video! Thank you all so much for watching!

[@zaneberry]

thats crazy bc I always found flood's voice perfomance to be very emotional when I was a kid, I thought his limited range kinda gave a lot of implied feeling. this feels like the most cinematic mario to me

[@therealquinnzack1819]

Me too!

[@aquaabouttogetfunky]

My favorite line of his was “oh no! Not again!”

[@PGReviews_]

If Sunshine had more polish and less padding, it would honestly be one of my favorite games of all time. The controls and atmosphere are near perfect and it looks beautiful, and Isle Delfino is a wonderful setting. You did a great job dissecting it.

[@fawfulfan]

I once laid out my ideas for what I'd do if I could remake this game from the ground up. Among other things, I'd have created a snow level which is basically a ski resort up in the mountains where FLUDD spray freezes to create platforms, and a jungle level where you discover D.K. is also on vacation and you have to track down a thief who stole his bananas.

[@godslight630]

Those are excellent ideas! I would’ve preferred a snow level like that than Noki bay lol

[@Colin.brunette]

I had the idea for snow levels that you have to fill FLUDD in hot springs and have a time limit to melt things before the water cools in your tank.

[@pierren___]

I would also make the boats movable using the sprayer. And no need to go to a portal to go to a world, you can go by walking since they are all interconnected on the map.

[@pierren___]

And the city would be more filled with persons. All buildings visitable, with people inside. Cannon would drop you where you want.

[@pierren___]

Yoshi would eat every fruit instead of a precise 1.

[@MegaMacX]

i am really not sure why everybody rents about the blue coins in Super Mario Sunshine. When i was a teenager back in 2002 there were basicly little to no guides on where to find them. But i think most if not all not obvious blue coins (with obvious i mean like the graffiti ones) were mentioned by some npc in the game in some way or another. So yeah, it took a while to 100% complete it, but i played that game on and off for a few months, maybe half a year. I guess nowadays games have to be completed within a week to be "good" or else you grab a guide for everything and call it "bad gamedesign". It was a fun adventure, looking around the stages, into every nook, talking to npcs, exploring the whole island front to back, sometimes just chilling at the beach with the shades guys, watching that burning dude running around the beach of delfino plaza.

[@CK-iv1lq]

Honestly the main problem with the blue coins is that the game doesn’t keep track of which ones you’ve gotten, and that some blue coins are unavailable during certain missions. Hiding coins in the vents of Hotel Delfino that only become available when you do the casino levels is 100% BS. It also sticks out as a pretty egregious example of padding since the game didn’t have enough proper levels to rival Mario 64’s star count.

[@DallasCrane]

Sunshine was a lot more fun than critics give it credit for. To deviate from the 3D Mario formula after only one title was incredibly brave. The integrated level design felt like a single world in 64 had been given the treatment of a whole game.

[@marcomoreno6748]

That's a great way to put it! I don't want to wipe the game's butt too much but it's not entirely fair to ignore the insane development timeline. That alone is a feat of design and development logistics and is a hallmark of Nintendo imo.

[@firestarter6488]

I just wish Nintendo would *finally* give Sunshine the Mario 64 DS treatment, fully fixing up all the rough spots, fully fleshing out the more rushed aspects due to the game's issues in development. It just feels... "incomplete" in it's current state compared to any other 3D Mario title.

[@autumnmaru]

Its always a gamble watching a review on a game you love. I did my best to listen through the end.

[@zertilus]

I was so young when I played this, and my family life was so dramatic that saying it was "favorite" or something is just not enough. This game, for me, was essentially a second life. I was young enough to not have many real life memories yet, and this was my first console and first mario game i could play without help haha

[@soundwaveproductions4096]

To think the metroid videos were so laidback, and its the mario videos that get you to cuss! Great video as always

[@M33f3r]

Yeah I have invited new cusewords on some of those Mario Sunshine challenge stages.

[@T1nk]

Another great video with a well rounded view of the game! Very much looking forward to the next entry in the 3D Mario games retrospectives :D

[@ddogmf]

Dude I had this as a kid and I was born in 04 so one of my first video games was a 8 year old game and my only memories is turning the gabecube on just to play sunshine and mess around with mario and the water gun and just explore the map. I never completed any levels or made progress in the game because I literally couldnt figure out what I was supposed to do😂

[@SlyHikari03]

I love this game's soundtrack and atmosphere. Its super hard but a treat when you get to know the game.

[@Cute___E]

3:54 What are you talking about? FLUDD's voice acting is absolutely perfect - and along with that music, that scene genuinely made me incredibly upset as a kid

[@3581richard]

Mario sunshine is the hardest Mario game I have ever played.Even today going back and playing it I can’t get used to the controls and I can only imagine being a kid and trying to beat the game because I never have and still haven’t beaten the game

[@DarkSoulsSauron]

always nice to a see a new upload from you. Your art reminds me a lot of KingK, and I hope you keep finding success

[@skilarbabcock8720]

I should note that the switch versiom lets you use the GC controller with the analog trigger

[@ThatFanBoyGuy]

Despite my frustrations with this game, especially with the secret levels (seriously, to this day, I still suffer from PTSD when I hear the Super Mario Bros theme is acapella beboping), I would still say Super Mario Sunshine is 1 of my Top 5 Super Mario games ( of both 2D and 3D games). When I finally finished this game, I felt like I accomplished something, and that's a feeling I rarely get from a Super Mario game (again, both 2D and 3D)

[@kyle412]

31:20 Funnily enough that blue coin in Ricco Harbour actually does have a hint! The NPC near the wall tells you there is something suspicious about the wall.

[@NintendoHero]

Sunshine has a fantastic tropical atmosphere that I'll always love and appreciate, but man does it have some annoying problems. I echo many of your critiques, there's a lot about the gameplay that just doesn't work. My obsession with beach levels makes me love Isle Delfino, but it's probably the 3d Mario I have the least fun with when I actually replay it. Great retrospective, so glad you're covering these games!

[@traviscunningham7062]

I personally love Sunshine. The calming music, the beach theme, the smooth controls, the mysterious story, and of course BOWSER JR!

[@postplays]

Sunshine's musical motif is a spinoff of Luigi's Mansion and it's main theme as well.

[@MatthewCoder]

I discovered you yesterday through the mario kart video and quickly watched the mario 64 and sunshine videos. Your videos are super entertaining, you definitely deserve more attention. Keep it up!

[@ChasingDragons_420]

Sunshine is probably my all-time favourite Mario game. GameCube had a lot of great titles.

[@PinkNoseCoyote]

I think this game spawned my fascination with video game glitches as a child. This game IS one of my favorite games of all time, not IN SPITE of it’s sloppiness, but because of it ❤️ I spent so many hours trying to break this game as a kid and some of the glitches I found don’t seem to have been documented anywhere. I still remember exactly how to trigger them.

[@SandmanURL]

It is always so interesting to me whenever I hear about how quickly older games were created and how many bugs and flaws they left in due to the time frame. Makes me think that it wasn't just newer games that were shipped with a bunch of bugs in them.

[@shanetothebrain]

Still the best Mario game .

[@2LoopMk]

This channel is underrated and need more support

[@TX2015]

"Mario's movement has been ported over directly from 64, with the exception of the long jump." Man, everybody keeps saying that that is the only move that wasn't ported over. No punches, no kicks, no sitting slide (rather than regular slide from diving), no low kicks, no crawling and absolutely no crouching. It would've been a nice balance to have that since Mario is so slippery in this game. I think others only care about this game having no longjump probably because it's the only really important move that was constantly used. I miss the original backflip too, because side-flipping is a bit broken although still useful-- Also, for the harder levels: Pachinko machine: Just use the Rocket Nozzle. You can time the launches later or earlier using the bouncepad as a reference (charge before bouncing for left coins, charge after bouncing for right coins. Hold right for the middle coin). Trivializes the stage. Chuckster level: Chucksters will throw you over their shoulders, so a little bit to the side. Just align FLUDD's head (in Spray Nozzle) to their noses, and that's all the alignment you need. Lillypad: Collect the first 6 coins with the Lillypad and reach the end. Go down one of the rims on the sides and pick the 7th coin with the Hover Nozzle. Then walk back to the end, and finish it off. Panel-flipping part in the casino: Play the original version on original hardware/Dolphin. The 3D All-Stars version does full blasts, so it's harder in the process. Light tapping the R Trigger in the original game will flip one panel either once or twice per time.

[@Hunterslammer]

Floods voice was genuine and perfect. The game isn’t perfect, but overall it has heart and spirit in my opinion. I’ve got many childhood hours on it, and when I got the anniversary edition for the switch I couldn’t have been happier.

[@AdventuresAwait123]

1:02 developement took 18 months?!? I can forgive a lot of the issues

[@TransformersGuy1991]

Despite Super Mario Sunshine being a departure from the other Mario games, I was still fond of it.

[@kaih6560]

14:43 abput side flip and wall jump. In Mario 64 I had problems to pull off wall jumps and side flips. Bit once you have mastered the wall jump in 64 the one in 64 feels better somehow. The reason is it is not broken but hard to pull off hence it is a feeling of mastery. Btw you forgot mario cannot crouch anymore. So every crouch move is off the charts.

[@shadeblackwolf1508]

Honestly, we'll need a sunshine retry that actually has the time to fully polish out its objectives and locations... that finale is unacceptable for example. but the reason the community is so vocal for that, is because it's such a unique compelling title

[@GeraldMorshomp]

Great video! Longtime Sunshine fan, so nostalgia can blind me sometimes, but you make a lot of good points. I like treating Sunshine like a checklist game, where the challenge is to have the patience to get all the shines and blue coins :P as opposed to 64, which feels more casual.

[@Galaxy40k]

Another great video dude! I broadly agree with most of your praises and your criticisms, but for me, the "good" outweighs "the bad." The fluid movement and the well-realized tropical setting manage to carry the experience for me, to where I can deal with most of the annoyances.....I can't 100% the game though. Finding and keeping track of the blue coins is too much, lol

[@ofelijawow]

the leaps in every generation of gaming in this era was so nuts...SMS was only like 15 years removed from SMB1. Same difference between now and Galaxy.

[@Scrubber89]

I honestly have almost no complaints about Sunshine. I loved it as a kid and I still love it now. Yes several single tasks (like pachinko and Lillly pads) are a pain in the ass but I think the game is way overhated on and still one of my very favorites.

[@iFish12]

Loved this video, and I can relate to “at one point, I would have told you this was my favorite game”. Also, I always thought of F.L.U.D.D as female

[@notjacob53]

Great video but I do want to point out that the throwing piantas are not based on the direction they talk to you. All you have to do is align Mario with the platform you want to land on and have the pianta in the center. It is a lot easier with the camera moved overhead.

[@koletrain9048]

Hell, it's even more easier if you look at the middle of their hoola dress, and then talk to them from that, they'll then throw you straight every time.

[@MishaOpstal]

Super Mario Sunburn (A mod for this game) improves a bunch of the things you've named like the shine boot outs. It also adds to immersion by making it openworld-ish and it adds back stuff like a long jump. However there still are some fundamental flaws with the game itself that even the mod can't fix like the padding you talked about, my guess is that that problem came because of the limited development time the game had. Especially the Yoshi boat ride which is just horrible to say the least. Although the mod will allow you to retrieve shines out of order in some scenarios as well as access certain stages before you've unlocked them, be careful though because you don't want the final boss delfino plaza to trigger before you've chased down shadow mario with at least the fludd extensions as they will remain locked after game completion in stages because you haven't "technically" retrieved them lmao

[@wyvolf]

i still have to sit down and actually play sunshine since i have all-stars (never had a gamecube growing up sobs and cries). maybe one day

[@simonwiggins8570]

Christmas morning the year this game was released - memories!

[@paulhudalla9527]

I was just trying to finally finish this game on 3D All Stars. I don't own original, I'm too young for that, but I am playing with OG GameCube controller, so I still have some of the original spirit. I've only played the first few levels really, but the setting and challenges are very fun for sure. I'm probably not going for 100%, that only seems like pain, and I don't usually 100% stuff anyway

[@JustJulyo]

Although Sunshine is my least favorite Mario games I cannot get enough of these retrospects

[@NovaDragon-ws5cq]

You know, I've also played Sunshine for most of my life. I can remember the first time I ever played it. I think I was 7, and I just turned 27. While I wholeheartedly agree with your take on the game, because it DOES have its issues, which has also degraded my overall enjoyment; I have to say that there's an undeniable magic to Isle Delfino. Exploring, talking to NPCs, makes me feel like I'm taking the vacation Mario is supposed to be having. I love the game, and I agree its issues bother me all the more because of that fact. I keep hoping for a full-on remake, where they address the issues; or a sequel, which builds on everything that made Sunshine great, while also fixing at least most grievances. Overall it's still a great game.

[@cogidubnus8368]

I agree with some of your criticisms of the game but I think you were too harsh. People criticize Sunshine for things that tons of other well regarded games do, even other Mario games like 64 and Galaxy. Sure, you chase Shadow Mario a lot, but it's almost always in a different level so it doesn't feel the same. What's the difference between that and the stuff recycled in the Galaxy games? Those games use things like pull stars and cosmic clones a lot, but no one criticizes them for that because the level design itself is different so it feels distinct. Same applies to Il Piantissimo races, all 3 are races but that doesn't make them the same. Galaxy had boo races and rolling ball levels and the manta ray levels. That's also recycling ideas but no one criticizes it because the design of the levels is different. Galaxy also reuses bosses, like that mole boss with the cannon. The red coins point is especially unfair. Sure, a lot of shines come from red coins, but there's far more variety in the missions in Sunshine compared to 64. Some are based on exploring levels with traditional platforming. One has the sand bird, one uses the blooper surfing, some take place underwater with different controls, etc. Lily pad and pachinko are also very distinct levels regardless of their quality. About half of the 24 red coins missions are from the secret stages and it's disingenuous to lump them in with the rest because they're fundamentally completely different. And even if they were all like the exploration based ones, I don't think that would make the game repetitive. Those levels are based on platforming around the stages which is kind of the point of a platformer. The only real commonality among the red coin levels is that they have red coins, the actual objectives are very distinct. It feels superficial to call the game repetitive based on red coins. Also, Galaxy has tons of purple coin levels that are incredibly boring and no one bats an eye at that. Sunshine may have levels like spraying piantas and cleaning the beach, but there's a time limit there so it feels compelling. What about the Galaxy level where you have to get purple coins with flying mario? I would argue that level was more tedious and unfun than those Sunshine levels. There was also that level where you have to chase eels with shells underwater and that was tedious as well. And Spring Mario is incredibly annoying to control. As for 64, a lot of the missions in that game are basically just doing the exact same thing in a previous mission plus a little more. You get to the top of Whomp's fortress for one mission and in the next you do all of that again and climb a small tower. Same with the Pyramid which you have to get to the top of twice for two different missions. Tall, Tall Mountain has to be scaled 3 times. Overall, I think Sunshine has its problems, but I can't help but feel people overanalyze Sunshine and ignore the fact that other Mario games have many of the same problems. Galaxy and 64 recycle content as well, especially 64, and both are home to tedious challenges that aren't very fun to complete. I don't really think Mario Sunshine is worse than those games in that regard overall.

[@shadeblackwolf1508]

Sunshine is one of a pair of twins. the only two main nintendo titles that truly feel rushed, becuase they were. They were rushed out to try and save the gamecube. Sunshine and Windwaker both are lacking a lot of content compared to any other title in the series, and are significantly less polished than we expect from nintendo. A zelda game can just hide that a little easier.

[@Deadforge]

Sunshine is ine I only dabbled in but love much like my time with Wind Waker. It definitely inspired the likes of Hell Pie and A Hat in time. It's just as important as Mario 64 in my eyes.

[@Bellomancer]

Good video my man.

[@Kemoclout]

just finished a playthrough of this on 3d all stars and the stars were much easier to get this time around compared to 8 year old me lol. worst complaint is losing lives when you fail the missions

[@ruebenhernandez8016]

Happy 21st birthday to this beloved game (August 26, 2002-August 26, 2023.)

[@clouds-rb9xt]

Good stuff. I generally agree with you though I don't like the controls as much. I think they can be kind of slippery and loose, especially during those platforming sections, but maybe it's just because I'm used to the FLUDD

[@yarn1769]

Keep up the grind bro your stuff is amazing

[@mattwilliamson8954]

Just rewatching the Secret areas is giving me anxiety.

[@HectorGonzalez-qx9nk]

It really is a shame that games like Sunshine and Wind Waker fell victim to Satoru Iwata’s attempt to cut down on development time while maintaining quality. Sunshine is the most mysterious mainline Mario game due to how much was cut and what beta stuff was able to make it onto the final disc or shown in promo material. I think that’s why many want Nintendo to make a sequel to Sunshine, to flesh out the ideas they originally had.

[@Flare8295]

You didn't complain about the game booting you out of the level with the regular Shine Sprites yet you complain about the game doing the same thing with the 100 Coin Shine Sprites

[@jcarr1289]

This game needs a proper remaster with new content added (stages, shines, bosses, nozzles). If you just sit around for a few minutes you can easily think of cool stuff to add or improve.

[@langezeit6926]

This game has really satisfying movement compared to the 3d titled following it

[@highvaluepotential]

I too get mad at this game... but for some reason I feel that is where a lot of the charm is.. For some reason, if I try to play another mario game after Sunshine.. I just want to be back in Delfino island.

[@gamingwithahandicapreviews]

This guy has potential but it just feels like he’s reading from a word document

[@zacktepsic3056]

Might be a little on the harsher side, but all around great video

[@Beefnhammer]

Criticizing Sunshine is far from controversial. This game is extremely divisive, especially in more recent years. I personally love it, but I also acknowledge its shortcomings. I still think the good outweighs the bad though.

[@nathancruz9172]

It’s very hard to complete the super Mario sunshine. 🌞

[@BigYabai]

to this day I still don't understand why people treat Sunshine as if it were the Sonic 06 of the Mario series it's one of the best 3D Mario games, just that it's not quite as polished as it could have been Mario 64 isn't exactly sparkling either but people only ever stop fellating that one to badmouth Sunshine

[@violetifreal]

new retrospective? in THIS economy!?!?!?

[@alfonso.xx1]

Great video, very underrated channel

[@marklashante8909]

Bro this video HAS WAY TOO MANY paraphrased versions of KingK's points. If you want to make a video talking about a game everybody is acutely familiar with you need to create an original thesis supported by original ideas. No one is that eager to watch yet another analysis video about a mario game unless there is an authentic sense of inspiration behind it. This script is like if you prompted chatgpt with "write a script in the style of KingK about Mario sunshine". Like you copied word for word when KingK said "Yes, I do actually like blue coins"

[@jaretco6423]

Super Mario Sunshine. An game that I wanted to love, but couldn't. It's an shame because I kinda like how this game takes on an different approach from outside the Mushroom Kingdom and added mechanics that does something differently from other Madio games, while still having the same formulaic & gameplay from Mario 64. But because of how rushed the game is, the physics, the way it's structure, how the levels and missions were handled, the Shine Sprite placement and many other design choices makes them all more frustrating, repetitive & tedious for me to enjoy and it is very unpolished. Not to mentioned as an spiritual successor to Mario 64, it didn't improved much ( aside from the visuals & models ) and failed to capitalized as what Mario 64 did well. Like having to go through every main course to chase & Shadow Mario 7 more times to reach the final level instead of just collecting the amount of Shine Sprites u only need and makes collecting the extra Shine Sprite on felt useless and little less freedom on what mission u can choose and have to do arbitrary things that are mandatory is just absurd. I wouldn't call Super Mario Sunshine an bad game. But I'll be lying if I said that this is my favorite Mario game. I know this game have it's fan. But I'm not one of them. Anyways good review. Looking forward to Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 review.

[@malo932]

My favourite Mario gams

[@ridensroom6957]

I never played this when younger so have no nostalgia for this but ive never enjoyed this game. Great video

[@cyrus2546]

It’s a significant step down from 64, Galaxy 1 and 2 and Odyssey. That being said it’s not a bad game by any means but i found it to be a massive disappointment in 2002. It had the unfortunate responsibility to follow one of the greatest games of all-time. Galaxy was the sequel I wanted and was blown away when it came out.

[@nicole-nh5ix]

i think the recycled content is generally fine aside from the copy-pasted bosses which are not great and dont meaningfully change. ive seen hate for the the red coin missions but conceptually those are generally the best 3D mario missions because they're platforming-centric and open ended while still being relatively compact and focused. i think people have this "it's repetitive" meme complaint lodged into their brain in an unfortunately toxic way, which makes me sad because it can genuinely harm people's enjoyment with stuff in an unecessary way. the red coin missions are not repetitive at all because they all involve completely different platforming sequences. the coins themselves dont matter, theyre just an abstract goal, an excuse for the platforming. if the red coin missions all occured in the same prefab obstacle course pasted everywhere i'd be inclined to agree, but i think the red coin hate is really misplaced. i think if the red coins had different colors in each level and varied the number (4 orange coins, 16 white coins, etc..) people wouldnt complain so much about them even though thats a really superficial change. similarly, you could look at mario 64 as being filled with way too many "1 yellow star" missions (i dont actually believe this, just flipping the logic around) since a lot of those missions could be described as 1/8 of a red coin mission. honestly if the entire game was just red coin missions i think it would have much better design because it would be all platforming and it would make more use of the environments by telling the player to traverse it in a variety of deliberately crafted ways theres more that could be done with red coin-esque missions, like giving the coins ape escape behaviors or hiding them in enemies or causing each additional coin to increase your top speed or jump height, etc... but i think coins missions are solid becuase theyre just really honestly transparently about good direct core platforming (when they make em good at least) that being said there's a LOT of problems with sunshine it's super unfocused and misguided and, yeah, it does recycle content. idk if it's because miyamoto was less involved or because they rushed development for early gamecube blockbusters (since the ps1 beat the n64) or both. but i still love this game and i really related to the way you talked about growing up with it lol pachinko is hilarious i think its one of the rare "so bad its good" game dev moments because every time i see someone play it its all laughter and funny trepidation leading up to it you should revisit mario 3D land it's the only 3D mario where the level design owns the whole time

[@Agent1o1.]

Oh wow I’m early

[@Velixiy]

nice video

[@gabrieln8003]

still better than mario galaxy

[@blind0wl123]

If red hybrid, leviamon and numemon are yop tier then I think jellymon can do something this format, jellymon can stun tamers from suspending and can strip sources and bottom deck digimon so you have answers for numemon and leviamon

[@Aaron.___]

6:50

[@LEXICON-DEVIL]

30:00

[@seafarersubmerged3161]

hehehehe

[@cherubin7th]

Yes, but still better than Galaxy 2.

[@Kohana64]

Woah there, slow down

[@ilikesonicxbro]

no it is not. super mario galaxy 2 is best 3d mario.

[@traviscunningham7062]

Best 3D Mario tied with the original Galaxy.

[@AprilTeniente-nd5hh]

No way, Super Mario 64 is way better than Mario Galaxy games!! Lol!!!

[@ilikesonicxbro]

@@AprilTeniente-nd5hh it isn’t, that game is overrated as hell.

[@VenusFeuerFalle]

i wish SunShin was the direction the Super Mario Series went down. After NSMB I did not really enjoyed the series anymore. Galaxy 1 was disappointing as the "Next big Mario Game", and borng at latest after the first Bowser fight. Galaxy 2 felt like a DLC for the first one. The NSBM 3DSeries was pretty repetetive. Odyssey was a step into the right direction but did not even come close to Sun Shine.