Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Sunshine is the latest platformer console title in the Mario series. It was released in the U.S. on August 26, 2002, nine months after the release of the GameCube. It is the first game on the Nintendo GameCube to exclusively feature Mario, though he appeared in Luigi's Mansion and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Super Mario Sunshine was one of the first GameCube games to become a Player's Choice title. Mario sets out for the prestigious tropical retreat Isle Delfino, for a well-deserved vacation with Princess Peach and Toadsworth. Upon arrival, Mario finds that the once-pristine island has been vandalized with graffiti. As a result of this pollution, the island's source of power, star-shaped creatures called Shine Sprites, have dispersed and the island is covered in a perpetual shadow. Even worse, the culprit seen spreading the graffiti is disguised as Mario; thus, Mario is promptly arrested as soon as his plane lands.
Mario is put on trial, found guilty, and is ordered to clean up the mess and return the Shine Sprites. To help with the cleaning, Mario is given FLUDD, a powerful water cannon toted like a backpack. Mario sets out on his adventure vowing to clear his name and locate the real criminal while restoring tranquility and order to Isle Delfino. The Mario look-alike is referred to as "Shadow Mario" and it is later revealed that Shadow Mario is in fact Bowser Jr., one of Bowser's children. It should be noted that Bowser actually speaks with his voice instead of the usual growl!
Super Mario Sunshine is the first game where Mario extensively uses an accessory to complete his mission. FLUDD features spray and hovering capabilities when it is first acquired; other nozzles can be unlocked to extend FLUDD's functionality, such as the Rocket Nozzle which propels Mario high into the air, and the Turbo Nozzle that lets Mario sprint on land and water, as well as break down wooden doors.
The game contains a number of independent levels, which can be reached from Delfino Plaza (the hub or overworld). Gameplay is based around collecting Shine Sprites by completing various tasks in the levels and overworld.
At first, each level features one task which may be completed to acquire a Shine. The player is then returned to Delfino Plaza and a new task is unlocked on the level they just played. Each level consists of up to ten of these tasks, which may be played again at will once they are completed. Once the player has collected enough Shines in total, a new level is available at Delfino Plaza, either by the acquisition of a new ability or some plot-related event. Shines are also available by collecting Blue Coins. Ten of these coins may be traded for one Shine in the overworld.
Gameplay proceeds in this fashion until all of the Shadow Mario–related missions are completed, which unlocks the level containing the final boss. As the total number of Shine Sprites available at any given point is greater than the number of Shine Sprites needed to unlock the next level, the player may choose which tasks they want to attempt.
In homage to Super Mario World, Mario can also ride Yoshi in this game. Yoshi can be used to eat certain insects and birds to produce yellow or blue coins or Shine Sprites. Yoshi can also eat fruit and squirt the juice of that fruit. This juice can be used to dissolve certain kinds of goop acting as obstacles as well as to briefly transform enemies into platforms for Mario to step on. The color of the Yoshi as well as the effect of its juice depend on the type of fruit last eaten.
Koji Kondo and Shinobu Tanaka produced the music for this game.
Bosses
The main bosses of the game that are powerful and rule a dominion of enemies are:
- Gooper Blooper, who controls the Bloopers of Ricco Harbor and appears in two of the harbor's episodes and one of Noki Bay's.
- Petey Piranha, who controls the Pirahna Plants of Bianco Hills and appears in two of its episodes.
- Eely Mouth, who's taken up residence under Noki Bay and is poisioning it with purple sludge.
- King Boo, who controls Sirena Beach's Boos and only appears in Sirena Beach's Episode Five, although he is still powerful.
- Bowser, the final boss of the game, is sitting in the hot tub with Peach in Corona Mountain when Mario must defeat him.
Shadow Mario/Bowser Jr., who, although causing the whole island's issues, never actually is the boss of a level, besides every level's one Shadow Mario chase episode.
Locations
- Delfino Airstrip is the small local airport where Princess Peach and Mario land in their airplane to start their vacation on Isle Delfino. The story also begins here, as this is where players are introduced to the concept of cleaning up the game's areas, as well as the introduction to the plot.
- Delfino Plaza is the main city on Isle Delfino, and appears to function as the capital city of the island, as this is where Mario is put on trial for his crimes. The city is of debatable national origin, as everyone there speaks English but all of the accessible area names mean something in Italian, though some might take these names to not mean anything. This town is where Mario can access all other areas of the game and it is where the story is advanced also. Princess Peach is kidnapped from Delfino Plaza, and all of her Toad assistants remain here as well. Later in the story, the city is horribly flooded as a result of malfeasance on the part of Bowser. It is shown again in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as where the trophies are handed out and where the parades take place and again in Mario Kart DS as its own racetrack, called "Delfino Square."
- Bianco Hills is a small village northwest of Delfino Plaza and seems to function as a suburb. The small village is famed for its windmills and also contains a lake and a large central windmill. The town is besieged by various evils during Mario's adventures there, including two devastating attacks by Piranha Plants and Petey Piranha. The village is nicknamed "Windmill Suburb", though it is often covered in mudlike goop called Earth Goop.
- Ricco Harbor is an industrial area just off to the west of Delfino Plaza, and is a major shipping port. At any given time, several ships are in the harbor, shipping off various goods to the other parts of the island and, as would seem to be logical, to other parts of the world. A farmer's market is also found here. The harbor is attacked by a giant squid named Gooper Blooper on several occasions. The water in the harbor is frequently polluted with black Water Goop. It also appears in other games like Mario Power Tennis with the name Blooper Bay.
- Gelato Beach is a peaceful, eternally sunny beach in the middle of a large bay. Along with Pinna Park, it is the only course in the game which does not require the cleaning up of goo, but rather the completing of challenges including taking down Cataquacks, stopping an angry Wiggler, and competing in a watermelon contest. In the middle of the beach, there is an enormous tower devoted to capturing sunlight and using it to warm the egg of a giant sandbird.
- Pinna Park is actually on a separate island, but is very close to Isle Delfino and is separated from it by a small strait. There are actually two parts to Pinna Island — its small beach and the amusement park which takes up the rest of the island while it's beach has large, talking sunflowers. The park must close when it is attacked by a cannon-wielding Monty Mole,, and it is completely disrupted when a gigantic mechanized Bowser robot attacks, and Snooze-A-Koopas weakening the sunflowers. Due to the population of Electrokoopas and Electrowallkoopas on the rest of the island, the park is suffering from a lack of visitors. Eventually a large Koopa causes the ferris wheel to spin out of control.
- Sirena Beach is another beach located on the far side of the bay from Delfino Plaza. A world-class hotel and a spectacular beach are here. According to the game, it is a favorite retreat for couples. The hotel is somewhat disrupted when attacked by a large, manta ray–like ghost that leaves a trail of blue and yellow Thunder Goop and King Boo and his ghosts.
- Noki Bay is on the far side of the island and is home to the Nokis, one of two races that live Isle Delfino. The first time Mario visits, the water is found to be horribly polluted and is dangerous to touch. Despite battling Monty Mole and Gooper Blooper again, the source of the pollution is found to be a gigantic underwater eel named Eely Mouth with gingivitis. According to the game, the gigantic waterfall is the main tourist attraction in the bay.
- Pianta Village is the ancestral home of the Piantas, the other of the two races who live on Isle Delfino. The most prominent feature of the world is that the entire village is built on a massive tree that extends its branches over a canyon that seems to be endlessly deep. This is to keep the Piantas safe from predators. There's also a village underside containing large mushrooms, but some Wind Sprites will attack. The village is frequented by orange Fire Goop.
- Corona Mountain is a large volcano in the middle of the island and it is where Mario's final battle takes place. Unlike most other areas, Corona Mountain is composed of one level—that is, one trip through will complete the game.
Secret Levels
Every area in the game has one or two secret levels. These are never part of the regular area and are usually inside an alcove (barred off after defeating the level). These secret levels start with a short cutscene of Mario falling through a white area and Shadow Mario stealing FLUDD, thus leaving Mario only to rely on his acrobatic skills.
These levels have a remix of the original Mario music (Super Mario Bros. for NES) in vocals [Doo doo doo, do doo da doo...] and snapping fingers.
Secret levels are staged in an apparently infinite void in which Mario falls and loses a life if he loses his footing on an object, with platforms and they feature many obstacles, and here are some of them...
- Orange and blue platforms that flip constantly. You must jump on these from orange to blue because they flip at different times.
- Long, square-faced wooden blocks with colored knobs that rotate and you must run along the long dimension or risk being flipped off.
- Cubes made of glass with white edges that have colored corners that frequently sit at the edge of a platform (or shortly off it). These will carry Mario on the top and move to otherwise-unreachable platforms as they rotate and turn.
- Blocks made of sand that crumble as Mario steps on them (but regenerate shortly). These are often arranged into a long path that crumbles if not crossed swiftly or a sand castle that has to be navigated through that is continually breaking apart.
- Blocks that disappear regardless if you step on them. They are very tricky and are tough to move across without falling.
- Moving yoshi-egg patterned blocks that move in a pattern and must be jumped across in order.
These levels can also be revisited, but FLUDD will be accessible to aid in movement. There is also a red or pink switch that, when pressed, makes Red Coins appear throughout the level and sets off a timer. The red coins must be collected before the timer runs out or Mario loses a life and has to restart the level.
It is also a note that, when losing a life on the secret levels, Mario will restart at the starting point of the level as opposed to dying anywhere else, whereas he weould be returned to Delfino Plaza (except when he loses all lives, when he would invariably be returned to the plaza).
Glitches
In SMS, there are very few glitches that escaped the programming team. There is one known one:
In Delfino Plaza, directly behind the street with fruit on it, there is a Pianta lady with a basket. To the left (facing the wall), there is a window with a ledge and a small area Mario can walk into. Sometimes, if Mario does a Side Somersault and a Wall Kick, then hovers with FLUDD over the window (revealing a Coin) to the roof and hovers over the roof directly over the window with FLUDD (and a little back from the window), then drops on the roof, he will drop down into an area inside the building that is pure blue, with partly Delfino Plaza visible and partly blue. He will stand there for a few seconds before displaying "Too bad!" and taking away one of Mario's lives.
