Super Mario Sunshine

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Super Mario Sunshine
Developer(s)Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Yoshiaki Koizumi
Producer(s)Shigeru Miyamoto
Takashi Tezuka
Composer(s)Koji Kondo
Shinobu Tanaka
SeriesMario
Platform(s)Nintendo GameCube
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Super Mario Sunshine (スーパーマリオサンシャイン, Sūpā Mario Sanshain) is a platform game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube. It was released in Japan on July 19, 2002, in North America on August 26, 2002, and in Europe and Australia on October 4, 2002. It was the first 3D Mario platformer since the release of Super Mario 64 in 1996. Super Mario Sunshine's successor is Super Mario Galaxy, which was released for the Wii in 2007.

The game takes place on the tropical Isles of Delfino, where Mario, Toadsworth, Princess Peach and five Toads are taking a vacation. A villain resembling Mario, known as "Shadow Mario", vandalizes the entire island with graffiti, and Mario gets blamed for the mess. Later on, Mario is ordered to clean up Isle Delfino, while saving Princess Peach and Yoshi from Shadow Mario. Mario cleans up the island with a device called FLUDD invented by Professor E. Gadd.

Super Mario Sunshine was generally well-received by reviewers. The game has sold over 5.5 million copies, and was the tenth best-selling game of 2002 in the United States. Due to the game's commercial success, it was re-released as a Player's Choice title in 2003.

Gameplay

Mario using the Hover Nozzle

Super Mario Sunshine shares many similar gameplay elements with its predecessor, Super Mario 64, but it also introduces new features, like the ability to spin while jumping. FLUDD, a water-squirting accessory, is a new element in Super Mario Sunshine, which Mario uses to complete his mission. When Mario first acquires F.L.U.D.D. (an acronym for Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device), he can spray and hover in the air using its nozzles. Two other nozzles can be unlocked later in the game to extend FLUDD's functionality; the Rocket Nozzle, which blasts Mario up high into the air, and the Turbo Nozzle which lets Mario sprint at high speed on land and water, and break down doors.[1]

Mario can ride Yoshi, who can eat fruit and squirt the juice of that fruit. This juice can be used to dissolve orange generators acting as obstacles, and briefly transform enemies into platforms for Mario to step on. The color of Yoshi and the effect of its juice depends on the type of fruit last eaten. Yoshi will disappear if he touches a deep body of water or if the juice that comes from a fruit runs out.[2]

There are 240 blue coins and 120 shine sprites. The game contains a number of independent levels, which can be reached from the hub, Delfino Plaza. Gameplay is based on collecting "Shine Sprites" by completing various tasks in the levels. At first, each level features one task which may be completed to acquire a Shine Sprite. The player is then returned to Delfino Plaza and a new task is unlocked in that level.[3] Each level consists of eight tasks, which may be played again at will once they are completed.[4] Once the player has collected enough Shine Sprites, a new level is available at Delfino Plaza, either by the acquisition of a new ability or a plot-related event.[5] Shine Sprites are also available by collecting and trading blue coins.[6] Gameplay proceeds in this fashion until all of the Shadow Mario-related missions are completed, which unlocks the level containing the final boss.

Plot

The game takes place on the tropical resort of Isle Delfino, which is shaped like a dolphin and comprises ten primary locations. The island is mainly inhabited by the races Piantas and Nokis.[7] Delfino Plaza is Isle Delfino's capital and the game's main hub.

Mario sets out for Isle Delfino for a vacation with Princess Peach, her long-time steward Toadsworth, and a group of five Toads. Upon arrival, they find that the once-pristine island has been polluted and plastered with graffiti. As a result of this pollution, sun-shaped objects called "Shine Sprites", the island's sources of power, have disappeared, and the island is covered in a perpetual shadow. The culprit seen spreading the graffiti is disguised as Mario (referred to as "Shadow Mario"). Mario is promptly arrested as he arrives, falsely accused of vandalizing the island. He is put on trial, found guilty, and ordered to clean up the graffiti and recover the Shine Sprites. To help with the cleaning, Mario finds FLUDD, a powerful water cannon which is toted like a backpack. Mario sets out on an adventure to clear his name and locate the real criminal, while restoring tranquility and order to Isle Delfino.[8]

After numerous incidents, Mario follows Shadow Mario, who has kidnapped Princess Peach, to an amusement park. There, Mario defeats a huge Bowser robot being controlled by Shadow Mario. It is then revealed that Shadow Mario's real identity is Bowser Jr., the son of Bowser.[9] Bowser Jr. takes off in a hot air balloon with Princess Peach, having been told by Bowser that she is his mother. When learning the truth, Peach is visually upset for a second. He is last seen heading for Corona Mountain, a volcano where Bowser is holding a family vacation of his own. After Mario defeats Bowser Jr., still disguised as Shadow Mario, in the remaining areas of the island, he enters Corona Mountain, defeats Bowser and rescues the Princess. However, FLUDD becomes damaged during the battle with Bowser, supposedly beyond repair.[10] The Toads repair FLUDD shortly afterward and Mario, Peach and the others begin their well-deserved vacation, while Bowser admits to his son that Peach wasn't really his mother.[11]

Development

A sequel to Super Mario 64 had been in the works for several years. The cancelled games Super Mario 64 2 and Super Mario 128 were some ideas Nintendo had for a direct sequel to Super Mario 64,[12] and some elements from Super Mario 128 were used in Super Mario Galaxy.[13] Super Mario Sunshine was first shown at Nintendo Space World 2001.[14] The game was later shown again at E3 2002.[15]

In an interview about the development of Super Mario Sunshine with producer Takashi Tezuka and directors Yoshiaki Koizumi and Kenta Usui, it was mentioned that the game's development began with the idea of gameplay involving a water pump.[16] However, at first the developers thought that the world was too daringly out of character with Mario. Therefore, they tried using a man-type character, but thought this was too odd and that "if there was a man next to Mario, there is a sense of incongruity."[16] There were ten candidates for possible water nozzles, and FLUDD was chosen because of fitting in the game's setting, despite it not being one of the favorites. Some preliminary gun-like water nozzles were removed due to all the controversy in the United States.[16] They also stated that several Yoshi features were omitted, such as Yoshi vomiting water fed to him.[16]

Koji Kondo and Shinobu Tanaka composed the score to Super Mario Sunshine.[17] The soundtrack features various arrangements of classic Mario tunes, including the underground music and the main stage music from the original Super Mario Bros.[18] Super Mario Sunshine featured many of the usual voice actors for the various Nintendo characters. The voice cast consisted of Charles Martinet as Mario and Toadsworth, Jen Taylor as Princess Peach and Toad, Scott Burns as Bowser, and Dolores Rogers as Bowser Jr.[19] Other voice actors included Isaac Marshall, Kit Harris, Deanna Mustard, and Kazumi Totaka.[20]

Reception

Super Mario Sunshine was commercially successful, having sold 5.5 million copies as of June 2006.[32] In 2002, Super Mario Sunshine was the tenth best-selling game in the United States according to the NPD Group.[33] It was re-released in 2003 as part of the Player's Choice line, a selection of games with high sales sold for a reduced price.[34]

Super Mario Sunshine received critical acclaim by game reviewers. IGN praised the addition of the water backpack for improving the gameplay,[28] and GameSpy commented on the "wide variety of moves and the beautifully constructed environments".[27] The game received a perfect score from Nintendo Power, who commended the "superb graphics, excellent music, clever layouts, funny cinema scenes and ingenious puzzles".[29] GamePro also gave Super Mario Sunshine a perfect score, stating that the game was "a masterpiece of superior game design, infinite gameplay variety, creativity, and life."[4] The American-based publication Game Informer said that the game is arguably "the best Mario game to date."[25] ComputerAndVideoGames.com also mentioned the game is "better than Super Mario 64."[22] The game placed 46th in Official Nintendo Magazine's 100 greatest Nintendo games of all time.[35]

Some reviewers criticized the game. GameSpot criticized the various additions, including the water backpack and Yoshi, calling them "mere gimmicks." They also criticized the camera system, and cited that the game seemed somewhat unpolished and rushed.[26] They also criticized the voices, stating that "Super Mario Sunshine's FMV also houses some of the lousiest voice-over work to be found on the GameCube. None of the voices fit particularly well. Princess Peach sounds too ditzy, Mario is limited to grunts and other nonverbal communications, and the game's bad guys are completely miscast and downright disappointing."[26] Matt Wales of ComputerAndVideoGames.com accused the game of having a "distinct lack of polish."[36]

Legacy

Super Mario Sunshine has introduced several elements which were carried over to subsequent Mario titles. This was the first game in the Mario series which included Bowser Jr,[9] he later appeared in New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, [37][38] since then he has appeared on Mario sports games as the Mario Kart series since Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.[39] He later appeared on its sequel Super Mario Galaxy. Also Toadsworth appeared for the first time on the game,[8] since he has later appeared on various Mario games as Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Super Princess Peach.[40] The recurring character Petey Piranha, known as Boss Packun (ボスパックン) in Japan was also introduced.[41] He also appears in Mario Kart: Double Dash.[41]

This game is the first 3D Mario platformer which includes the ability to ride Yoshi and to have him change colors and powers.[2]This feature will reappear in the Wii 3D platformer Super Mario Galaxy 2.[42] This was the first platformer game to be released for the GameCube.

Sequel

A sequel to the game was made for the Wii, titled Super Mario Galaxy. A prototype of the game's physics system took three months to build, where it was decided that the game's use of spherical platforms would best be suited to planetoids in an outer space environment, with the concept of gravity as a major feature.[43] During development, the designers would often exchange ideas with Miyamoto from his office in Kyoto, where he would make suggestions to the game design.[43] Miyamoto ended up being more involved in the development of Galaxy than he did with Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. At Nintendo's E3 2007 conference, it was confirmed that Super Mario Galaxy would be released in North America on November 12, 2007 and four days later in Europe. In North America, certain retailers had given out a free limited edition coin for preordering the game. Some retailers had delayed it until November 13, 2007, such as GameStop in North America, and some retailers had delayed the release until November 14, 2007.[44] Equally, certain UK retailers shipped the game a day earlier than the European release date, for example Virgin megastores and Game.

References

  1. ^ Super Mario Sunshine instruction booklet. Nintendo. 2002. pp. 20–23.
  2. ^ a b Super Mario Sunshine instruction booklet. Nintendo. 2002. pp. 25–26.
  3. ^ Super Mario Sunshine instruction booklet. Nintendo. 2002. p. 28.
  4. ^ a b Stardingo (2002-08-26). "Super Mario Sunshine review". GamePro. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  5. ^ Mackie, Joe. "Super Mario Sunshine (JPN) Review". GamingWorld X. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  6. ^ Tboy. "Super Mario Sunshine review". GamersHell.com. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  7. ^ Super Mario Sunshine instruction booklet. Nintendo. 2002. p. 6.
  8. ^ a b Super Mario Sunshine instruction booklet. Nintendo. 2002. pp. 6–7.
  9. ^ a b Nintendo EAD (2002-08-26). Super Mario Sunshine (Nintendo GameCube). Nintendo. Peach: So you're Bowser's son?
  10. ^ Nintendo EAD (2002-08-26). Super Mario Sunshine (Nintendo GameCube). Nintendo. Bowser Jr.: Someday... when I'm bigger... I wanna fight that Mario again!
  11. ^ Nintendo EAD (2002-08-26). Super Mario Sunshine (Nintendo GameCube). Nintendo. FLUDD: The vacation starts now!
  12. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-08-21). "Miyamoto Opens the Vault". IGN. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  13. ^ Williams, Bryn (2007-03-08). "Miyamoto's Creative Vision". GameSpy. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  14. ^ "Spaceworld 2001: Mario Sunshine Impressions". IGN. 2001-08-22. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  15. ^ "E3 2002: First Look: Nintendo's Booth". IGN. 2002-05-20. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  16. ^ a b c d Anthony JC (August 2007). "The Making of The Game - Super Mario Sunshine". Nintendo Online Magazine. N-Sider. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
  17. ^ "Super Mario Sunshine Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  18. ^ Majaski, Craig. "Super Mario Sunshine review". Gaming Age. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  19. ^ "Full cast and crew for Super Mario Sunshine". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  20. ^ "Super Mario Sunshine Credits". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  21. ^ "Super Mario Sunshine Review". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  22. ^ a b "Super Mario Sunshine". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  23. ^ Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis: 198. 2002. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  24. ^ Bramwell, Tom (2002-10-04). "Super Mario Sunshine Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  25. ^ a b Reiner, Andrew (September 2002). "Super Mario Sunshine". Game Informer. Retrieved 2009-04-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ a b c Gerstmann, Jeff (2002-08-25). "Super Mario Sunshine review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2005-11-18.
  27. ^ a b Guzman, Hector (2002-08-26). "Super Mario Sunshine review". GameSpy. Retrieved 2006-05-03.
  28. ^ a b Mirabella III, Fran (2002). "Super Mario Sunshine review". IGN. Retrieved 2006-05-03.
  29. ^ a b Nintendo Power. Nintendo: 160. 2002. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  30. ^ "Super Mario Sunshine reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  31. ^ "Super Mario Sunshine reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  32. ^ Boutros, Daniel (2006-08-04). "A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  33. ^ "The NPD Group Reports Annual 2002 U.S. Video Game Sales Break Record". NPD Group. 2003-01-27. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  34. ^ Calvert, Justin (2003-09-09). "Nintendo Player's Choice range grows". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  35. ^ "60-41 ONM". ONM. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  36. ^ Wales, Matt (2006-05-17). "Super Mario Galaxy preview". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  37. ^ Nintendo EAD (May 15, 2006). New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo DS). Nintendo.
  38. ^ "New Super Mario Bros. Wii Stage Demo" (Flash). GameSpot. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  39. ^ Alfonso, Andrew. "Mario Kart: Double Dash‼ Guide – Secrets". IGN. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  40. ^ "Princess Peach: Feminist?". Coin Heaven. 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  41. ^ a b "MARIO KART - Double Dash!! The strongest character lineup of history". Nintendo. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  42. ^ "Super Mario Galaxy 2 E3 09: Debut Trailer". GameTrailers. June 2, 2009. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
  43. ^ a b "How Super Mario Galaxy was Born". Nintendo. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  44. ^ "Clearing up the GameStop release date confusion". Go Nintendo. 2007-11-03. Retrieved 2007-11-12.

External links

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