Super Mario Sunshine is the true sequel to Mario 64. It looks and plays in a similar manner, with some cool new innovative elements thrown into the mix. The new water pack gives Mario all sorts of new moves. In standard mode the pack will shoot out water from the nozzle, allowing Mario to clean up messes as well as hit enemies with a quick blast of water. By pressing the “R” button all the way in via the digital click, Mario can aim the cannon more precisely with the control stick and take out baddies with no problem. Of course the water pack has more nozzles that give it new abilities. The one that Mario starts of with is the hover nozzle. Pressing “X” will split the main nozzle into two smaller ones that point at the ground. Pressing the “R” button shoots out two streams of water on the ground, thus allowing Mario to hover great distances. Combine this with some high acrobatic climbing and Mario will be able to reach more areas than ever. More nozzles exist in the game giving the game even more gameplay mechanics, but it’s best to discover them on your own. It’s much more fun that way.

Playing Super Mario Sunshine will bring a smile to nearly every gamers face. The game is simply a joy to play. The control is spot-on and the sheer amount of activity going on in each level is a refreshing change from Mario 64. The main hub area (think of it as the castle from Mario 64) has so many different things to do and villagers to talk to that I found myself a couple hours into the game without progressing to any other level except one. Speaking of levels, they appear as you collect shines (the equivalent of stars from Mario 64). Upon entering these levels you will be given a specific task to complete to obtain another shine. This makes the game more linear than Mario 64 since you cannot try to complete other tasks in that level until you’ve finished the one at hand. Also, since the game takes place on a tropical island, many of the levels will have a familiar look to them, although each and everyone is brilliantly designed. Just don’t expect the familiar snow or underwater-specific levels like past Mario games.

The graphics in Super Mario Sunshine are excellent. There has been some debate regarding the quality of the textures in the game. While some of them could have possibly been better looking, the fact is the game is gorgeous the way it is. Most levels are quite big and there’s no sign of pop-up and hardly any slow down (every now and then it does creep up when using the water cannon with a lot going on). The water effects in this game blow all others away. The waves slowly creep onto the sandy beaches and if you decide to swim out a bit you’ll be riding the waves just like in real life. Elsewhere in the game you’ll come across smooth lakes that reflect your surroundings perfectly. If you jump in the water the reflections will ripple flawlessly, giving the game a more realistic touch in a very bright and cartoon-like game. Even the water Mario pumps out of his water pack is great looking. If he sprays the ground long enough a puddle will form and it will reflect him as well as the surrounding area. The programming involved in this regard is quite amazing when you think about it. Anywhere in the game Nintendo had to be prepared to have a reflection of the objects on screen incase a player decided to spray the ground. Other cool effects, like sand particles when Mario runs, perfect mirror reflections, lens flares, and other minute details are littered throughout the game making this the best looking Mario game to date, and quite possibly the best looking platform game on any system.

The music in this game truly rocks. It’s a traditional Mario-esque soundtrack with a tropical twist. There are some fantastic tracks in this game that really get inside your head. I promise you’ll be whistling tunes from this game weeks later and not even realize it. Some classic tracks make it back as well, like the underground music and main stage music from the original Super Mario Bros. For those of you with Dolby Pro Logic receivers, the game supports your sound setup, as well as Pro Logic II. The game utilizes the rear speakers quite a bit and further immerses the player in the environment. About the only things that could be improved in the audio department are the character voices. Peach sounds very odd because her voice is so darn high pitched and Mario barely utters a word. Let’s just say that if Nintendo decides to put voices in the next Mario game I hope they utilize some better voice talent or better audio compression methods to make it sound clear and halfway decent.

The challenge level in Mario Sunshine is a bit higher than in previous Mario installments. Part of this is due to the linear level design. In Mario 64 if you could be in a level and try to get a star, but if you were having problems you could try to get all the red coins or go on a different path to beat the level. Sure, you’d have to eventually get that star if you wanted to collect them all, but at least you were given options, which meant most gamers avoided frustration. In Mario Sunshine you have to complete the objective given to you. So, if it says collect all red coins in a given level, then to progress further in that level you must first collect the coins. If you’re having problems with this task you could quite easily become stumped with nothing else to do. Granted, you could tackle a different level, providing you weren’t stuck on that one as well. I, for one, welcome the challenging atmosphere that the game provides, but I can see some younger kids becoming frustrated quite easily. Another minor snafu is the camera. I must say that I prefer a camera that gives me total control at all times versus a camera that keeps on panning back and forth. Mario 64 had some camera issues because at times it wouldn’t allow the camera to move to the right spot. Mario Sunshine pretty much solves that and gives the player total control, however the caveat is that the player must constantly control the camera in the game. This is done via the “C” stick and is easy enough to learn, but can become tedious on certain levels where one bad jump starts you over. One great aspect Nintendo did change is that if Mario gets stuck behind a wall or another object you will still be able to see his silhouette through the object so you never lose sight of him. Unfortunately this is only partially effective because you still can’t see the pitfalls that may await Mario. Perhaps Nintendo should consider making the object transparent so the player never has his field of view obstructed.

At the end of the day, Super Mario Sunshine was definitely worth the wait. It’s the most fun I’ve had on my GameCube so far, with the notable exception of Animal Crossing (review forthcoming). Mario Sunshine has more to offer than any other action platform game on the market today. Nintendo has injected the game with fun, something many games seem to lack nowadays. It’s refreshing to see Nintendo hasn’t lost its touch when it comes to its high profile titles. This one’s definitely a keeper that any self-respecting GameCube owner simply must have in his or her library.