20th anniversary of release! Looking back on Super Mario Sunshine -Is it the most difficult in 3D Mario?

Nintendo's 3D action game Super Mario Sunshine released for Game Cube celebrated its 20th anniversary on July 19, 2002. So, in this article, let's look back on those days, including events that occurred before and after this work and the characteristics of gameplay. The screenshot in the article is from Super Mario 3D Collection.

• Game Cube and Mario in Nintendo's great transformation
• Super Mario Sunshine is noticeable among the many series works
• Difficulty is the best 3D Mario Super Mario Sunshine
• Super Mario Sunshine that is difficult but cannot be overlooked

Game Cube and Mario in Nintendo's great transformation

May 1999, before the announcement of Super Mario Sunshine. During the E3 period, the code name Dolphin was announced (PC Watch) as the console machine after Nintendo 64 (PC Watch). The development of the view was starting to occur in Nintendo. Reminiscent of them is Shigeru Miyamoto about works after Dolphin and Mario 64, etc. Shigeru Miyamoto talks. This is an interview.

According to a total of six interviews, it has been a work since the first appearance in 1981 to the time of 1999 that Mario changed as a character for a young age group. The V-sign was banned ** (in fact, the work after Sunshine would not make a V-sign. Janken, but it was revived from Odyssey in 2017 (Nintendo Dream)), Nintendo has been regarded as a company that is suitable for a young age, considering where the surprising game coming out of the existing frame comes from, the end of the era where it is interesting just by 3D action... It is said that the content that seems to lead to Nintendo's stance in the zero age is somewhat.

The change was happening on the hardware side. Nintendo 64, the previous generation of the game cube, was difficult to read the limits of hardware, and spent a lot of time in optimization and tuning (ASCII magazine) was a major problem (sin and punishment in 2009). Interview with the Successor of the Universe also mentions the difficulty of developing in the N64).

In the concept of Game Cube, which was officially announced in August 2000 and comments at the announcement event (ASCII magazine), you can feel the intention of changing to a specification that is easy for developers to produce in GC. It is also said that it was in the development of Super Mario Sunshine when the Mario 128 was announced.

Super Mario Sunshine was announced in August 2001 (GAME WATCH), but the title at that time was Mario Sunshine (provisional). Nintendo itself also retired in May 2002, and was renewed into a new system because Satoshi Iwata, who was president at the HAL Research Institute, took over the appointment. And the development of Super Mario Sunshine was completed in May 2002 (in addition, this announcement also mentioned the title for the high age group).

A variety of events overlap, such as a new system from Mr. Yamauchi to Mr. Iwata's president, a change in the appeal of Mario itself, a developer friendly game cube, and a GC price reduction (GAME WATCH magazine) in June of the same year. The game was completed in May (Dengeki Online Magazine). In Japan, Super Mario Sunshine was sent out to the world on July 19, 2002. In the same work, not only the production but also the gameplay itself was different from before, as symbolized by the above changes.

Super Mario Sunshine is noticeable among the many series works

In this work, the hero Mario faces the difficulty of false accusation. He came to sightseeing by plane with Princess Peach to Dolpic Island, and was mistaken for a Nisemario that polluts the city with a liquid like a paint like paint, and is punished. Mario wears a pump developed by Dr. Oya Ma and collects shine from each stage while cleaning the city. Explore the abnormalities and the truth of Nisemario.

Not only did modern equipment appear in earnest, but Mario, who is guilty as a result of the trial, is described as a result of the trial, and the Mario series has clearly noticeable expressions and productions. It was shocking.

The depiction different from the previous series will be seen in the opening of the aforementioned opening, and will be seen as much as possible to avoid the promises that has been accumulated so far. For example, Hatena blocks do not appear in this work, and familiar enemy characters such as Kribo do not appear. Mario stops giving V-signs as mentioned above, and if it does not transform, the culprit of the situation is not Bowser (hostile).

In an interview with Nintendo Online Magazine, This work is a world view that is not like Mario, he mentioned that I was aiming for a work that was not in the Mario series so far. You will be convinced.

Difficulty is the best 3D Mario Super Mario Sunshine

What is featured in the game play of Super Mario Sunshine, which has abolished its promises so far is the pump that Mario gets in the flow of the story. Instead of the no punch+kick that existed in Super Mario 64, it was a major feature that it brought a new element in the action, aim, hits, and expanded physical abilities with hover nozzles and rocket nozzles.

The action itself has been brushed up from Mario 64 as the top, and the GC controller gives a pleasant operation feeling with the new Mario behavior, such as adjusting the hydropower of the pump with an Z trigger. 。

However, although there is a legitimate freshness as a 3D action game, the heterogeneity that has been mentioned so far appears in the difficulty of the stage.

Although the stage variations are decreasing than Super Mario 64, the difficulty of the same work, which includes tricky courses and boss battles, is higher from the beginning, and includes not only athletic elements but also a little puzzle element. It is. How did you see the gamers at the time of Nintendo's Mario, which is chewy from the beginning?

The same is true for boss battles, such as Boss Papun, such as a simple way to turn it over and hip-drop to a weak point, but in Mechakuppa, a roller coaster is hitting a rocket, and in Bostelesa, which fights on the roulette, pepper. Some bosses were subtly twisted, such as being required to appear and feed them.

It is no exaggeration to say that the secret course is a symbol of the high difficulty of Super Mario Sunshine. Because Nisemario is deprived of a familiar pump through this work, the arrangement BGM of the classic songs resounds, the strictness of adjusting the difficulty and capturing a map that contains puzzle elements is relentlessly hitting the player. Because it comes.

There is no checkpoint on the way, and the scaffold is a huge cube that rotates to the front, back, left and right, and a rectangle that rotates horizontally. I can't forget that I made a mistake and slipped down many times (although 1UP mushrooms are still installed in various places, and of course there are traces of trying to balance). Nevertheless, these high difficult stages seemed to express the original fun of the platformers centered on jumping in 3D Mario.

Super Mario Sunshine that is difficult but cannot be overlooked

Super Mario Sunshine released in 2002 was a legacy hardware because there was no chance to be transplanted once for 18 years before it was reprinted in the Super Mario 3D Collection released in 2020. After it, it was 3D Mario, which was hard to touch in the series.

This time, even if I played again for articles, the heterogeneity and difficulty remained impressive (I felt the impression of the age group higher than Mario's work in the 90's), but it is a tropical liberation. It is a title that does not hurt to play, including the atmosphere and the fun of the Male and Monte lines.

In addition, if you read an interview with Nintendo's President about the Mario series, the title after Super Mario Sunshine states that the story and the direction of the character design are changed. This may be a work that created a break in the Mario series in a sense (in addition, NES in 2005, not direct reference, but in 2005, Super Mario Brothers. It seems that each of them celebrated the 20th anniversary).

At the end. In retrospect, it seems that the games in the first half of the zero age, where Super Mario Sunshine was released, was asked how to express water. At the same time, MGS2 represented rain and water droplets, Onimusha 2 represented the waves on the coast, and the blitz ball and the cut scene in FF10 and the water polo. You can feel the kind of challenge you face.

In order to play Super Mario Sunshine from now on, the Super Mario 3D Collection, which has been ported for the current machine, is desirable, but it was sold for a limited time from September 2020 to March 2021. Sales in the version are over. The hurdle is a little higher because you need to look for a new or used package version at the store. That said, at least in 2022 at the time of this article, it would not be so difficult to find it at the store.

It is a title that is noticeable as a 3D action game, but why not touch it again as a work that enjoys summer vacation?