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[SantaC]

I don't know about you but I get the impression that SMS can be labeled as an underrated game. It didn't achieve the usual mario AAA reviews, and Sunshine was critisized of not being revolutionary. It's said it was too similar to Mario 64, and that the waterpack was a gimmick.

Two summers later I still remember the joy I had with Sunshine. It's not an average game, it's a good game. I even see it as a great game. The bonus levels are difficult, and pure joy. (remember the coins on that flying bird? argh that was hard)

The controls are great, the graphics and music are okay, and if you are looking to collect all shines you are in for it.

Biggest problem with SMS as I see it is that the level design is very uneven. Some levels are great, while others are just ok. The theme park level is a standout!

When you talk about great nintendo games today, SMS isn't mentioned, and I think it's kinda unfair. It didn't live up to Mario 64's greatness, but it's still the best GC game if you are into platforming. Summer 2002 was the alot better than 2003 and 2004 (so far)

 

[8bit]

It's good fun, but not the second coming of Christ that many hoped for.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

its good, its just that it had such a huge legacy to live up to. It was almost impossible. Still, probably my 2nd favorite platformer this gen, behind Maximo.

 

[SolidSnakex]

"I don't know about you but I get the impression that SMS can be labeled as an underrated game. It didn't achieve the usual mario AAA reviews,"

It averages a 92% at GameRankings, by comparison Mario 64 averages a 94.2% there. It's definetly not something that'd qualify as underrated imo.

 

[SantaC]

"I don't know about you but I get the impression that SMS can be labeled as an underrated game. It didn't achieve the usual mario AAA reviews,"

It averages a 92% at GameRankings, by comparison Mario 64 averages a 94.2% there. It's definetly not something that'd qualify as underrated imo.

Well if you don't take gamrrankings into account and just take the general word for the game it could probably be labeled underrated.

 

[cvxfreak]

I really love Super Mario Sunshine because it's such a fun game - I don't care whether it matches up SM64 because the only game that can do that is a remake of SM64 or SM64 itself.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Well with fans in general, Mario 64 is held to a very high standard so it was going to be hard for Mario Sunshine to ever top it in alot of peoples minds. But alot of them would still agree that it's one of the best if not the best platformer of this generation. It has it's problems, but it still does alot right.

 

[ourumov]

I have yet to touch it...SMS let me touch you !!!

 

[op_ivy]

itsa good game, but IMO the level design wasnt what it could (and should) have been. cant even hold a candle to mario 64

 

[FightyF]

I think it got the right amount of recognition. I consider it a great game too. But it could have been better, IMO. You couldn't say something like that about Mario 64.

"Mario 64 could have been better." <--- it just seems like a ridiculous comment

 

[Kobun Heat]

I think the anticipation level was so impossibly high that nothing could have lived up to it. It definitely had its problems here and there, but I loved the shit out of it. I played it non-stop, like from 9 AM to 2 AM a couple of days in a row, until I'd beaten it. And then about half as frequently to get all the shines...

 

[puck1337]

I don't think it was necessarily underscored by reviewers, and it still sold well, but the hardcore gamers certainly hate on it a lot.

 

[CrisKre]

Its not suddenly. Imo it has been underrated by jaded gamers all along...

 

[Guzim]

I think Sunshine is a great game. It would have sold alot more if it wasn't for the crappy commercial.

 

[El Papa]

I thought the commercial was funny.

 

[border]

Bleh, I still say it's overrated....take out Mario, insert one of NaughtyDog/Insomniac's atrocious mascots, and the game would have averaged 85% or less at Gamerankings or the other metacritic sites. The notoriety and Nintendo connection made people overlook the camera problems and repetitiveness as much as it made them complain about it.

 

[Defensor]

Well, we all know Extended Play's review of Super Mario Sunshine wasn't biased:

"So what does Extended Play give the new Super Mario Sunshine?..... Who cares it's a new Mario game, 5 out of 5!"

 

[ferricide]

Bleh, I still say it's overrated....take out Mario, insert one of NaughtyDog/Insomniac's atrocious mascots, and the game would have averaged 85% or less at Gamerankings or the other metacritic sites.

i'd argue the exact opposite -- if someone else had made this game besides nintendo, they would've been hailed as the new fucking game design messiahs.

it's a great game. fuck the haters.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Great game, should have had greater levels variety.

 

[olimario]

Id argue the opposite as well. Replace Mario and claim it's from Insomniac and everyone will wonder how Insomniac drastically improved character control and weight over their previous title. I also find SMS's camera to be the best of any 3d platformer.

 

[border]

But there isn't really anything in there that makes you think "The people who made this are game design messiahs". If you put in another character you would see get very Banjo-Kazooie-esque backlash, wherein people would just regard it as a second-rate collection-oriented Mario 64 ripoff.

 

[Kobun Heat]

i'd argue the exact opposite -- if someone else had made this game besides nintendo, they would've been hailed as the new fucking game design messiahs.

That's exactly what I thought as soon as the reviews started coming out.

 

[ToyMachine228]

I really loved Super Mario Sunshine, and I don't care what anyone else has to say about it. I think that the controls are pretty unprecidented, for any kind of game, and aside from the final Bowser battle, was complete and utter joy. The best platformer of the gen if you ask me.

 

[SolidSnakex]

i'd argue the exact opposite -- if someone else had made this game besides nintendo, they would've been hailed as the new fucking game design messiahs.

I doubt it, platformers that have revolved around collecting haven't been as well recieved as they were last gen. That's due in large part to Insomniac cutting them out of R&C and the many other platformers following them. That type of game design just doesn't work as well for people now.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

SMS doesn't revolve around collecting. Unless you mean the blue/gold coin stuff, which yes, are annoying, but its optional and i didn't even bother to do those from the start. Probably why i enjoyed it more than others i guess.

 

[skip]

SMS wasn't really about collecting. yes, you had to get shines at the end of levels, but you had to progress through the level point A -> point B, and the way you did that changed for each particular shine. they just masked that very well.

I don't know if I'd call SMS underrated, but definitely underappreciated.

 

[Kobun Heat]

SMS doesn't have shit to do with collecting. You CAN go find all the blue coins, but finding them is about solving puzzles and traversing platforms, not about just running around like a moron picking them up. Every blue coin has some little trick behind it.

Not to mention the fact that they're not necessary unless you want all the shines.

 

[Kai Dracon]

SMS = hardcore hatred.

IMHO, SMS is technically the best platformer of this generation by a head and a half. I say technically, because it does have some issues, including uneven level design. However the engine, the physics, the interaction with the environment, the subtle design details, and the Best Hub World Ever can't be topped for me. Insommiac and Naughty Dog still have some things to learn about intricate character interactions with the environment, though Naughty Dog much less so than "ice skating" Rachet. In some ways, SMS is better than Mario 64 - I feel it has better control, physics, and a fantastic feeling of "I can do something with EVERY FUCKIN' SURFACE around me!"

 

[Bog]

I imported it and wasn't disappointed at all. Best platformer this generation, easily.

 

[Mejilan]

My favorite 3D platformer this gen too, followed by Rayman 2 and then Rayman 3. (Rayman 2 DID come out on the PS2 after all... it counts!)

I loved it MUCH more than SM64, which, admittedly, I thought was pretty crappy. While it had more interesting worlds than SMS, SMS provided the gameplay I wanted but didn't find in SM64.

 

[jedimike]

Hell no - I had more fun with the Sphinx and Cursed Mummy platformer.

 

[Keio]

I still go back to SMS often.

I also think it really exemplifies this generation: it has better gfx than Mario 64, but most of the stuff we have already seen. "What has been is what will be, and what
has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun."

Either gaming has to get rid of it's neophilia, a crazy fetishization of the "new", or someone must come up with more brilliant ideas.

I can easily see anticipated games like Halo 2 being underappreciated much in the same way as SMS by a certain group. Mario's waterpack == dual wielded guns, at least on a philosophical level when discussing innovation.

 

[Error Macro]

I loved Sunshine. I never completed it, and I haven't really touched it in the 2 years since. I think this summer I will play through Sunshine again, and hopefully finish it this time.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Anyone who expected anything besides an evolution of the mario 64 formula out of SMS was disappointed. Which they shouldn't have, considering everyone knew the design of the game before it came out was exactly like Mario 64.


I never understand the arguments saying that FLUDD was a "gimmick" For some reason, everything Nintendo does now gets labeled as gimmicky. :/

The blue coins in SMS were pretty fun if you collected them as you worked your way through levels. If you got all the normal shines first, and then got all the blue coins, it got to be a pain. But if you collected the blue coins as you completed shine objectives, it was a blast.

SMS was a great game. I think the hype was too much for it, though. People expected something of Mario 64 revolution proportions.

I must say, however, that the Clean is Better Than Dirty commercial was the worst video game commercial I have EVER seen. :X

 

[SA-X]

SMS needed more of the secret areas where you didn't use the waterpack the first time and then got to use the waterpack for the red coin challenge, now that was fun shit. The Blue and Gold coin collecting was a pain in the ass though. And they needed more worlds with more level variety. Overall its a great game, but it could have been a lot better.

I think the reason people think that the waterpack was a gimmick is because Luigi's mansion was seen as a gimmicky type of game and then they all saw Mario with the waterpack and thought the same thing again. The waterpack was awesome though.

 

[Grubdog]

The only thing that annoyed me about SMS, after a while, was the 'vacation' theme. It just made everything seem so dull, if only they had thrown an ice level/more variety into the mix. But yeah, the game is awesome, I love it to death, I still think the FLUDD mechanics are absolutely brilliant.

And the SMS commercial is one of the best commercials i've ever seen, in a hilarious way. Come on, nobody actually took that seriously did they? DID THEY? :\

 

[Error Macro]

The only thing that annoyed me about SMS, after a while, was the 'vacation' theme. It just made everything seem so dull, if only they had thrown an ice level/more variety into the mix.

Ha, I was just about to say the same thing. To me, Mario games have always been about level variety. The absolute pinnacle of this, to me, was SMB3's themed worlds. Why can't they do something like that again? Next best thing was Super Mario 64's different levels, though they were broken down into simpler terms, i.e. grassland level, snow level, water level, fire/lava level, ghost level. Those themes just weren't there in Sunshine. I mean yeah, each level was different, but the overlying "vacation" theme kind of killed some of the potential of the game. Still has some fantastic moments though, like the rollercoaster ride, the different beaches, the lovely water, and my favorite moment of being of able to look out across the ocean during sunset with that lovely music playing on that one ghost level. Beautiful.

 

[Duke Juan the Beast]

Overrated.

1) Overall level design wasn't up to snuff for a Mario game
2) Some repetitive and non-fun gameplay mechanics (ie racing against that masked homo)
3) Seemed rushed. (ie repeated missions, final level too short, so so graphics)

The fact that Sunshine is only comparable to other platformers released this gen says a lot, Mario games of the past would always be the standard that the others had to live up to. An overall dissapointing effort from Nintendo on a key franchise.

 

[drohne]

no. its level design still sucks. as such it remains grossly overrated. there's little excuse for the game to be materially so much worse than mario 64.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

I'm mixed on this game still.

The goals are what killed it for me in the end, I think. Doing the same stuff over and over throughout each level just got mind numbing. I was tired of Shadow Mario by the second time I had to chase him.

While I admit I would have preferred more level variety, I did enjoy most of the levels anyway. Particularly the one with the changing cliffside landscape. Between that and the subzone levels, I'd have to say it's the best pure platform jumping game I've played in a good, long while.

I freaking hate the haunted hotel level though.

 

[seismologist]

I like the controls for this game. There were some cool parts but I'm not a big fan of the mission gameplay.
I still think it's one of the more enjoyable ploatformers to play. I like the sludge and bouncing on ropes action.

But I wish it had a more linear progression like Ratchet and Clank.

 

[Matlock]

I dunno about you guys, but I thought it was better than Mario 64.

Hell, give me a game filled with those void levels (128 would be fine. ) and it'd be the best platformer I'd ever played.

 

[SantaC]

Yes I agree with it should have had more variation than the tropical theme. What worries me is that Metroid Prime 2 appearently have dropped the lava and ice worlds...

 

[TheGreenGiant]

going by word of mouth, you'd think that it was crap. Going by the ratings, it did very well.

I think SMS is the best platformer this gen - it worked quite well visually and I found it more disingenous? than J or R+C. Mario's controls were flawless, the water gfx is still unmatched imo and its pretty challenging in parts. The fact that Mario can be controlled the way he does makes this the best platformer this gen. Can't remember the stage but the level where you have to spray the icon on the cliff face and then get to the top... that is greater than any stupid boring objective in the other platformers this gen. J+D / R+C plays less like platformers than like some stealth/actionadventure type titles. R+C's gravity boots were cool but what did that add to gameplay.. It just distored the 3d plane.

SMS's greatness

retro levels
water graphics
control
challenge in parts
fun factor
music

flaws

delphinos
need more stages
blue coins + 100% ending (WHICH IS FUCKED. If you're going to make it so painintheassy to get them all. At least give us some FMV or cool stuff. BOOooooo)

 

[ge-man]

I dunno about you guys, but I thought it was better than Mario 64.

Hell, give me a game filled with those void levels (128 would be fine. ) and it'd be the best platformer I'd ever played.

While I wouldn't call it better, going back through Mario 64 made realize how much there is to do and explore in SMS. On top of that SMS has tighter control and a camera that easier to come to grips with in spite of few hiccups here and there.

While it isn't the total package that was Mario 64, there are a few things that SMS does do better.

 

[Saturnman]

I think the game shows promise with the HUB level where you can explore and try out all the moves, but falls apart after the first few shines.

 

[Great Wasabi Man]

I liked it but it's the only Mario game I never finished

 

[seismologist]

I think Sunshine is on par with the other Mario games. Some of the other ones are just overrated.

 

[robot]

Great game, but had probably THE worst last boss battle ever. Well maybe not the worst ever, but it definetly gets a big WTF.

 

[Bigfoot]

I thought it was great, but honestly, I think I'm just getting tired of 3D platformers. I've only rented one since I completed SMS, and I didn't even play much of it. I still like loading about SMS just to explore and do crazy tricks. Maybe one day I'll get all the shines...