Super Mario Sunshine

Overview

Super Mario Sunshine is a 3D platformer developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for GameCube in 2002. During a holiday visit to sunny Isle Delfino, Mario is arrested for mysterious acts of vandalism perpetrated across the entire island by a shadowy individual that has assumed his identity. After being released from lockup, Mario must use a new water-spraying backpack named F.L.U.D.D. to wash away the harmful sludgy graffiti covering Isle Delfino and liberate the island's guardian Shine Sprites.

Although Super Mario Sunshine's gameplay is heavily influenced by its ground-breaking predecessor Super Mario 64, the addition of of F.L.U.D.D. brings several new moves to Mario's repertoire, such as spraying objects with water and the ability to temporarily hover in mid-air. Sunshine marks the first instance of pre-rendered cutscenes in a Super Mario title; the game also features the debut of Bowser Junior, who is introduced as Bowser's son during the course of the story.

Super Mario Sunshine was a critical and commercial success upon its release, having sold 5.5 million copies as of June 2006. However, some critics took issue with the "gimmicks" of using F.L.U.D.D. and riding Yoshi, as well as the game's finicky camera system.

Gameplay

Sunshine is very similar to Super Mario 64 not just in terms of core gameplay, but also in structure and progression. Players explore a series of discrete fully 3D platforming stages, each connected by a central hub world. The primary goal of the game is to earn collectible items known as Shine Sprites by fulfilling various objectives in each stage called Episodes. Shine Sprites can be collected in other ways, such as gathering special Blue Coins scattered around Isle Delfino; Mario can redeem ten Blue Coins at Delfino Plaza's Boathouse for one Shine Sprite. Players can unlock new stages and abilities for Mario by collecting a sufficient number of Shine Sprites.

F.L.U.D.D.

Like most platforming-focused Super Mario titles, Sunshine adds several new gameplay features to the series' existing mechanics. Arguably the most important of these is the "Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device," or F.L.U.D.D. for short. F.L.U.D.D. is a special backpack which allows Mario to spray water onto objects with its primary Squirt Nozzle function. While spraying, holding down the GameCube controller's pressure-sensitive R button until it "clicks" causes Mario to stand still and enables manual aiming with the analog stick. A lighter press of the R button allows Mario to move around while spraying. Pressing the Y button switches the camera to a zoomed-in over-the-shoulder view, making precision aiming easier.

The Squirt Nozzle is mostly used to clear away the sludgy graffiti smeared across much of Isle Delfino, which damages Mario during sustained contact and limits his mobility. Spraying water is often key to solving puzzles, including revealing hidden Blue Coins; many of the game's enemies can also be stunned or damaged by water.

Players can switch to F.L.U.D.D.'s secondary Hover Nozzle at any time with the X button, using the downward force of its twin water jets to hover for a few seconds with a limited degree of mid-air control. F.L.U.D.D.'s hover function can also serve as a substitute for Mario's long jump maneuver from Super Mario 64 (which is notably absent in Sunshine).

F.L.U.D.D.'s water supply is limited, so Mario must periodically refill its tank by immersing himself in any number of clean water sources, such as pools, the ocean or even lawn sprinklers. However, bodies of water that have been polluted with graffiti will damage Mario and cannot be used to replenish his water supply.

F.L.U.D.D. is always equipped with the Squirt Nozzle, but two additional secondary Nozzles eventually become available in certain levels. Mario can gain new abilities by touching a solid red or gray Nozzle Box, which replaces the Hover Nozzle (found in blue boxes) as F.L.U.D.D.'s secondary function. The Rocket Nozzle inside red boxes allows Mario to vertically launch himself high into the air, while the Turbo Nozzle inside gray boxes gives Mario the ability to run at incredible speeds, allowing him to dash across the surface of water or smash through certain objects. Although mastering the use of F.L.U.D.D. is crucial, some of the game's challenges temporarily disable the device and force players to rely only on Mario's basic moveset.

Yoshi

Mario can enlist the aid of Yoshi in certain stages after he is rescued during a story event. When riding Yoshi, he can eat enemies, fruit, and even birds. After eating fruit, Yoshi can spit juice from the fruit. This juice can dissolve large orange blocks, which are obstacles blocking certain secret areas. The juice can also turn enemies into platforms. Based on the type of fruit, the color and effect of the juice are different.

Yoshi can die in two ways that Mario can't: without eating fruit, Yoshi will die, and when Yoshi touches the water, he dies.

Story

The game opens with Mario, Princess Peach and several members of the Princess' royal entourage flying aboard a private plane en route to Isle Delfino, a destination that everyone believes will be a tranquil escape from the every day grind of kidnappings, fire-breathing behemoths, and general mayhem that makes the Mushroom Kingdom such an unproductive working environment. However, the holiday is brought to an abrupt halt as soon as the vacationing group touches down on the runway, when they discover a prominent work of graffiti that bears an apparent resemblance to the mustachioed plumber. Mario travels to the other end of the runway to seek help in clearing the obstruction, and is introduced to a talking, water-pumping backpack nicknamed F.L.U.D.D.

With the help of his newfound semi-sidekick, Mario is able to clean up the runway of all graffiti and restore it to its original state. However, no sooner is this act of goodwill completed than two of Isle Delfino's finest arrive on the scene to bring Mario under arrest for evidently fouling up several other areas of the island. After a fairly unfair trial, Mario is ultimately sentenced to clean the entire island of all of the pollution that blemishes it before he will be permitted to leave. Doing so will quite literally brighten up the place, as a good many of the island's " Shine Sprites" have gone missing due to the rampant vandalism. These "Shine Sprites" traditionally gather at the "Shine Gate" in the center of town, and are the source of the pleasant rays that illuminate the island paradise; but, the malicious work of the real vandal has essentially scared them all away, leaving the island covered, in large part, by a persistent shadow.

By traversing the many areas of Isle Delfino, and working to undo the true culprit's defacement and overall trouble-making, Mario will collect and return the "Shine Sprites" to their rightful place and restore the island to its normal, immaculate state.

Stages

Super Mario Sunshine is split into several stages, most of which are initially inaccessible until Mario collects a sufficient number of Shine Sprites and fulfills other special requirements. As new stages are unlocked, Mario can reach them via Delfino Plaza, the game's hub world. The bulk of gameplay takes place across seven episodic stages: Bianco Hills, Ricco Harbor, Gelato Beach, Pinna Park, Sirena Beach, Noki Bay and Pianta Village. Each of these areas contains eight Episodes and two hidden Episodes; completing any Episode earns Mario one Shine Sprite.

In addition to the Episode-based stages, Shine Sprites can also be found in Delfino Plaza, its nearby Airstrip, and the final stage at Corona Mountain. Twenty-four Shine Sprites are purchased at the Plaza's Boathouse with the 240 Blue Coins hidden throughout the game. Finally, Mario can earn a bonus Shine Sprite in all seven episodic stages and Delfino Plaza by collecting at least one hundred Coins in a single life.

Taking all these into account, Isle Delfino contains a grand total of 120 Shine Sprites, referencing the same total number of Power Stars in Super Mario 64.

Main Stages

Secret Courses

Special hidden levels separate from the main stages can be found in most of the game's major areas. These levels are typically accessed by selecting an Episode with the word "secret" in its title; Mario must then find the secret level's entrance located somewhere inside the main stage.

Most of the game's secret levels begin with a short cutscene in which Shadow Mario takes away F.L.U.D.D., forcing Mario to complete the course using only his basic moveset. These courses are comprised of a series of platforms suspended in a void, with the goal of reaching the Shine Sprite at the far end of the course. Falling into the void will cost Mario a life, after which he will restart at the beginning of the course for another attempt. However, if a player exhausts their stock of extra lives and receives a Game Over while inside a secret level, Mario is sent back to Delfino Plaza, and the player must again reach the secret level's entrance inside its respective stage in order to reattempt it. After completing a secret level once, Mario will have access to F.L.U.D.D. if the player revisits the course. Certain secret courses may allow players to earn an additional Shine Sprite by collecting eight Red Coins scattered throughout the course under a time limit.

A handful of the game's secret courses allow the use of F.L.U.D.D. even during a player's initial attempt. These levels can be easily identified by their blue sky backgrounds and alternate music.

Development

Early Prototyping

Tasked with creating a worth follow up to the revolutionary Super Mario 64, director Yoshiaki Koizumi and the team at Nintendo EAD, began development by through experimentation of concepts and ideas which broke from the traditional Mario gameplay. Yoshiaki Koizumi having worked on The Legend of Zelda series after working on Super Mario 64 (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and simultaneously serving as assistant director of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker while developing Super Mario Sunshine) wanted to incorporate the knowledge gained in 3D game design into the next 3D Mario game.

To do this the team decided to approach the stage design of the game in a non-traditional manner opting to aim towards the creation of a seamless space where the stages would be linked together by terrain (similar to the way Zelda environments interconnected in the Ocarina of Time). Wishing also to explore a space other than the Mushroom Kingdom, hoping this too would lead to some new gameplay ideas, the team chose a tropical island setting believing it would give the variety the team desired for a unique, distinct Mario experience. Shaping the island like an dolphin, as a tribute to the GameCube’s development codename, the tropical setting meant that everything the team design had to fit thematically with the tropical setting. In addition to the change in the setting, the team also prototyped various different gameplay directions such as the idea of a disaster recovery mission-style of game before switch back to making it a more traditional Mario style of platformer.

The FLUDD Device

The introduction of the F.L.U.D.D. device also brought a significant change to the traditional Mario gameplay with early prototypes of the game placing even more emphasis on the device than is seen in the final game. One early version of the game omitted the Shine Sprites with the story instead being that the island was slowly being polluted by enemies and idea being for Mario to wash the pollution away with the F.L.U.D.D. and use it to eventually defeat the boss enemy which was the source of the pollution. This more action focused theme was dropped though during development in favour of a more platforming action focus. This saw the introduction of the Shine Sprites and a reduction in the number of F.L.U.D.D. abilities down to the four included in the game.

Level Design

The increased capabilities of the GameCube allowed the team to provide extra space within the stages, to set up shortcuts and build the stages such that the player was free to choose their own route through them. With more open stages however the team feared players would easily get lost within the stages and so the team chose to put large landmarks in the stages so that players could move around using the landmark as an indicator of their position within the stage. With this concern dealt with the team felt free to take advantage of the larger, more open, playing space by designing stages which included a main goal but also included sub courses, collectibles and secret stages. The secret stages were designed to be exercises in pure platforming and so the team chose to remove the F.L.U.D.D. device from the player in order to increase the difficulty of the secret stages and make them distinct from the regular courses. The team also broke from the “must fit thematically” rule by making the secret stages more abstract as they floated in midair and featured bizarre backgrounds rather than keeping them rooted in the tropical island setting as the main courses in the game do.