Kobayashi Mario Goes Hawaiian (Part One)

After the frenzied Retro Achievements sweeps of Super Mario 64 and Donkey Kong 64 there was one obvious next port of call: the pristine sands and less pristine structural stability of everyone's favorite tropicollectathon: 2002's Super Mario Sunshine. Now, I'm very much aware of this site's own checkered history with this GameCube nonpareil but I'll go to my lei-festooned grave in proclaiming Sunshine to be "actually pretty OK, really" in characteristically resolute fashion. It just so happens that the game recently saw a very enthusiastic response on RetroAchievements once the Dolphin emulator added support for them, opening the way for many other GameCube and Wii games to see their own sets, and is now sitting at a highly respectable if slightly overbearing 148 achievements in total for the core set. These run the gamut from simple progression milestones to some of the strangest and most roundabout "Shine Get"s imaginable: needless to say I was intrigued and so here we are, right on the precipice of my next huge mistake.

As with previous editions of this feature, I'm skipping all the standard progress and collectathon achievements for the most part. The ones that are like "ten Shines" or "all 30 Blue Coins in this course" types that were already required targets for a 100% completed save file. What I'm interested in highlighting here are the ones that teach you about some obscure mechanics or secrets, usually involving 1-Ups, or otherwise give you some unique challenge to overcome. Super Mario Sunshine was a long time coming for the RetroAchievements community so they were quick to fill out a whole itinerary of neat shit you could pull off. There's also a bunch of alternative sets with even harder challenges, one of which I might feel invested to check out because I did the same thing for Super Mario 64 (i.e. getting every coin on a course, not just the 100 needed for a Shine). If I find an appropriate juncture to talk about them, I will.

My goal here is to celebrate the ingenuity of this set and the way it fully explores everything that's possible with the game, including stuff I never knew about nor do I imagine anyone reading this that aren't already part of the Super Mario Sunshine speedrunner cabal, so hopefully there's at least a handful of others around here as equally invested in Super Mario Sunshine to want to learn more about it. Let me know in the comments if you decide to go after the set yourself as well and what you struggled with (though, if you can, just stick to the courses and achievements mentioned in the relevant parts).

Disclaimers: Each achievement also includes its point value that roughly indicates the amount of challenge (or busywork) they entail. I've also included the tried-and-tested "Exasperometer" to gauge how tough or irksome an achievement was to earn, because what's a Mento feature without a whole lot of grousing?

Before we do anything else, let's mop up the set's four missable achievements before I forget and miss their windows of availability:

Pianta Paradox (5)

"Obtain a Blue Coin from the Pianta with mushrooms on his back on your first visit to Delfino Plaza"

The missables are all related to the main plaza, which eventually floods towards the end of the game and changes a few things permanently even after the water level has receded back to normal. This achievement is the exception: there's a pianta milling around Delfino Plaza (the hub area) that can eventually be extinguished for a Blue Coin later on in the game. However, you can actually be the agent of his early corruption by spreading some of the goop from the Bianco Hills statue piranha plant into his patrol route. That opening fight is the only time you can get this missable achievement—though, to be fair, it isn't a big deal if you lose your shot at it since you can earn it about five minutes into a new playthrough.

Incidentally, there's an entire separate achievement set for getting a whole bunch of progress before moving on from this early moment where Peach has yet to meet Bowser Jr. (while he's still pretending to be Mario). It's called "Max% Pre-Peach". It involves a whole lot of speedrun tech to pull off though, so I might defer on that for now.

Exasperometer: 2 (just for being missable)

Gather 'Round the Campfire (5)

"Collect all 4 1-Ups in an unflooded Delfino Plaza before visiting Corona Mountain in one visit"

This becomes impossible after the plaza floods, so that's why it's missable. They're not hard to find though: one's in a campfire on a remote island (this disappears late-game), one's in an underwater alcove close to the Pinna Park cannon, and the other two are underground in the sewer pipe system.

Exasperometer: 2

Peak to Peak (5)

"Collect the West Bell Shine Sprite in Delfino Plaza using only the Spray Nozzle"

This involves collecting one of the two bell shines in Delfino Plaza (the one nearest the Blue Coin shop) without using any nozzle besides the standard spray one. Just requires a bit of careful jumping to get high enough and then some equally careful aiming to hit the bell to clean it—glad I played all those Mario 64 rom hacks recently and can still 180-jump like the best of 'em. You can only get this shine once so it's an easy achievement to miss (though, like Pianta Paradox, one that takes almost no time from the game's starting point to go fetch).

Exasperometer: 2

The remaining missable achievement is the only one you can't get right off the bat, since it involves using Yoshi (and only Yoshi) to get the other bell shine in Delfino Plaza. With that being the case I'm going to skip past the other Delfino Plaza achievements for now and start working through each of the game's seven courses, starting with Bianco Hills. This is a huge achievement set, so there's plenty here to do besides sweeping up all the Shines and Blue Coins:

Bianco Hills

Country Livin' (10)

"Complete all 8 episodes in Bianco Hills"

Cave Story (5)

"Collect both secret Shine Sprites in Bianco Hills"

Bianco Bullion (5)

"Gather 100 coins and collect the Shine Sprite in Bianco Hills"

High and Low (25)

"Collect all 30 Blue Coins in Bianco Hills"

Fun Under the Sun (5)

"Unlock both Nozzles in Bianco Hills"

The Butterflies and the Bees (5)

"Collect all 3 1-Ups in Episode 8 of Bianco Hills in one visit"

Nine Inch Nails (5)

"Collect both 1-Ups in The Hillside Cave Secret in one visit"

Shoot For the Stars (5)

"Collect both 1-Ups in The Secret of the Dirty Lake in one visit"

I'll be skipping these standard progression achievements from now on but I'll include what they look like here for posterity. There's a similar assortment for almost every other course too, give or take the nozzle one. These are all (besides the nozzles and 1-Ups) required for 100% completion regardless, though the full collection of Blue Coins will have to wait until I've unlocked Yoshi (he's needed for two of them here). Yoshi's also needed for those three 1-Ups in Bianco Hills too. Darn that tardy saurus.

Peak Enemy Design (5)

"Spray a Coo Coo and collect the 1-Up that appears"

I had no idea this was a thing but you can spray the round birds that fly around and poop on you for some extra coins. After ten coins they'll then drop a 1-Up. Useful info to learn, given there's a few 1-Up scavenger hunts.

Exasperometer: 1

Silly Stus, 1-Ups Are for Mario! (3)

"Stomp on 3 Strollin' Stus at once after flipping them and collect the first 1-Up that appears"

The Strollin' Stus are the little round guys that act like goombas and can spawn endlessly in certain spots. If you group them close enough together so that you can squish three of them in one hop you also get a 1-Up. Again, news to me.

Exasperometer: 1

Diamond Under Pressure (5)

"Ground Pound 3 Strollin' Stus at once after flipping them and collect the second 1-Up that appears"

Same as above but by doing a ground pound you get two 1-Ups instead. I guess they coded this achievement in an odd way to ensure you didn't just get a solo dolo from the standard stomp.

Exasperometer: 1

Traveling Shower Service (5)

"Clean and talk to the Pianta with a brown hat that rewards a Blue Coin in all 6 episodes that he appears in Bianco Hills in one session"

Another one of many of those "this was a thing?" achievements that convinced me to give this whole set a try, beyond just being a sucker for Mario achievements. This fedora guy is in every episode after the first two but always standing somewhere different.

Exasperometer: 2 (why'd he have to relocate to the top of the windmill?)

Whuzzah!? Whozat?! (5)

"Complete Episode 2 in Episode 1 of Bianco Hills"

Finishing Episode 1 of Bianco Hills restores the bridge leading to the windmill, with the second episode having you climb it to fight Petey Piranha and its perturbing speedos. You don't have to collect the Shine that appears after that first episode though and can just keep on going.

Exasperometer: 1

Spin Cycle (25)

"Initiate the fight with Petey Piranha in Episode 1 or 2 of Bianco Hills without using the windmill platforms or the Hover Nozzle"

Our first technique-based 25-pointer of this set is a doozy. The second episode is a little bit of a hover nozzle tutorial (FLUDD constantly reminds you about it as you climb) but by wall-jumping off the back of the windmill blades as they pass by you can just about get on top without voiding this achievement. You do need to be fast and accurate though. At least the wall-jumps are way easier to pull off in Sunshine compared to 64, due to how Mario holds onto the wall for a moment.

Exasperometer: 4

Slumber Party (5)

"Fall asleep with Petey Piranha in Episode 5 of Bianco Hills"

I love this one. Petey's napping on a distant column when you start this episode and you're meant to shoot one of those pig balloon things at it to wake it up and initiate the fight. Instead, with a long enough jump you can get to it and have a nap alongside it by putting the controller down. Why can't all the achievements be this wholesome?

Exasperometer: 2

Dry-Clean (10)

"Enter The Secret of the Dirty Lake in Episode 6 of Bianco Hills without swimming or using F.L.U.D.D."

Very hard to avoid the lake water here but you can just about reach the logs outside the cave entrance by diving off the top of the windmill. Kind of a hail mary from that height though. Cogliona of steel, that guy.

Exasperometer: 5

Cube Shuffle (5)

"Collect the normal Shine Sprite in The Hillside Cave Secret without jumping or using F.L.U.D.D."

Remember how long it took the Steal My Sunshine crew to get the Shines in here? Now imagine them doing that without being allowed to jump. Fortunately, that does not mean "never press A" like it did with some Mario 64 achievements: instead, you can tap A to hop out of a dive and it won't void the achievement attempt. Not to say this achievement is all that easy—getting across those spinning stars without jumping is real intimidating—but with enough practice it can be done. It's one of the shorter secret courses, at least, though 5 points seems a bit miserly.

Exasperometer: 5

Up, Up and Away (10)

"Collect the normal Shine Sprite in The Secret of the Dirty Lake without touching any moving platforms for more than 1 second or using the Rocket Storage glitch"

The hint is, again, in the achievement itself or specifically the achievement image: a rocket nozzle. By grabbing one before going in here you can use the boosted height to clear most of the sequences involving moving platforms without touching them. For the record, this secret area has two sections with blocks that alternate flipping around and two where you ride on a rotating cube. Gotta avoid almost all of them since a second is a real short length of time.

Exasperometer: 6

Ricco Harbor

Tame the Beast (5)

"Earn the Shine Sprite in Blooper Surfing Safari while riding the purple Blooper Racer"

Ricco Harbor is up next and like Bianco it's mostly simple stuff with a couple of toughies towards the end. In this one you have to complete the racecourse area with Ol' Purpz, whom I guess has the worst steering and fastest speed? I never really noticed a difference between the surf bloopers back in the day but I guess they have some racing game stat distributions. I found it about as hard as this Shine usually is.

Exasperometer: 2

Started from the Bottom (5)

"Complete Episode 3 of Ricco Harbor without using the metal scaffolding or the Rocket Nozzle"

Nice, straightforward technique achievement though "metal scaffolding" is a bit ambiguous. They meant the fences you have to climb on, I suspect, rather than the usual metal walkways. You can get to the Shine directly from the ship in the harbor without too much effort though so I never found out what, precisely, was verboten.

Exasperometer: 2

Any Way the Wind Blows (5)

"Enter The Secret of Ricco Tower in Episode 4 of Ricco Harbor without using F.L.U.D.D."

Same as above. Just need to wall-jump off the back wall and scaffolding around the tower. I imagine the achievement set is getting the players used to the idea of wall-jumping up places they might not normally be able to reach. It'll be more valuable in the harder courses.

Exasperometer: 2

Humane Treatment (5)

"Defeat Gooper Blooper in Episode 5 of Ricco Harbor without ripping off any of his tentacles"

This was something I tended to do when playing normally regardless since, as Steal My Sunshine demonstrated, it's kind of distressing to listen to this big blooper cry out in pain when you pull its limbs off. If you splash it in the face so it gets angry then ground pound all four tentacles after his retaliation slam you'll have plenty of time to pull its snoot to do damage and two hits are all it needs.

Exasperometer: 2

At this point I went for a little trip to Pinna Park to unlock Yoshi, since he's needed for the last few achievements in Ricco in addition to several in Bianco Hills and Delfino Plaza (including the last missable one). After getting 100% completion in Bianco, it's back to Ricco for a little while longer...

Lifeguard Duty (3)

"Talk to the 3 duck-ring riders in Episode 8 of Ricco Harbor and collect the 1-Up as a reward"

You can talk to these guys? I had no idea. You can't communicate while swimming—pressing the B button just makes you dive instead, which strikes me as something you'd do to avoid talking—but all three will eventually float close enough to land for a talk prompt. Eventually. Lot of waiting involved with this one; makes me wish Dolphin had RetroArch's fast-forward button... oh wait, it does? Hot dang, great time to find that out.

Exasperometer: 3 (just for making me wait)

The Power of Juice (25)

"Complete Episode 8 of Ricco Harbor without stepping on any grass or metal platforms while riding Yoshi or using the Rocket Nozzle"

They need to reword this one. It's "without using the rocket nozzle or stepping on any grass/metal platforms while riding Yoshi". Just having the rocket nozzle will instantly void the attempt. The only way to get this Shine is by spraying Cheep Cheeps with juice (which turns them into moving platforms) and avoiding any other sort of floor type beyond the paved area you start on and the metal cage holding the Shine.

Someone in the achievement comments had a neat tip here: turn Yoshi purple for the horizontal moving blocks needed to get to where the platforms and other fish are, then before leaving over there you eat a fruit to turn Yoshi orange so he makes vertical moving platforms instead. Sounds like a pain, but the vertical platforms makes it much easier to get to the Shine without touching anything else. I'd say the worst part of this achievement was something that was in the original too: hitting those damn fruit dispenser buttons for ages waiting for the durian to come out.

Exasperometer: 7

Pianta Powerlifter (3)

"Get thrown by a Chuckster while riding Yoshi"

The goof here is that there's a Chuckster out over the water in Ricco Harbor that can barely toss you more than a meter away. That is, in every episode besides the last, where he's suddenly able to yeet you across half the course and right near the above Shine (though, sadly, you instantly void the above achievement attempt when you land). Plus, being so close to the water is tricky when Yoshi's so averse to it. Does he hate baths or something?

Exasperometer: 2

Trial of the Particular Mushroom (25)

"Collect the normal Shine Sprite in The Secret of Ricco Tower without letting go of the Turbo Nozzle or running out of water past the starting area"

This secret zone is full of long rotating blocks where you have to time your jumps between each pair, so the idea of turbo dashing through the whole thing in one go without deviation (or your water will run out) filled me with chills. This was by far the hardest achievement to earn because you really need to be a master of the Turbo Nozzle to navigate all those platforms. I've included a little video of me finally pulling it off below in case you need to see this to understand the challenge.

Exasperometer: 8

We're going to conclude the first part today by clearing up everything in Delfino Plaza. At this point I had over 30 Shines, which not only unlocks most of the architecture but also both nozzles. There will be a few achievements I can only get after the place has flooded and gone back to normal though, so those'll have to wait until the post-game clean-up (also why I won't be getting the Airstrip-related achievements quite yet—there's a second Shine that only appears there in the post-game).

Delfino Plaza

I'll Help You Carry On (10)

"Collect the East Bell Shine Sprite in Delfino Plaza using only Yoshi"

The last of the four missable achievements. Same deal as before except the Shine appears way above the belltower, usually necessitating a Rocket Nozzle. Instead, Yoshi has this weirdly high spin jump he can perform if you start spinning before jumping: between that and the extra height from disembarking you can just about get it. It takes some effort just to get on the belltower with Yoshi in the first place though.

Exasperometer: 5

Backflip Bananza (5)

"Throw bananas into the purple Pianta's basket while backflipping off the roof in Delfino Plaza"

The first of four "fruit tricks" achievements, just to give a bit more spice to those dull fetch quests the piantas with baskets in Delfino Plaza make you complete for some Blue Coins. This one's all about the style points but not too hard once you have the timing down.

Exasperometer: 3

Half-Court Contest (10)

"Throw a pineapple into the yellow Pianta's basket from behind the third line in Delfino Plaza"

Line it up and then backflip, releasing at the top of the jump. Should just reach if you're holding forward enough. Pour one out for Mario Hoops 3-on-3.

Exasperometer: 3

Putting on a Show (10)

"Juggle a durian 10 times by jumping in Delfino Plaza"

As long as you're not moving around too much you can just keep bopping a durian up in place. Ten in a row is still kinda tricky.

Exasperometer: 4

Get Dunked On! (5)

"Throw a coconut into the orange Pianta's basket during a terminal velocity Ground Pound in Delfino Plaza"

Like the backflip, this is all about getting the timing right. You can get a fair amount of height using the nearby sewer manhole.

Exasperometer: 2

Nothing but Pain (5)

"Collect the Shine Sprite in Pachinko Game"

Nothing special about this 100%-critical achievement. I just liked the name. Apposite.

Exasperometer: 1

You Have to Improvise (10)

"Enter Pachinko Game from an unflooded Delfino Plaza using only the Hover Nozzle"

By "only using the Hover Nozzle" that also includes not using the boat, which regularly sails underneath the Pachinko course's entrance. Requires very exact timing to maintain enough height without getting stuck on the arch's ceiling like an abandoned helium balloon but there's no risk of failure (unless you decide to go when the boat is right underneath and accidentally land on it) so it's just a matter of keeping at it.

Exasperometer: 3

Who Needs a Hover Nozzle? (5)

"Collect the Golden Bird Shine Sprite in an unflooded Delfino Plaza using only the Turbo Nozzle"

This was fun. You can't "aim" the Turbo Nozzle spray but you can just steer directly at the bird and hope the wake from the nozzle catches it a few times as it flies away.

Exasperometer: 2

Leap of Faith (10)

"Collect the Shine Sprite in the Super Slide without touching the slide"

I actually remember doing this for fun back in the day but it's one heck of a risky hop. Even if you clear the entire slide (you'll need the Turbo Nozzle if that wasn't apparent) you still need to precisely aim and land on the Shine without touching the floor. The Turbo Nozzle does have some forward/back air control at least, if not so much the horizontal kind (see above with the Secret of Ricco Tower one).

Exasperometer: 3

Who Needs a Turbo Nozzle? (5)

"Collect the Shine Sprite in the Turbo Track using only the Hover Nozzle"

These "use the wrong Nozzle" achievements are a real neat idea, in theory, but some can take more nuance than you'd expect. The only issue here is with the very last platform with the Shine on it, since it's too far for the Hover Nozzle to reach. You have to kinda spin-jump and use its slow descent to get as close to the platform as possible, then start hitting the Hover just before you drop below the platform's height. The camera is way above you during this so judging your height relative to the platform is basically impossible. Really a case of vibes with this.

Exasperometer: 4

Leap Across the Leaves (5)

"Enter the Red Coin Field from an unflooded Delfino Plaza using only the Hover Nozzle"

This one normally requires the Rocket Nozzle as the entrance is some ways across the cliff from the Pinna Park cannon entrance. However, you can just about make it by using the manhole launch/spin-jump trick. After that, it's a case of not psyching yourself out and falling off the cliffside palm trees.

Exasperometer: 3

We Still Got It (10)

"Collect the 100-coin Shine Sprite while riding Yoshi in an unflooded Delfino Plaza without using the boats"

The only hard part of this is right at the end as you have to leap to a platform way out into the sea to get the Shine. It's the one midway to unblocking the Lily Pad course with Yoshi, where you have to ride the boats all the way across (which obviously you can't do here). Again, sewer manhole + spinning just about does the trick. This damn spin-jump's going to kill me.

Exasperometer: 4

With that, all the achievements related to Bianco Hills, Ricco Harbor, and Delfino Plaza (as well as a few miscellaneous ones, like earning 5, 10, or 20 Shines total) have been acquired and I'm just about ready to go back and finish Pinna Park before moving onto Gelato Beach and its weird duck jerks followed by the crepuscular delights of Sirena Beach and its confusing Hotel Delfino. I'll save all the suffering that will no doubt result from Noki Bay and Pianta Village for Part Three.

Thanks for checking in on my newest ongoing Mario-related psychotic break and I hope to see you all for Part Two and even more raw tricks in the tropics.

Current Totals

• Shines: 43 of 120 (35.8%)
• Blue Coins: 85 of 240 (35.4%)
• Achievements: 71 of 148 (47%)
• Hardest Achievement so Far: "Trial of the Particular Mushroom"