Current Events > Mario Sunshine really did age so much worse than I expected

(+) Yeah! (+)

I passed off the criticisms as being unwarranted back in the early 2000's, but in retrospect it's pretty obvious that the game doesn't have the same kind of polish that Mario 64, Galaxy 1/2 and Odyssey have.


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i liked it but the camera pissed me off enough to say fuck it and sell it by the hotel world.

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Aged better than 64 tbh
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I have fond memories of getting a Wavebird specifically so I could play it wirelessly.

Good times.

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ModLogic posted...

i liked it but the camera pissed me off enough to say fuck it and sell it by the hotel world.

I actually liked Sunshines camera significantly more than Galaxys.

I am oddly on the opposite end. I hated it back then but I like it now.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

Aged better than 64 tbh

I never understood why people liked 64 so much personally. It was cool messing around in the castle but the actual levels feel so empty and lifeless. Though tbf by the time I played much SM64 I had already played banjo kazooie which imo is much more polished

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It's unfinished and because of that several levels are insufferable. There's definitely something there but it needed more time in the oven. As it is there's too much jank for me to ever finish it.

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Balrog0 posted...

I never understood why people liked 64 so much personally. It was cool messing around in the castle but the actual levels feel so empty and lifeless. Though tbf by the time I played much SM64 I had already played banjo kazooie which imo is much more polished

Banjo-Kazooie was a much better game in nearly every way.

But Mario 64 pretty much set all the rules that BK refined, to be fair.

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BroodRyu posted...

I actually liked Sunshines camera significantly more than Galaxys.

One of the bright spots of Sunshine is its free cam, one of two 3D Mario games to actually have one. I guess three now if you count Bowser's Fury.
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Balrog0 posted...

I never understood why people liked 64 so much personally. It was cool messing around in the castle but the actual levels feel so empty and lifeless. Though tbf by the time I played much SM64 I had already played banjo kazooie which imo is much more polished

Because they were toddlers when they played it.

I 100% completed it for the first time a few months ago. For the first few hours I definitely thought it aged badly. It was such a pain to fall off a ledge and then have to backtrack. But once I got used to the controls again it became so satisfying to move around. There are definitely some objectively bad design choices in the game, but looking past those, the game is a ton of fun.

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I just played it again on Switch, I was surprised by how well it controls and how smooth it is, definitely holds up today.

I never liked it. It always seemed like the dumbest premise to me. I tried to play it last year and it was still awful.

Nintendo make bad games for children. Boring, stupid, fluff.

It's literally one of the best Mario games ever made.

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I loved it then and I love it now. I don't ever try to 100% it though. I just ignore the almost impossible hidden stuff and the flying stuff in 64

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i thought it aged well on 3d collection

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One of the most blatantly unfinished Nintendo games ever released.

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As much as the current Nintendo drought sucks, Sunshine is a great reminder to just be patient. They seemed to have learned their lesson to not rush games out, their handling of Metroid Prime 4 probably being one of the best examples of that.

I don't think it aged poorly, in the sense that some of the stuff was just inexcusable to begin with. Shadow Mario levels, pachinko, lily pad level, blue coins, chucksters, etc.

Mario 64 aged worse but it was better designed to begin with. Even the stupid stars in that game like where you can get them 30 seconds in to the level are at least more fun to me than shit like squirting shadow mario over and over

You said 3D World was generic which honestly makes your opinions on Mario games pretty questionable
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DarkRoast posted...

I passed off the criticisms as being unwarranted back in the early 2000's, but in retrospect it's pretty obvious that the game doesn't have the same kind of polish that Mario 64, Galaxy 1/2 and Odyssey have.

galaxy 1/2 are like super Mario 3D land, and unworthy of the cutting edge legacy of SMB3/SMW/SM64/odyssey

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SPE posted...

galaxy 1/2 are like super Mario 3D land, and unworthy of the cutting edge legacy of SMB3/SMW/SM64/odyssey

lol trolls about politics and Mario games too

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Tbh I had heard the horror stories, but it lived up to my nostalgia when revisiting it last year. Mario just feels so great to control in that game, and they ask you to make the most of his moveset in a way that most recent Mario games don't.

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I found the camera pretty awful, and for a non-completionist who generally just wants to play to the end, I found annoying how some shine levels are unskippable.

64's level design stands out as something they slapped together with no sense of polish or reason.
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When you get to the point where you can run across beams in Ricco Harbor without worrying about falling off, or jump/float/dive to a far off platform with ease, it's really satisfying.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

Aged better than 64 tbh

BroodRyu posted...

I actually liked Sunshines camera significantly more than Galaxys.

Balrog0 posted...

I never understood why people liked 64 so much personally. It was cool messing around in the castle but the actual levels feel so empty and lifeless. Though tbf by the time I played much SM64 I had already played banjo kazooie which imo is much more polished

Mario 64 is beloved for being an "important" game. Since a lot of what it did served as the basis for 3D platformers for years to come. People don't want to admit that such an "important" game really doesn't hold up if you didn't grow up with it.

cousinvini posted...

I found the camera pretty awful, and for a non-completionist who generally just wants to play to the end, I found annoying how some shine levels are unskippable.

Honestly, the progression is my biggest complaint about Sunshine. In most games, new levels and bosses are all gated behind collecting enough Stars. In Odyssey, you have to get a certain amount of Moons in each World.
But in Sunshine, to reach the final boss, you don't need 50 or 60 or 70 or 80 Shines. You need all of the Shadow Mario Shines. And after you hit 25 Shines for Turbo Nozzle, any Shines besides the first 7 of each World are completely useless for anything besides 100%. In fact, since you have to get more than 25 Shines to get all of the Shadow Mario Shines (2 in Gelato Bay, 6 in Bianca Hills, 7 everywhere else, and 1 from the Airstrip) for a total of 44 required Shines, the 8th Shines, 100 coin Shines, Blue Coins, and Delfino Shines are all a waste of time.
In Mario 64, if you have trouble on a Star in any World, you can give up, grab other Stars inn or out of that World, and move on without ever needing to look back. So long as you don't quit 50+ Stars. In Sunshine, you can't quit something and do something else instead. Even for casual play, you HAVE to come back and do the Chuckster mission.
Galaxy 2 shares a similar flaw, requiring you to do the first Star of most Galaxies, but none of those are particularly difficult.

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EndOfDiscOne posted...

I 100% completed it for the first time a few months ago. For the first few hours I definitely thought it aged badly. It was such a pain to fall off a ledge and then have to backtrack. But once I got used to the controls again it became so satisfying to move around. There are definitely some objectively bad design choices in the game, but looking past those, the game is a ton of fun.

I see what you're saying. I think, for me, it's a bit jarring that it's the only 3D Mario that feels sort of unpolished.


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