Current Events > Boy, Mario Sunshine did not age gracefully

(+) Yeah! (+)

I remember getting it at launch and thinking it was pretty good, if a bit "off" compared to SM64.

But man, I didn't realize how imprecise everything is and how the controls just aren't very tight.

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I had forgotten how easy it is for Mario to hang on an edge and then, instead of jumping over it, he just falls :| its gonna kill me tons in those fludd-less levels

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DarkRoast posted...

I remember getting it at launch and thinking it was pretty good, if a bit "off" compared to SM64.

But man, I didn't realize how imprecise everything is and how the controls just aren't very tight.

I thought it was just me at first... like I dont remember them being so... off.

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The controls suck in the Switch version

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parabola_master posted...

I had forgotten how easy it is for Mario to hang on an edge and then, instead of jumping over it, he just falls :| its gonna kill me tons in those fludd-less levels

I remember several reviewers noting stuff like this back then, and I thought "they're just being nitpicky"

They were right. The naysayers at the time were pretty much right all-around. It's a very unpolished game by Mario standards. Still a very, very good game, but clearly not fully baked.

Galaxy was a MASSIVE improvement in every way.


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It came out dated

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Smackems posted...

It came out dated

See, honestly I think Mario 64 actually feels better overall. The controls are much, much tighter for sure.


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it was always a bad game

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people liked this game to begin with? Its just a repetitive collectathon with a bunch of pointless side missions.

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TheVipaGTS posted...

people liked this game to begin with? Its just a repetitive collectathon with a bunch of pointless side missions.

Like all Mario games

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Must be a Switch problem, Ive been replaying it on GameCube and the controls still feel incredible for me.

it's obviously unfinished.

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Disagree. Its still great.

It probably does have the worst controls of all 3D Mario games, but I wouldn't really call them imprecise. It's been a long time since I played Sunshine but I can't imagine my opinion of it would change if I replayed it now.

I mean there's really only one thing in the game that is totally unforgivable. And that would be the atrocious Pachinko level.

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Irony posted...

Like all Mario games

True but a game like odyssey is at least fun. Sunshine was just a chore of repeating boring missions over and over again. That one level where you have to climb a boat or whatever and you keep falling off because the controls are terrible...how did people enjoy that mess?

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GeneralKenobi85 posted...

I mean there's really only one thing in the game that is totally unforgivable. And that would be the atrocious Pachinko level.

Youre forgetting:
-Yoshis Poison River (along with getting to it)
-Yoshis Fruit Adventure
-The Watermelon Festival
-Secret of the Village Underside

I dunno. I'm playing it for the first time in 15 years and really liking it.
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I was too buttmad as a kid over all of the levels being sunny and tropical to even remember the controls

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UnarmedGunman posted...

Youre forgetting:
-Yoshis Poison River (along with getting to it)
-Yoshis Fruit Adventure
-The Watermelon Festival
-Secret of the Village Underside

The river is bad for sure, but nothing tops the Pachinko.

The rest of those are fine.

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At long last, people will finally understand that Sunshine is not good.

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GeneralKenobi85 posted...

The rest of those are fine.

Fuck no the watermelon festival is not fine. It's nonsensical. The watermelons have the weight of inflatable balloons.

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Feels the same to me
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The last time I played this game it was with a ton of input lag from my LCD TV before I knew about game mode. The design felt like it required way too much precision from unresponsive controls. Near the end I switched to game mode and the controls felt 100x better and the design started to make way more sense. In curious to see how it'll feel this second time around.

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Bullshit it's a fucking classic and has aged like wine

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GeneralKenobi85 posted...

The river is bad for sure, but nothing tops the Pachinko.

The way you get to the river makes it worse actually.

The rest of those are fine.

If by fine you mean not that hard yeah, but theyre atrociously-designed levels and the problem lies in them not being fun. Secret of the Village Underside is a level where talking to NPCs is the actual gameplay, and if you fuck up on Yoshis Fruit Adventure you have to spend five minutes hiking back up & getting Yoshi the right fruit before you can even reattempt the actual challenge at hand, awful.

I dont know I played it some time ago on a totally legit gamecube and it played fine. I dont have the switch collection but maybe thats the problem? Switch controller is ass as well as the pro controller.

I'll do the pachinko level 10 times over before I do the poison River. I despise that star more than anything in the game.
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Garioshi posted...

At long last, people will finally understand that Sunshine is not good.

I'm critical of the controls but I still love this game. Second favorite mario game (after galaxy 2)

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sunshine has amazing controls and physics, i don't really understand that complaint

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I love how snappy the side somersault is in Sunshine. Galaxy gave you a backflip that covered the same height, and the side-somersault was still there, but it didnt come out as quickly or smoothly.

I'm playing it and loving it. It's great

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Never had the Sunshine, but played it on other people's Gamecube. I thought it was fun. What's wrong with it

I'm currently playing Mario 64 and some of the controls bug me a little. I'm curious on the controls for Sunshine

I never really got into the 3D Mario games so my exposure to them has been limited other than a couple of them on the Wii U. I did try to play Mario Sunshine for the first time on the Gamecube for the first time about a month ago. And I'm glad to hear its not my imagination that the controls don't feel good.

I was having a lot of trouble getting into the game, and without the nostalgia it didn't seem like that great of a game.

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Trying to jump on a moving platform and not being able to tell where you are, falling into the water, spending 2 minutes getting back. I used to have patience for that kind of thing.

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Garioshi posted...

At long last, people will finally understand that Sunshine is not good.

Hell, I remember people saying this on GameFAQs in 2002

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Seaman_Prime posted...

I dont know I played it some time ago on a totally legit gamecube and it played fine. I dont have the switch collection but maybe thats the problem? Switch controller is ass as well as the pro controller.

I think the pro controller is pretty fantastic, actually.

Ironically, you can use GameCube controllers with the Switch. You'd think they would make that an option for this game (using the analogue shoulder buttons).

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DarkRoast posted...

I think the pro controller is pretty fantastic, actually.

Ironically, you can use GameCube controllers with the Switch. You'd think they would make that an option for this game (using the analogue shoulder buttons).

I'm using my Gamecube Switch controller and it's great. Still have to use 2 buttons for FLUDD and I miss the giant analog shoulder button, but it's still great.
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Sunshine's only flaw was its camera and the watermelon level, the controls were tight

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The only game that aged well was Galaxy. :/

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