Super Mario Sunshine is basically the direct sequel (in terms of gameplay) to Mario 64, so don't expect any new revolutions in the regular land of 3D platform jumping. What Sunshine does add is a water pack, named FLUDD, which has two primary functions: spraying water straight out and allowing Mario to hover briefly. More can be obtained later on, but they aren't used very much and the game focuses on the original two. Simplistic in concept and design, the water and paint aspects give way to some great imaginative ideas and beautifully subtle effects. Small water puddles give off reflections, running through paint will cause it to stick to Mario (who will then leave footprints all over), and watching the paint wash away everywhere as you spray never gets old. Not too big on high poly-counts, it still looks gorgeous and has some incredible draw distance.

If you have played Mario 64, you basically know the drill. There is a hub (the main city on the isle) that leads to different levels where Shines (exactly like Stars in Mario 64) must be collected in a variety of ways. Many of the levels feature goals such as beat this area, get to this place, defeat this enemy, collect the red coins, all the goals that have come before. Where Sunshine innovates is not in level design but in the execution of it all. The game is much more polished and fluid then its predecessor, and FLUDD makes all the difference in the world. Spraying down the gigantic paint manta ray boss is incredible, splitting into smaller paint shapes each time it gets hurt, all of them leaving a trail that criss-crosses and covers the entire beach as they spin wildly around chasing you. It is when sitting back and looking at all those trails and the way they moved like shadows across the ground that you really begin to appreciate the graphics and gameplay. Almost none of it will affect you right away in a sudden, "Wow, that's cool!" sort of way. Sunshine is more of a beautiful experience that you take in and do not realize how good you have it until you try to move on to something else.

There are a lot of Shines to collect, but only a few select ones needed to beat the game. I like having extra stuff to get that is not required, a bunch of bonus goals to achieve for when you've beaten the game and want a little extra. Bonuses in all sorts of ways are plentiful, but like the rest of the game, subtle and enjoyable in small ways. You can find a guy handing out sunglasses (and another extra later on), there are sewers that run through the city which also cause the game to play the underground music from the original Super Mario Brothers, and there is the return of Yoshi. Overall he does not do too much, but it is nice to have him in there and he (along with a few other small touches) helps the game feel like it is a cross between Mario 64 and Super Mario World. Adding in some of those color blocks and switches would have helped that feeling even more, but I am doing just fine as it is.

The camera, generally a source of problems in 3D games, has occasional hiccups here and there, but I almost never found it a problem. Gratefully, it never screwed me up at a time when Mario could have gotten hurt or killed, generally getting in the way when he was simply running around. It is also manually controlled as well, so snapping it back in place or rotating was rarely any trouble, but it did have a tendency to snag on walls. The game is otherwise free of any technical problems aside from one: floor glitching. During the final battle Mario has to smash the floor. A number of times he died because as he performed that action he dropped right through the floor to his death (and my controller-tossing fury). There seem to be a couple of other areas where this happens, but it is kept to a minimum. However, it should not be in there at all, and the final battle of any game is an especially horrible place to have something like that.

As you progress through levels, you will encounter some out-of-the-way ones. You enter a level and must find an entrance into a "secret" level, not part of the normal tour. Here is where Sunshine shines even brighter. These levels present you with pure platform-hopping goodness (sans FLUDD) of huge rotating blocks, dropping sand platforms, traveling stars, and more. One of the best parts about these levels, something you will notice the first time you enter each one (along with staring at the fly-by in shock at what you'll have to be doing) is the music. They remixed the original theme using voices, and it sounds wonderful! I love that piece, which is one of the few tracks that are really noticeable throughout the game. Much of the music stays in the background and doesn't intrude, but is always there for suitable accompaniment.

Frankly, this game is just fun. I can not really describe how or why, but it recaptured for me what I often hear referred to as "Nintendo Magic," something I have not felt since Zelda: The Ocarina of Time was popped into my N64. The beauty, the atmosphere, the levels and designs, the wondrous controls that feel so good… I love it all. Some will be turned off because it looks kiddy, others because of a feeling of "been there, done that" due to similarities to its prequel. But honestly, I could not care less for any such mentality. I love Sunshine, and it was some of the most pure fun I've had in games in a long time.

· · · MechDeus