Shine Gate

"Expert Shine scholars have determined that this darkness has arisen because all of our guardians, the Shine Sprites, have vanished from their gathering spot at the Shine Gate."

- Pianta Attorney

The Shine Gate is a large historical monument located in Delfino Plaza in Super Mario Sunshine. The Shine Gate has a huge statue of a Shine Sprite in the middle of it, from which it derives its name. Normally, Isle Delfino's many resident Shine Sprites gather at the Shine Gate, but after Shadow Mario covered the Shine Statue in black Graffiti, the Shine Sprites fled. At some point during the game, Mario must restore the Shine Statue by using F.L.U.D.D.'s Rocket Nozzle (or Hover Nozzle) to reach it, and then using F.L.U.D.D.'s Squirt Nozzle to clean it off. Once it has been cleaned completely, a hidden Shine Sprite appears and positions itself high above the middle of the Shine Gate, where it can only be collected using the Rocket Nozzle. If Mario leaves Delfino Plaza without collecting the Shine Sprite, the Shine Statue will again be covered in Graffiti when Mario next returns to the plaza, and he will have to clean it all over again.

Later in the game, a red Warp Pipe that provides access to Pianta Village appears on the upper right side of the Shine Gate. After Mario has defeated Bowser and Bowser Jr. in Corona Mountain, the large Shine Sprite that is freed from within their hot tub makes its way to the Shine Gate, where it is subsumed into the Shine Statue and emits an extremely bright light that shines throughout Delfino Plaza.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the Shine Gate appears in the Delfino Plaza stage, and is one of the many areas of the plaza that the main platform stops at periodically. In these games, the red Warp Pipe is absent, and two platforms are added on either side of the gate to provide more room for fighters to battle. Additionally, the Shine Statue is constantly spinning, while in Super Mario Sunshine, it does not spin unless it is sprayed with water.

Trivia
Though the Pinatas wish to return the Shine Sprites to the Shine Gate, some of them make Mario play mini games to obtain Shine Sprites before letting Mario do so.