Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine or sometimes referred to as SMS is a Mario platform game released on August 26, 2002. It is for the Nintendo GameCube.

Overview
The game starts off in Peach's airplane where Mario, Peach, a few Toads, and Toadsworth are flying out to Isle Delfino for a vacation. They land in Delfino Airstrip, just off the isle, where he sees a large amount of Goop in the shape of Mario's head.

Mario soon finds a water pump invented by Professor E. Gadd named FLUDD that will help him throughout his new adventure. Spraying a large blob in the middle of the caricature, a Goop-covered Piranha Plant exposes itself. After he defeats it, the Delfino Police arrive and arrests Mario. After a court session, Mario is found guilty and is sent to jail, being mistakened for a strange vandalist who resembles him in shape and uses the Magic Paintbrush, also a creation of Professor E. Gadd. As punishment, he was to clean all the Goop to restore the Shine Sprites back, Isle Delfino's main source of energy.

After an incident in Pinna Park, it is revealed that Shadow Mario was actually Bowser Jr., one of Bowser's children, who believes that Peach is his mother and that Mario separated her from him. Bowser Jr. kidnaps Peach and takes her to Corona Mountain, where his father awaits them.

The final battle takes place in Corona Mountain, where Mario defeats Bowser and Bowser Jr., who then loses the Magic Paintbrush. Later, on an island, Bowser tells his son that Peach is not his real mother, but Bowser Jr. says that he always knew that Peach was not really his mother. Bowser Jr. says that he wants to fight Mario again, and Bowser, who sees too much of him in his son, smiles. Together, they will make their new evil plan, but for now, they shall rest a while.

Mario rescues Princess Peach and restores the Shine Sprites to the Shine Gate in Delfino Plaza. However, FLUDD breaks down. However, he is soon repaired by the Toads. Reunited with Mario and Peach, FLUDD happily exclaims "The vacation starts now". Mario can finally enjoy his vacations.

The game ends with a scene of the runner Il Piantissimo discovering the Magic Paintbrush in the sands of Gelato Beach. This could imply that Il Piantissimo is now the new Shadow Mario, which is further inforced because both Bowser Jr. and Shadow Mario are playable in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.

Collecting all 120 of the Shine Sprites replaces the scene of Il Piantissimo with a scene with all of the characters(enemies excluded).

Gameplay
Super Mario Sunshine is the first game where Mario extensively uses an accessory to complete his mission. FLUDD features spray and hovering capabilities when it is first acquired; other nozzles can be unlocked to extend FLUDD's functionality, such as the "Rocket Nozzle" which propels Mario high into the air, and the "Turbo Nozzle" that lets Mario sprint on land and water, as well as break down wooden doors.

The game contains a number of independent levels, which can be reached from Delfino Plaza. Gameplay is based around collecting Shine Sprites by completing various tasks in the levels and over world.

There are 120 Shine Sprites, and 240 Blue Coins. There are two Shine Sprites at the airstrip, sixteen in the plaza, and ten in each of the seven other areas. Including the plaza there are eight Sprites for collecting 100 Coins. There are thirty Blue Coins in each of the seven areas, making 210, in the plaza there are nineteen, one in the Airstrip, and ten in Corona Mountain, making 240 altogether. Ten Blue Coins each can be traded for a Shine Sprite at the Blue Coin Shop, making another twenty-four Shine Sprites through the Blue Coins.

At first, each level features one task which may be completed to acquire a Shine Sprite. The player is then returned to Delfino Plaza and a new task is unlocked on the level they just played. Each level consists of up to ten of these tasks, which may be played again at will once they are completed. Once the player has collected enough Shines in total, a new level is available at Delfino Plaza, either by the acquisition of a new ability or some plot-related event.

Gameplay proceeds in this fashion until all of the Shadow Mario's related missions are completed, which unlocks the level containing the final boss. As the total number of Shine Sprites available at any given point is greater than the number of Shine Sprites needed to unlock the next level, the player may choose which tasks they want to attempt.

Mario can also ride Yoshis in this game. Yoshis can be used to eat certain insects and birds to produce Gold, Blue, or Red coins, and even Shine Sprites. Yoshi can also eat fruit and squirt the juice of that fruit. This juice can be used to dissolve certain kinds of goop acting as obstacles, as well as to briefly transform enemies into platforms for Mario to step on. The color of the Yoshi, as well as the effect of its juice, depend on the type of fruit last eaten.

Koji Kondo and Shinobu Tanaka produced the music for this game.

Bosses
The main bosses of the game that are powerful and rule a dominion of enemies are:


 * Gooper Blooper, who controls the Bloopers of Ricco Harbor and appears in two of the harbor's episodes and one of Noki Bay's.


 * Petey Piranha, who controls the Piranha Plants of Bianco Hills and appears in two of its episodes.


 * Eely Mouth, who has taken up residence under Noki Bay and is poisoning it with purple sludge.


 * King Boo, who controls Sirena Beach's Boos and only appears in Sirena Beach's Episode Five, although he is still powerful.


 * Wiggler, who resides on Gelato Beach as the boss, angry at Mario for destroying the sleeping Wiggler.


 * Mecha Bowser, a giant mechanical version of Bowser, controlled by Bowser Jr. (Mario must fight this boss while riding a roller coaster).


 * Phantamanta, the silhouette of a giant manta ray that splits into smaller manta rays when sprayed by FLUDD


 * Shadow Mario/Bowser Jr., who, although causing the whole island's issues, never actually is the boss of a level, besides every levels one Shadow Mario chase episode.


 * Bowser, the final boss of the game, is sitting in the hot tub with Peach in Corona Mountain when Mario must defeat him.

Locations

 * Delfino Airstrip is the small local airport where Princess Peach and Mario land in their airplane to start their vacation on Isle Delfino. The story also begins here, as this is where players are introduced to the concept of cleaning up the game's areas, as well as the introduction to the plot.


 * Delfino Plaza is the main city on Isle Delfino, and appears to function as the capital city of the island, as this is where Mario is put on trial for his crimes. The city is of debatable national origin, as everyone there speaks English but all of the accessible area names mean something in Italian, though some might take these names to not mean anything. This town is where Mario can access all other areas of the game and it is where the story is advanced also. Princess Peach is kidnapped from Delfino Plaza, and all of her Toad assistants remain here as well. Later in the story, the city is horribly flooded as a result of malfeasance on the part of Bowser. It is shown again in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as where the trophies are handed out and where the parades take place and again in Mario Kart DS as its own racetrack, called Delfino Square.


 * Bianco Hills is a small village northwest of Delfino Plaza and seems to function as a suburb. The small village is famed for its windmills, and contains a lake and a large central windmill. The town is besieged by various evils during Mario's adventures there, including two devastating attacks by Piranha Plants and Petey Piranha.


 * Ricco Harbor is an industrial area just off to the west of Delfino Plaza, and is a major shipping port. At any given time, several ships are in the harbor, shipping off various goods to the other parts of the island and, as would seem to be logical, to other parts of the world. A farmer's market is also found here. The harbor is attacked by a giant squid named Gooper Blooper on several occasions. The water in the harbor is frequently polluted with black Goop. It also appears in Mario Power Tennis with the name Blooper Bay.


 * Gelato Beach is a peaceful, eternally sunny beach in the middle of a large bay. Along with Pinna Park, it is the only course in the game which does not require the cleaning up of goo, but rather the completing of challenges including taking down Cataquacks, stopping an angry Wiggler, and competing in a watermelon contest. In the middle of the beach, there is an enormous tower devoted to capturing sunlight and using it to warm the egg of a giant Sandbird. It also appears in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as a course called Peach Beach where Cataquacks are present.


 * Pinna Park is actually on a separate island, but is very close to Isle Delfino and is separated from it by a small strait. There are actually two parts to Pinna Island: its small beach and the amusement park which takes up the rest of the island while it's beach has large, talking sunflowers. The park must close when it is attacked by a cannon-wielding Monty Mole,, and it is completely disrupted when a gigantic mechanized Bowser robot attacks, and Snooze-A-Koopas weakening the sunflowers. Due to the population of Electrokoopas and Electrowallkoopas on the rest of the island, the park is suffering from a lack of visitors. Eventually, a large Electrokoopa causes the Ferris Wheel to spin out of control.


 * Sirena Beach is another beach located on the far side of the bay from Delfino Plaza. A world-class hotel and a spectacular beach are here. According to the game, it is a favorite retreat for couples. The hotel is somewhat disrupted when attacked by a large, manta ray-like ghost that leaves a trail of blue and yellow Goop, and King Boo and his ghosts.


 * Noki Bay is on the far side of the island and is home to the Nokis, one of two races that live Isle Delfino. The first time Mario visits, the water is found to be horribly polluted and is dangerous to touch. Despite battling Monty Mole and Gooper Blooper again, the source of the pollution is found to be a gigantic underwater eel named Eely Mouth with gingivitis. According to the game, the gigantic waterfall is the main tourist attraction in the bay. The entrance to to this level is an homage to the Super Mario 64 course Winged Mario Over the Rainbow.


 * Pianta Village is the ancestral home of the Piantas, the other of the two races who live on Isle Delfino. The most prominent feature of the world is that the entire village is built on a massive tree that extends its branches over a canyon that seems to be endlessly deep. This is to keep the Piantas safe from predators. There's also a village underside containing large mushrooms, but some Wind Sprites will attack. The village is frequented by orange Goop.


 * Corona Mountain is a large volcano in the middle of the island and it is where the final battle takes place.

Secret Levels
Every area in the game has one or two secret levels. These are never part of the regular area and are usually inside an alcove (barred off after defeating the level). These secret levels start with a short cutscene of Mario falling through a white area and Shadow Mario stealing FLUDD, thus leaving Mario only to rely on his acrobatic skills.

These levels have a remix of the original Mario music (Super Mario Bros. for the NES) in vocals [Doo doo doo, do doo da doo...] and snapping fingers.)

Secret levels are staged in an apparently infinite void in which Mario falls and loses a life if he loses his footing on an object, with platforms and they feature many obstacles, and here are some of them...


 * Orange and blue platforms that flip constantly. The player must Jump on these from orange platforms to blue platforms because they flip at different times.


 * Long, square-faced wooden blocks with colored knobs that rotate and the player must run along the long dimension or risk being flipped off.


 * Cubes made of glass with white edges that have colored corners that frequently sit at the edge of a platform (or shortly off it). These will carry Mario on the top and move to otherwise-unreachable platforms as they rotate and turn.


 * Blocks made of sand that crumble as Mario steps on them (but regenerate shortly). These are often arranged into a long path that crumbles if not crossed swiftly or a sand castle that has to be navigated through that is continually breaking apart.


 * Blocks that disappear regardless if the player steps on one of them. They are very tricky and are tough to move across without falling.


 * Moving Yoshi Egg patterned blocks that move in a pattern and must be jumped across in order.

These levels can also be revisited, but FLUDD will be accessible to aid in movement. There is also a red or pink switch that, when pressed, makes Red Coins appear throughout the level and sets off a timer. The red coins must be collected before the timer runs out or Mario loses a life and has to restart the level.

It is also a note that, when losing a life on the secret levels, Mario will restart at the starting point of the level as opposed to dying anywhere else, where he would be returned to Delfino Plaza (except when he loses all lives, when he would invariably be returned to the plaza).

There is also a second, rare type of secret levels. One appears in Episode 4 of Gelato Beach, one in Episode 3 of Noki Bay. Additionally, some are available in Delfino Plaza. In these secret levels, Mario always has access to FLUDD. In most of them, his main goal is to collect red coins. They also have a different music background.

Items

 * Shine Sprites - When certain totals are achieved, the story progresses.
 * Red Coins - Some levels require all eight Red Coins of the level to be found in order to get the Shine Sprite.
 * Blue Coins - Can be traded for Shine Sprites at the Blue Coin Shop.
 * 1-Up Mushrooms - Give Mario an extra life.
 * Fruit - Food for Yoshis.
 * Water Bottles - Fill FLUDD's water tank.

Glitches
On Gelato Beach, select the Red Coins in the Reef level, and run to the peninsula. A Yoshi Egg should be there, see what fruit it wants and go to the blue shack containing fruit. Once ready, go to the yellow force field near the beaches palm trees. Squirt it with Yoshi, under it is a Dune Bud. Squirt the Dune Bud, and at the exact moment it bursts, pound the ground near it. The camera will be facing straight up, then it will fall down. The player get's a good view of Delfino from up there.

When riding a Yoshi, lick to eat an item, but just before it reaches the Yoshi's mouth, jump off. Yoshi will be frozen in that position. Test it out with various creatures and fruit.

Get the Turbo Nozzle in Delfino Plaza and go to the fruit stands. Stand next to the wall behind the pears and pineapples, and turn on the nozzle. Once at full blast the player should go through the wall to a blue area. Stop, and Mario will die, keep going, and he'll probably hit a sewer and get inside it.

In Delfino Plaza, go to the Shine Gate. Jump into the water and swim to the little gate. Now press B. The player should fall into the water, and the Mario can walk in the water without losing life. If that did not happen, Mario should fall down and slam into the water.

Trivia

 * A Test Level is only accessible by use of an Action replay. This was a debugging level that the developers forgot to take out of the game. It is scattered in blocks with numbers, and there is also a giant blob-like creature with legs.
 * During the third episode of Sirena Beach, one of the employees in the hotel claims that the ghosts are annoying and wishes that "Someone would come and suck them away with a vacuum or something" and then asks Mario "Why are you looking at me like that?". That's an obvious reference to Luigi's Mansion.
 * It is possible to bypass the main objective of Bianco Hill's episode one by defeating Petey Piranha, the main objective of episode two. This kind of easter egg was more common in Super Mario 64, but in Super Mario Sunshine, only a few are possible.
 * This easter egg is in fact referenced in-game. If Mario talks to a Pianta resting on the path to the windmill during Episode 1, he will question Mario and tell him that he's supposed to do something else first.
 * Super Mario Sunshine is the first Mario game to have extensive character voice acting and currently the only one.