Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine is a Mario platform game released on July 19, 2002. It is for the Nintendo GameCube and is the sequel of Super Mario 64.

Overview
The events start off in Peach's airplane where Mario, Peach, a few Toads, and Toadsworth are flying out to Isle Delfino for a vacation. They make a dangerous landing in Delfino Airstrip, as they discover a large amount of Goop in the shape of Mario's head is blocking the runway.

Mario soon finds a unique 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. Mario easily defeats it by squirting its head with water. As the giant enemy fades into nothing, the runway returns to a normal shape, and the first Shine Sprite appears, which Mario collects, unaware of what it is. After he collects it, the Delfino Police arrive and arrest Mario. After a brief, unfair court session, Mario is found guilty and is sent to jail, having being mistaken for a strange vandal who resembles him in shape and uses the Magic Paintbrush, also a creation of Professor E. Gadd. Mario agrees to clean all the Goop to recover all the Shine Sprites back to the Shine Gate, Isle Delfino's main source of energy.

Once Mario's Shine Sprite total reaches 10, Shadow Mario kidnaps Peach and takes her to Pinna Park, where he reveals himself as Bowser Jr., one of Bowser's children. He claims that Peach is his mother and that Mario separated her from him. Bowser Jr. takes Peach to Corona Mountain (by flying in Mecha Bowser's balloon form) where his father awaits them.

Much later, the final battle takes place in Corona Mountain, where Mario defeats Bowser and Bowser Jr. Later, Bowser tells his son that Peach is not his real mother, but Bowser Jr. says that he knew all along that Peach was not really his mother, but he wants to fight Mario again. Bowser, who sees much of him in his son, smiles. Together, they plan to hatch a new evil plot, but for now, they rest a while.

Mario rescues Princess Peach and restores the Shine Sprites to the Shine Gate in Delfino Plaza. However, FLUDD breaks down from being used so much. 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 vacation.

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 picture of all of the characters in Casino Delfino (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, very similar to Super Mario 64, but with Shine Sprites instead of Power Stars.

There are 120 Shine Sprites in the game, 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 one 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, such as Shadow Mario appearing in the Plaza.

Gameplay proceeds in this fashion until all of the Shadow Mario's related missions are completed (the 7th mission of each level), which unlocks Corona Mountain, 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 in a few cases. Yoshis can also eat fruit and squirt the juice of the color of that fruit, just like FLUDD sprays water. This juice can be used to dissolve certain kinds of pulsating 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, depends 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 the water with purple sludge.


 * King Boo, who commands Sirena Beach's Boos and only appears in Sirena Beach's Episode Five.


 * Wiggler, who resides on Gelato Beach as the boss of the third mission, angry at Mario for disturbing his nap.


 * 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 level's one Shadow Mario chasing mission.


 * Bowser, the final boss of the game, is found sitting in a hot tub full of green sludge, along with Bowser Jr. and Peach far above Corona Mountain.

Minibosses
The game also has several stronger versions of normal enemies that are generally considered to be minibosses.


 * Piranha Plant in the Generator, huge Piranha Plants made out of sludge, that Mario can defeat by simply squirting water into their open mouths.


 * Plungelo, a Cataquack-like species found in Gelato Beach that fight Mario on top of one of several huge mirrors.


 * Monty Mole, who shows up in two levels, both times arming a large, triple-gun cannon that fires Bullet Bills, Missile Bills, and Bob-Ombs.

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 size 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 view 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 electric Goop, and the hotel is haunted by 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 on 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, more common 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 huge mushrooms, but some Wind Sprites are present there. The village is frequented by orange, fiery 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 F.L.U.D.D, 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 many multi-colored platforms and obstacles, such as:


 * Red and blue platforms that flip constantly. The player must Jump on these from red platforms to blue platforms because they flip in a set sequence.


 * Long, square-faced wooden blocks with colored knobs that rotate, so 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 at regular intervals, 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 set path and must be jumped across in order.


 * Orange blocks with no special characteristic other than moving in every direction. They are arranged in large groups.


 * Some platforms have nails sticking out of them. If Mario Ground Pounds on them 3 times they will be completely in the ground and the player could get a few coins, a 1-Up Mushroom, but usually nothing. They are usually on large platforms that are not moving.

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 8 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 noteworthy 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. Some secret levels are also 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 background music.

Items

 * Shine Sprites - When certain totals are achieved, the story progresses.
 * FLUDD - Helps Mario throughout the game with various abilities.
 * Nozzles- Allows Mario to Hover for a short time, blast up in the air, or make him go extremely fast.
 * 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, which refills their Juice Meter.
 * Water Bottles - Fill FLUDD's water tank.
 * Mario's Hat - Stops Mario from losing lives.
 * Gold Coins - Mario can collect 50 to get a life, or 100 to get a shine sprite.
 * Water Barrel - Mario can throw it to clean a large area, as it releases a large burst of water.
 * Trampoline - Allow Mario to reach higher areas.
 * Water Rockets - Missiles that attach to FLUDD that can be launched with water

Glitches

 * ''Main article: List of Glitches

Artwork Distinctions
Interestingly, the artwork for Mario Sunshine is a bit more unique in the way it portrays a lot of objects, particularly the appearance of enemies, creatures and items. As you browse, you will notice some slight and some drastic differences in the appearance of the enemies in Mario Sunshine in contrast to their appearance in the other canonical titles.

Quotes
For a full list of quotes, see here.

Trivia

 * A Test Level is accessible, only by use of an Action Replay cheating device. This was a debugging level that the developers forgot to take out of the game. It is scattered with 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?". This is a reference to Luigi's Mansion.
 * This game may actually be a prequel to Luigi's Mansion. In Luigi's Mansion, King Boo scolds Mario for all the trouble he had caused him. In Super Mario Sunshine, King Boo is a boss, and had never been heard of before Luigi's Mansion. However, when considering the above fact, this theory begins to break down.
 * Unlike Super Mario 64 where the player could usually get most Power Stars no matter which mission was chosen, this game usually lets Mario obtain only the Shine Sprite the player select from the screen prior to the level. It is possible, however, to bypass the main objective of Bianco Hills episode one by defeating Petey Piranha, the main objective of episode two.
 * This fact is in fact referenced in-game. If Mario talks to a Pianta resting on the path to the windmill during Episode 1 of Bianco Hills, 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.
 * This is the first time Bowser spoke actual words instead of making sound effects and using text boxes.
 * This is the first Mario game to feature Bowser Jr. and Toadsworth.
 * Iggy Koopa and Bowser make cameos when FLUDD is examining Mario in the beginning of the game.
 * Even though the artwork for Mario Sunshine shows Mario riding a green Yoshi, the Yoshis playable in the game cannot achieve a green color.
 * The music that plays in Bianco Hills, Ricco Harbor, and Gelato Beach is a remix of the same song, which also plays in the credits.