It's-a Mario! On Gamecube!

Intro:
Once upon a time, a little Italian plumber in blue suspenders and red shirt shook up an ailing video game market and gave it a shock of life. This is none other than Mario. He entertained you back in the NES days, improved himself in every possible way in sequel after sequel and finally he's come back on Nintendo's newest powerhouse, the Gamecube. Super Mario Sunshine is a masterpiece. It may not be as innovative as Super Mario 64 was back in the day, but it's a worthy sequel to that genre-defining game.

The Good:
First let's start with the water. WOW! You could find yourself staring at the flowing water in the ocean, with it's waves and layers upon layers of light and reflections, and then dive in. Watch how the water swirls realistically around Mario's portly form. The most impressive example of this is in Pinna Park, where the water is translucent, reflecting the background while still being transparent and letting you see the bottom. Of course the gameplay is astounding. Mario has been consistently good in all of his installments, and this is no exception. The main feature comes in the form of FLUDD (Flash Ultra Dousing Device), his water cannon, which is used to clean the goop around Delfino Island. FLUDD also comes with 3 additional nozzles, the hover nozzle allows Mario to hover for a limited time, saving him from mis-timed jumps and making things easier but still ever challenging. The rocket nozzle shoots Mario straight up in the air at great lengths, useful for getting to out of reach places. Finally, the turbo nozzle shoots Mario off at great speed which is rarely useful other than getting from point A to point B within a limited time and breaking the saloon doors in Delfion Plaza, but damn if it isn't fun. The game also contains some Mario-esque mini-games, where Shadow Mario steals FLUDD so you have to rely on classic platform prowess to make it through. Let me tell you, these things are extremely challenging because you grow so dependent on FLUDD over the course of the game it really feels awkward without him. Perhapst the best part of these stages (and in most of the game) is the music. An a capella rendition of the classic Mario theme. Not to mention there are at least 3 different renditions of the underground theme sprinkled through the game, and Delfino Plaza's music is pleasant.

The Bad:
There's one thing everyone noticed from the screenshots although it's not as apparent in-game. The graphics definitely could've been better. Now don't get me wrong, the graphics aren't horrible, in fact they're nice but they could've been so much better. Mario's model is fine but FLUDD could've used some more polygons, not to mention Mario's shadow looks like a snowman's shadow. They did the VF4 technique and put some really cheap model that moves with the character for a shadow. Now most people won't notice this, but I have to nitpick at something because there isn't much else wrong with this game. I have one more gripe, the game is too short. I blazed through the game in 3 days and 5 days later got all 120 Shines. Now, I did have hella fun in those 8 days, but it wasn't enough to satisfy me. Not to mention you don't get any useful extras, all you get is some shades and a Hawaiian shirt and a different picture at the end. After that there's not much reason to go back and play it again unless you get that platforming urge.

Final Verdict:
In the end, Super Mario Sunshine lived up to most of my expectations. It was classic Mario action at his best with a dash of summer flair but the game fell short in a few areas such as graphics and longevity. I'd recommend this game to anyone who like to play games.