Top 10 Worst Things About Super Mario Sunshine
I have always hated Super Mario Sunshine even though it gets so much praise. The bad stuff was just too prominent for me. Here are my reasons why I do not like Super Mario Sunshine and find it to be the weakest 3D Mario game.
Normally, I'm all for challenges in video games, but only if the challenge is fair and satisfying to complete. Super Mario Sunshine's difficulty curve isn't like that at all. It has one of the worst difficulty curves, with levels like Corona Mountain and the Pachinko Machine. It's made even worse by the slippery controls I mentioned earlier.
Mario Sunshine is one of my favorite video games ever, but I have to agree that there are problems.
The controls feel so off, especially when jumping onto tiny platforms where Mario will easily slip off, forcing you to go all the way back. It's infuriating when you're up high in a level and land on a platform, only for Mario to slip right off.
So true, the controls are some of the worst I've ever seen in any Mario game. Heck, Super Mario 64 was easier to control than this game! The controls in Sunshine are just way too sensitive, and they feel weird.
I like to 100% games because it's fun to get everything, but only if it's worth it. 100%ing Sunshine is a big mistake because you get nothing out of it. Even if Mario 64 was like this too, at least it was fun to 100% that game. 100%ing Sunshine is just tedious and annoying.
I could tolerate blue coins if Noki Bay wasn't so annoying with them and if they didn't just add another world and a few more shines to collect. I mean, 250 blue coins, really? Most of it involves doing the same stuff over and over! Dashing back and forth to get two blue coins, spraying "hidden" M's, cleaning people, and spraying random areas... I would say the maximum they should've set for blue coins is 50, and they should've just added another world.
The problem isn't just that they're hard to get, but there's no way of knowing which ones you've already collected. It should've been more like the beans in the Mario & Luigi games, which were more satisfying and served a better purpose.
For some reason, there are times when the game just doesn't work. For example, when I'm trying to jump to a moving pole, Mario will sometimes just slide right next to it and fall down. Or when I'm trying to ground pound to break a crate to open a secret path or shortcut, Mario will avoid breaking the box and just go into the shortcut instead. In that case, I have to go back to the beginning of the level. Also, there are times when I get stuck in moving platforms and can't move at all.
The levels in Super Mario Sunshine are some of the most boring levels in 3D Mario history. I know the game wanted to go for a tropical island paradise feel, but that only hurts the game by making the levels feel so bland.
Any level where you have to use FLUDD to move a lilypad or boat across water or lava is instantly terrible. It comes off as very tedious, and it's just frustrating if you die because the boat or lilypad didn't want to go in the direction you were pushing it.
They're too hard to stop, and if they hit a wall, they sink.
The biggest issue with this side mission is the gravity wells around each of the holes, making course correction much more of a chore than it should be.
Look, I love this game, unlike YakkoWakkoDot, but the Pachinko level is infuriatingly difficult. I forgot how I beat it, to be completely honest.
This game took out one of the best things from Mario 64. It's nice to know it was added back in Galaxy.
This was just out of the blue. Why remove the best jump outside of the dive?
There are times when the camera just does not want to work. In these moments, you can't see anything, and you'll just end up with a frustrating death.
The Newcomers
Too much is wrong with this level.
This is one of the most disappointing final bosses in a video game ever, especially after such a hard level comes before it. Oh, and sometimes you just fall through the stage because of how broken this game is.
Diving before Bowser breathes fire allows you to completely avoid it. If you're too scared to climb back up, use your Rocket Nozzle to get back up.
Oh look, Bowser's in a bathtub. Let's destroy the bathtub. Yeah, that sure won't be anticlimactic (sarcasm).
Definitely the worst Mario race. Thank goodness they're only in this game.
I loved the game so much when I was a kid, but this festival was so annoying then and still is in adulthood.
Judge: How dare you destroy our way of life! Community service for you and you're forbidden to leave the island!
Raccoon: Hey there, 10 blue coins for 1 shine? I have, like, 25!
Crate Pianta: I have 2 shines if you can break my crates within a time limit!
Mario: What, is this because I'm a foreigner or something?
Yeah, lots of Shines could have been returned if these guys just gave them back to the Shine Gate. Then Mario would only have to collect, like, 70 instead of 120.
Mario couldn't even get an attorney or have someone defend him (like Peach and Toadsworth were trying to)! The Phoenix Wright games are supposed to show Japan's unfair trial system back in the day, yet this is even worse!
Can we point out that Bowser Jr. had his own personality and, unlike Baby Bowser, actually did his own dirty work? Baby Bowser is the lazy one in terms of gameplay.
And Nintendo keeps shoving him in our faces, especially around Father's Day.