Thursday, April 25, 2013

My Month with Super Mario Sunshine, Part 3

If you follow me on Twitter, you likely already know that I've had at least a slight change of heart when it comes to Super Mario Sunshine.

Oh, the wonky camera still makes me want to throw my WaveBird controller against the nearest wall with alarming regularity, as do the game's annoyingly vague directives, but I've also come to accept (if not embrace) those quirks in an effort to experience as much of this GameCube title as possible before the month is up.

Anyway, getting back to my newly softened view of Super Mario Sunshine and what prompted it, may I present Exhibit A:



Honestly, as soon as I was plopped onto the roller-coaster car that first appears around the 2:30 mark in the video above I was pretty sure I was going to love this level. Well, not only did I love it, but it almost single- handedly revitalized my interest in the entire adventure. I mean, if I can encounter such a wonderful stage at this early-ish point in the game, what other surprises await further down the road?

Also helping, of course, is that I'm doing my best to be patient and to take my time as I work my way through Super Mario Sunshine's many challenges.

Does that mean I'm going to finish this sucker before April turns into May? I kind of doubt it, but at the moment I'm planning to continue playing it past that point regardless--which I consider to be quite an accomplishment considering my initial impressions (read them here and here).

18 comments:

thegaygamer.com said...

I think it's great that you want me to like this game, Justin. And, really, my mind is coming around to it. At this point, I'd definitely say I'm "liking" it. I'm not sure I'll ever come to say I "love" it, but we'll see. Regardless, I'm glad I stuck with it. If I'd given up when I first wanted to, I likely would never come back to it, and that would be a shame.


As for secret shines: I'm not sure! I did find a secret level in one of the worlds that doesn't appear to be one of the eight "regular" stages of that world, but it was too hard for me at the time. Anyway, I'll be on the lookout for secret shines from now on :)

Lewis Cave said...

Doubt Nintendo at your peril ;) There are camera issues as well as over-sensitive controls, but it's still incredibly addictive and brimming full of excellent ideas you expect from a Mario game.

thegaygamer.com said...

Hello, Lewis! Yes, I guess you're right--about doubting Nintendo, I mean. That said, even they aren't above the occasional flub now and then (in my opinion).

I have to say, by the way, that I'm starting to really like the game's setting. I'm not sure I'd want Nintendo to return to it, but for this particular game I think it's quite fitting and refreshing.

Jyr said...

Funny that: I got a Sunshine craving as a result of your last post, and the first thing I did upon boot-up was mess around with the 'coaster.

On revisiting it, I found myself once more baffled by Yoshi's inclusion. He's good for, I barely remember, maybe 2 shine-sprites (outta 120, I think). Oh, and one of which is the most frustrating level in the game.



Anyways, I'm happy to read of your ever-so-slight thawing toward Sunshine.

thegaygamer.com said...

Hey there, Jyr! Ah, I'm glad I could inspire you to pick up this game again. And not only that, but it seems I inspired you to play the coaster stage! Or was that just a coincidence?

As for Yoshi's inclusion being kind of pointless: I'm not really far enough into the game to agree or disagree, but I will say that I find riding him around the hub area to be a joy.

Hopefully I'll find out more about him and place in the game (or lack thereof) in the next few days...

Justin Difazzio said...

SPRAY BEACHES. And...Yoshi is absolutely pointless in the game, I think. And I agree with the above commenter when he says the MOST FRUSTRATING thing in the game is a Yoshi shine. Might be the most obnoxious thing in all of gaming.

thegaygamer.com said...

OK, I'll spray beaches ... despite the fact that sounds silly :)


I'm sad to hear Yoshi's pointless, by the way. He's so fun to ride! Oh, well, at least he's made more relevant in Galaxy 2.


Also, I'm not AT ALL looking forward to this shine you're both talking about :|

Justin Difazzio said...

Well, let's just say it's not necessary to the story. It's not the LAST one I got, but it was close...

thegaygamer.com said...

Well, that's good to know. Speaking of avoiding certain shines: I'm currently avoiding as many of the "red coin challenges" as possible :P Although I think I've beaten at least two so far...

MattMyx said...

Good lord that coaster was one of the coolest moments in Nintendo gaming in awhile. So much wild fun.


Great to hear that you are having some fun now. The game keeps throwing in creative touches like the coaster quite often. Hopefully they'll connect as well as this one did.


Oh! And have a good weekend again ;).

thegaygamer.com said...

Hey there, Matt! Well, let's just say I wrote this post early in the week and have since spent some more time with the game. In that time, I've definitely encountered a few more creative touches that have scored points with me. I'll be sure to write about them in greater depth next week :)


What I can say now: although I think I'm always going to have certain issues with aspects of this game, it's definitely won me over to a great extent. I like that it tried something different as far as 3D Mario games are concerned. Also, I like how so many different kinds of obstacles are thrown at gamers. It really shows off the creativity of the folks who made it, I think.


Also, it's hard to believe just how good this game and some other GC games look, now that I'm thinking about it. Can't wait to see Nintendo show off similar artistic/graphical prowess on the Wii U :)


Finally, you have a great weekend, too! Mine's going to be filled with games, ice cream, tennis and sleeping in. You?

retr0gamer said...

Nice to see you finally enjoying it. I expect another change of heart once you get to the extremely frustrating later levels and blue coin collecting :) I'm interested to see if you stay with it!

thegaygamer.com said...

Nah, I think I've fully turned around on it, retr0gamer. I mean, I'm always going to find elements of it annoying/frustrating, but I'm always going to find elements of it appealing, too :)


BTW, are you on Twitter? I can't seem to find you there--or maybe I should say I can't remember your Twitter handle/username?

Justin Difazzio said...

Some of them are really simple, but that first one is a real doozy, for sure. The sense of accomplishment when you nab all the coins is huge, and finding the damn shine is even bigger.

thegaygamer.com said...

Is the first one the one over the lake? If so, yeah, that one was fun. NOT!

retr0gamer said...

My twitter is

@stephenfinn3, retr0gamer was taken I think :) I don't use it much though but whenever I managed to get a non-recession phone I'll use it a lot more :)

thegaygamer.com said...

Thanks! So, I'm guessing you don't use Twitter to pass along your blog posts? That's why I was asking for your Twitter username--I wanted to pass along your latest post. I went ahead and just linked to it on my own. Great job, by the way!

retr0gamer said...

Thanks for that :) I guess I really should start using it to pimp my blog, I will do in the future :)