I Love Sunshine

When it comes to real sunshine, yes, I generally like it, but sometimes it hurts. Mario Sunshine, howver, is awesome. I know that only a few suns ago I rambled about Sunshine not living up to Mario 64, but I must admit that after seeing Sunshine again, it really isn't half bad.

Super Mario Sunshine was my first Mario game, believe it or not. Just like Wind Waker was my first Zelda game, and Prime was my first Metroid Game. Does this have anything to do with the fact that the GameCube was my first Nintendo console? Yes, it does. When I first played Super Mario Sunshine, I didn't quite understand it. Well, what's to understand, really? It's fairly straightforward, is it not?. I don't know about that. The whole beach/town-as-a-hub thing and eight-missions-per-level thing were quite unfamiliar to me at the time. At any rate, Mario seemed much more adventure or puzzle-like than, say, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.

But now, I finally get it. After clearing Mario 64, I know exactly what to expect from Sunshine, and so far (about 16 Shines in), it doesn't seem bad at all. And, I just noticed, the graphics are nothing more than excellent. There is nothing like noticing the beauty of a last-gen game in this era of next-genness. Mario is smooth and colourful, he runs with the grace of a spartan warrior, and the water looks absolutely amazing. I don't know if this means that I'll get all the Shines this time, or if I'm only playing the game as an excuse for not playing Zelda. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

I have spoken (written, actually).