User:TheJoebro64/drafts/Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine is a 2002 platform-adventure game developed by Nintendo EAD for the GameCube. It is the second Super Mario game to feature 3D gameplay, following Super Mario 64 (1996). Super Mario Sunshine is set in the tropical Isle Delfino, where Mario, Princess Peach, and the Toads take a vacation. The player, as Mario, is tasked with cleaning up the island after Bowser Jr. vandalizes it with graffiti. Like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine emphasizes open-world exploration, requiring the player to complete various missions in addition to occasional linear obstacle courses. Sunshine introduces F.L.U.D.D., a robotic backpack that can spray water to clean sludge, defeat enemies, and help Mario reach otherwise inaccessible places.

Development on Sunshine began in 2000 and lasted a year and a half. It was the directorial debut of Nintendo's Yoshiaki Koizumi, following a ten-year-long apprenticeship working on various other games. Koizumi conceived the game's central mechanic—spraying water akin to a water gun—after he was introduced to the GameCube controller and its analog triggers; this mechanic led to the selection of the tropical island setting. It was the only Super Mario game released for the GameCube, and is also the only game in the series to feature a strong emphasis on storytelling with cutscenes and extensive voice acting.

Sunshine was released in Japan in July 2002, in North America in August, and in Europe in October. The game received critical acclaim; reviewers praised its visuals, music, and gameplay, but felt it failed to innovate beyond Super Mario 64 and criticized its camera system, complexity, and lack of polish. Although it sold 5.5 million copies, sales did not meet Nintendo's expectations.

Sunshine is retrospectively considered one of the weaker Super Mario games and was the series' last open-world game until Super Mario Odyssey (2017). Nonetheless, it introduced elements that became Mario franchise staples, including Isle Delfino and Bowser Jr. Sunshine remained a GameCube exclusive until 2020, when it was ported to the Nintendo Switch as part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection.

Gameplay
Like its predecessor Super Mario 64 (1996), Super Mario Sunshine is a 3D platform game in which the player, as Mario, explores an island and collects items by progressing through minigames and puzzles.

Plot
In contrast to other Super Mario games, Sunshine features a strong emphasis on storytelling with extensive voice acting and cutscenes. The game begins when Mario sets out for Isle Delfino for a vacation with Princess Peach, her steward Toadsworth, and several other Toads. After landing on the island's airstrip, they find that it has been polluted with graffiti. As a result, the Shine Sprites that serve as the island's source of power have disappeared, and the island is covered in a perpetual shadow. Mario is introduced to F.L.U.D.D. and helps clean the airstrip, but is arrested as the person suspected of the pollution. Despite Peach's objections, Mario is convicted and sentenced to clean up the graffiti and recover the Shine Sprites. He is forbidden from leaving the island until he does so.

Development

 * http://www.gamecubicle.com/interview-super_mario_sunshine.htm
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20180310073936/https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/super-mario-odyssey-was-shaped-by-marios-biggest-flops-w496166

Conception


Super Mario Sunshine was developed by Nintendo EAD as a sequel to 1996's Super Mario 64.(GC) It was the directorial debut of Yoshiaki Koizumi, who had been hired by Nintendo as a writer and artist in 1991 and was instrumental in the development of high-profile games, including the Legend of Zelda games Link's Awakening (1993) and Ocarina of Time (1998) and Super Mario 64. For Mario 64, he served as the assistant director and worked long hours with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto to perfect Mario's movement.

In August 2000, Nintendo presented a tech demo created by Koizumi, Super Mario 128, at its Space World trade show. The demo, which featured 128 Mario character models running around a sphere, was designed to show off the power of Nintendo's upcoming GameCube, and led to public anticipation that the demo would become a full-fledged Mario 64 sequel.(RS) However, Koizumi believed that Mario 128 could not serve as the basis for the next Super Mario game, considering it technically impossible to develop into a full product. Fleshing out the sphere-walking concept would have required tremendous technological expertise, motivation, and achievement from a dedicated team, so he was unsure if it was worth the effort.

Koizumi experimented with new concepts. When Koizumi received the GameCube controller, pressing its analog triggers reminded him of playing with water guns as a child. He decided to take Super Mario 64 gameplay and give Mario a water gun to compliment the exploration.(RS) Koizumi developed the ideas and submitted the basic outline for Sunshine to Miyamoto.(GC) Nintendo was apprehensive of giving Mario a gun-like tool, but by focusing on childlike aspects of playing with a water gun, Koizumi was able to convince management to let him proceed as director.(RS) Nintendo gave Sunshine a mid-2002 deadline so it could be released within the GameCube's first year on the market.

Design


Sunshine production lasted a year and a half, though Miyamoto noted the development was longer if one included the time it took to create the game engine—it was the first game to use Nintendo's R&D engine, which allowed Nintendo developers to reduce the time required for developing games.(GC)

Koizumi said he "wanted players to engage in mischief, such as watering other characters or playing with mud. I wanted to simulate child's play." (GC)

Legacy

 * https://games.avclub.com/15-years-later-super-mario-sunshine-is-messier-and-mor-1798264186
 * https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-23-super-mario-sunshine-retrospective
 * https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-10-24-remembering-super-mario-sunshine
 * https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/ode-mario-sunshine-only-true-mario-world/
 * https://kotaku.com/lets-debate-the-merits-of-super-mario-sunshine-1845215692