Super Mario Sunshine reimagined the franchise | Why I Love
Benjamin Kiefer
Thursday 19th May 2022
Why I Love is a series of guest editorials on GamesIndustry.biz intended to showcase the ways in which game developers appreciate each other's work. This entry was contributed by Benjamin "BenStar" Kiefer, developer of the twin-stick roguelite platformer Revita.
Super Mario Sunshine has a somewhat dubious reputation among Nintendo fans, but I can say with absolute sincerity that it's my favorite of Mario's 3D adventures. Part of this is personal bias due to the fact that it was the first video game I ever owned (I was so young that I remember being scared by the silly little mud enemies), so it imprinted itself onto me early, but it's also a game that I've revisited many times over the years and have come to appreciate more each time. As for why, there are a multitude of reasons, so let's get into it!
The FLUDD water pack added a number of new game mechanics
First off, the key to any Mario game is its movement, and I reckon Super Mario Sunshine has the best, most intuitive, and downright expressive moveset of any Mario game. The FLUDD jetpack/hose was key to this, as it offered Mario a forgiving hover ability, but it also granted him the ability to slide on his belly, blast up in the air, and sidestep. But even without the FLUDD -- which is taken away for certain classic platforming challenges -- Mario had a triple jump, spin jump, wall jump, and somersault, offering such a complete repertoire of maneuverability that it was fun to just run around on your own and scale the architecture. Not everything you could do was especially useful in attaining your overall goal of collecting shines, but this freedom of movement offered tiny joys like finding your own shortcuts. Since you had to dive
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