Super Mario Sunshine remains somewhat of a black sheep in the jump-and-running series – this is Mario, though, so it still had near universal acclaim back in 2002 – mainly because of how damn tough it can be at times, but that difficulty is something that series creator Shigeru Miyamoto also regretted “very much.”
“I want Mario to be a game that all audiences can enjoy,” producer Miyamoto said in a recently resurfaced interview from Nintendo Dream, posted to Shmuplations. “Something that Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, even little children can easily pick up and play, and right away understand what’s fun about it. However, I think Mario Sunshine turned out to be difficult for the average user. It’s something I very much regret. I want someone who hasn’t played a game in 10+ years to play our game, but I think such a person wouldn’t know what’s going on in Mario Sunshine.”
The Mario maker specifically calls out the platformer’s Secret Courses that stripped our moustachioed man of his FLUDD – the big water canon strapped to the plumber’s back that lets him both wash paint off of surfaces and glide in the air with downward-facing water beams, something that made early 3D platforming much less clunky. Miyamoto said he “absolutely wanted to include” them because that kind of “obstacle-based platforming” is part of “Mario’s roots” – and he wanted people to have the “‘I died 200 times, but it was fun!'” feeling. Still, Miyamoto couldn’t help but regret that players have to clear those stages before moving forward: “I think we should have allowed people to go the final stage even if they can’t beat it.”
It’s interesting to look back at comments made more than two decades ago since you can definitely see a course correction with the Super Mario Galaxy games, which relegated potentially the entire series’ hardest stages to the end and postgame, and maybe an overcorrection with Super Mario Odyssey, which was a tad too simple for my tastes. But no matter which direction Mario leans, Miyamoto always seemed to have his finger on the pulse when he called the series “probably the best vehicle out there for re-acquainting players with modern gaming… If you can stick with it for 3 days and not give up, I think you’ll be able to re-integrate into today’s gaming culture.”
For now, check out the very best Super Mario games of all time.