Gaming Target - GameCube: Super Mario Sunshine

Written by Alan Rumpf on August 27, 2001

Updated Look: My theory is Miyamoto's head will pop out of the pack on his back when you collect all the items.

Finally all of the media's speculation can be put to rest as far as the Luigi's Mansion/100 Marios/Marionette/Mario Sunshine controversy is concerned. Mario Sunshine (tentative title) is the official successor to Super Mario 64. The title made a brief video debut at Spaceworld 2001, where Shigeru Miyamoto presented the plumber in his own game for the first time since Gamecube had been announced. The title looks to be keeping the formula of jumping and exploring around a large 3-D area that made SM64 a classic, however there are many new elements, that of course, Nintendo is keeping a lid on for now.

The look of the demo was very reminiscent of the themes presented in Super Mario 64. It featured a now more polished than ever look of our favorite plumber in all of his massive polygonal glory. The environments were much more detailed and featured generally bright and cheery colors. Also there now appears to be some contraption that Mario carries on his back that is sure to do something of importance. It looks sort of like a jetpack/dispenser hybrid, however in time all of the secrets will be divulged.

The environments themselves however were quite different that you might expect coming from a SM64-type game. It appears from the movie shown that some of the fantasy look has been removed, and the setting of at least that one level had a more suburban type feel. (a la Sonic Adventure) The level appeared to be massive; at least 3-5 times the size of the average SM64 level. Some of the graphics looked a tad bit blurred, but considering this title is probably very early in development it is of no concern.

While the point of the game in currently unknown, from what we see so far it looks like there may be a slight departure from the classic kidnapping theme. There appears to be two meters that are always on the screen. One looks to be the totals of how many Уsun coinsФ you have, and the other one is in the shape of a sun that fills up to a certain level. Perhaps the amount of life Mario boasts, or something to do with the mysterious pack on his back.

The gameplay looks to be very similar to SM64Еwhich is some of the greatest news this editor has heard in ahwile. The demo previewed just some of Mario's skills and movements including running, kicking, wall jumping, etc. There are sure to be tons of more movements that will innovate the way we think of 3-D platformers from now on.