Okay, so, I've finally completed 100%'d Super Mario Sunshine for the very first time. My thoughts will be in this comment thread!

Before I played the game again recently, I hated the game. It just wasn't as open or fun as 64 was to me at the time, and I felt like asking me to collect 240 blue coins was a little much. But I'd like to say that my thoughts have been reversed by a considerable margin (cont.)

I like Super Mario Sunshine. Its main campaign is pretty great, actually. The game's collision detection is pretty shit sometimes but I had a lot of fun and think stages like Ricco Harbor and Sirena Beach in particular are well built and enjoyable to explore.

I don't like FLUDD as much as Cappy, who gave Mario a lot of maneuvering options in Odyssey, but I'd take its nozzles anyday over Cappy's not-that-great captures. FLUDD is very well utilized in this game though, I was able to correct my platforming and do unique stuff with it

Being unable to switch nozzles on the fly is pretty annoying, and so is being asked if I want to save every time I unlock nozzles in a level or collect a blue coin. I wouldn't call swimming in this game my cup of tea, either. But these aren't really that big of concerns to me

Delfino Plaza is a really great hub, definitely the best one we've gotten yet in this series. I love the asshole residents, the sewer navigation, the level portals, and general design. I feel it's the best hub I've ever played and thought it was neat even when I hated the game

The levels are really cool, too. Nintendo put a lot of work into making sure everything looked like it was part of the same tropical resort and I really admire that attention to detail, like being able to see stages in other stages. I love Hotel Delfino and Pinna Park, very cool

If I'd bitch about anything, I wish we had a full-scale volcano level, maybe combine it with a tropical jungle setting? Corona Mountain is also a shit level and getting the blue coins there really pissed me off. But all in all, the main levels are cool

I don't think I've mentioned how weird the designs in this game are, like the enemies and bosses, but I love it. They help the game feel more distinct and... somehow make it extra-tropical? I kind of wish I saw some of these designs make it into future Mario games

However, my biggest problem with the game is being thrown into these FLUDD-less platforming levels in... space(?). I actually do like playing them, but I wish the worlds were expanded on more to be more inclusive of content rather than teleporting you to these unrelated areas

There is some bullshit too, like the lily pad mission and the fucking weird pachinko game. The eighth Shine Sprites in most of the main levels are also a pain in the ass, including the watermelon level (although it got better with experience). And... god, too many blue coins tbh

Sunshine is a game that I feel like is missing content in places and overly bloated with it in others. Like, the worlds themselves feel small and incomplete while there's a huge abundance of blue coins in obnoxious spots and red coin challenges in each spacey mission in the game

Sorry that this thread isn't really written like a coherent review, but let me say we're getting closer to the end.

And here's a hot take.

64 can't measure up to this game. Having also 100%'d that game recently, it just does not feel as good and I didn't really have any fun

Sunshine is a good Mario game, probably my favorite 3D Mario as a matter of speaking. I don't really care much for the others for different reasons, but I might actually come back to this one just for the main campaign. Good stuff

I'd probably give it a solid 8/10