Topic: Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Oh Boy what a weekend I had. Completed the 120 stars in SM64. this game is absolute platforming perfection (although a better câmera control would be apreciated). Still the best 3d platformer ever made

What’s everyone’s favorite world in Sunshine? It’s a hard choice for me. I love Noki Bay’s level design, but I like the different choice of design in Sirena Beach. It seemed like I was in a child friendly horror game instead of a platformer.

My least favorite is definitely Ricco Harbor. Barely anything to do, and those blooper riding levels sucked hard.

I got about 37 or so in 64. I havent used the 2nd big key yet as im trying to round up a few more stars and get metal cap to grab some that require it. But yea its a great game. Lot of memories being brought back up.

@Mountain_Man Actually, I feel like most of Nintendo's games have been pretty balanced, difficulty-wise. The hard ones tend to be hard because of limited technology (Metroid; The Legend of Zelda) or because they were playing around with newer technology (Mario 64 and its newfangled third-person 3D camera).

Although it's definitely true that older games, which tended to be short and simple, had to rely on being difficult for people to get their money's worth out of them. Primarily games from third-party devs.

@Apportal While I haven't started it in 3d All Stars yet, the Hotel stage is my fave. I'm a sucker for bland, realistic things existing normally in high fantasy settings. Plus it has a subtle reference to the novel, 'The Shining'.

@Apportal Is Sirena Beach the haunted hotel where you get into the ceilings and walls? Do i remember that right? That's my favorite world/level in Sunshine. Love it.

@WoomyNNYes Yeah.

Mario's got the Sunshining.

He communicates entirely via telepathy and gibberish.

@Losermagnet I don't think it's a "subtle" reference if you've read the book before. If I remember correctly, at the end of the book they sensed "a ghostly manta shape, floating away over the hotel. It was paper-thin, like a shadow, and then broke into smaller forms before turning into smoke and drifting away."

I wonder what that could be...

I wouldn't say I actively dislike any of the stages in Sunshine, but if I were to rank them I think I would go with this order:
1. Sirena Beach
2. Pinna Park
3. Noki Bay
4. Gelato Beach
5. Pianta Village
6. Ricco Harbor
7. Bianco Hills

Although honestly my favorite sections of the game are the "Secret" levels, which may be a bit of an unpopular opinion.

@Apportal okay it's definately not subtle lol. But it is at the end of an almost 700 page book that had a section involving "scary" moving topiary animals.

@Cynas My full ranking would be similar to yours. Pinna Park has one of the least expected and amazing battles I've ever seen.

@Losermagnet ditto. Still one of the only books that long that’s still worth a read.

I don't understand why so many people dislike Sunshine. It's got a few rough patches and isn't as polished as their more recent 3D mario games, but it's got such great level design and such a variety of gameplay mechanics. It's got to be my third favourite of the mario games after Galaxy1&2 (Galaxy 2 is an expansion pack in my mind) and Odyssey. I'd put it as better than 64 and better than 3D Land and 3D World.

@Dezzy I think the level design is sub-par. It’s one of those games where instead of thinking “oh, I definitely can’t make that jump.” Instead, You think “hmm... What if I could?”

@Apportal agreed. King can be a bit uneven, but I really enjoy some of his books. The Shining is one of those few books that genuinely scared me in a few places and is great outside of the movie (which is also great).

(Quick swerve to get back on topic) it's almost as scary as Rainbow Ride!

I can’t believe 30 years later we still haven’t received a true sequel to Super Mario World and a sequel to Super Mario Bros. 2 (Western version).

Considering Noki Bay is the home of the Noki (you can even see a bunch of their tiny houses floating in the water), there are surprisingly few Noki to be found there. I guess they all moved when the water got polluted, but even in later episodes it's just the old dude and his grandson(?). They do all return in episode 8 I guess.

Maybe they're busy working elsewhere

That's where I've been saying they should take the 2D mario games. Make a sequel to SMW with a brand new art style.

They should really focus on that whole aspect of secrets and different paths through the overworld map that SMW really nailed.