Topic: Super Mario 3D All-Stars

@Bolt_Strike I shall keep this for later. Thank you.

@Snatcher That's not a comprehensive list, there's 15 stages in the game as well as Secret Stars, that's just how many WoomyNNYes could access where he is in the game. There's 7 more stages on the second and third floors, plus Secret Stars that I didn't list, for a total of 120 stars. If you just want to beat the game and aren't worried about 100% though, you only need 70, so those 8 stages will cover most of what you need.

@BlueOcean When you fail the lily pad ride, you can start over like any other level. The green pipe at the end however takes you back to the plaza.

I still believe that pipe was meant as a quick way to transport you back to the beginning of the level, but somehow by mistake takes you out of the level. I can't imagine they were that mean. But who knows...

They were absolutely being mean on purpose.

It's Sunshine we're talking about.

@BlueOcean I have lots of nostalgia for Sunshine, the GameCube was the first console I bought with my own money. That being said, I agree with you, I think Sunshine is the most fun 3D Mario game. It has flaws, but it is so much fun.

@Bolt_Strike Your assesment is on point . I have no idea where everything is in Mario 64. Thank you for that outline.<3 It will definitely help.

@WoomyNNYes Ah okay, if you haven't been there to begin with, jump through that painting and get the stars there. Bolt_Strike is correct - that dead end I mentioned earlier is actually an entrance to Shifting Sand Land, try jumping into it. I remember being surprised as a kid that it was more than just a dead end.

@Eel Yeah...a lot of Sunshine's bonus levels are insanely hard. Especially that dang pachinko one. And you don't even need to finish them to just beat the game.

@Octane You're right, if you fall from the lily pad you start the level again. That pipe is evil when you miss a coin or two and you go through it which is what usually happens to me until I remember what you said and commit suicide. @MarioLover92 I'm not the best player in the world but I'm very good at 2D and 3D platformers! 😁 The most challenging thing in Super Mario Sunshine for me is knowing or even remembering where the blue coins are, as discussed by all us on this thread. That's one thing Nintendo could have fixed.

What I really hate is when the difficulty is related to very clunky controls like getting a perfect Chocobo race in Final Fantasy X, which is required to unlock a weapon or those 2D cruel indie games that I don't care about anymore after five minutes. Super Mario Sunshine is a joy to play and still is my favourite Mario 3D game. I have played it on GameCube but not on Dolphin or anything so playing it on Super Mario 3D Almost-All-Stars in wide-screen ratio has been absolutely wonderful. My favourite Mario 2D game is the 2D masterpiece Super Mario World. The biggest disappointments are Super Mario Odyssey (3D) and New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2D). New Super Mario Bros. 2 in particular is horrendous and boring.

@MarioBrickLayer Nostalgia is why I wanted to see if I still love it and I do. It's not flawless but it's wonderful. I was a student but I bought the GameCube myself as well (with my father's money) and there's so much to like about it, the console itself, the controller, the high-quality graphics... Many Nintendo franchises still have the best entry on GameCube.

@BlueOcean I'm quite good at 2D and 3D platformers too, I've pretty much been playing them all my life. It's my best genre in terms of my skill, and I'm generally pretty good at racing games as well.

Yeah, Super Mario World is my favorite 2D game as well (SMB3 is a very close second), but I will have to disagree with you on the 3D games - Super Mario Galaxy is my favorite 3D Mario game, alongside its sequel. I loved 3D World and Odyssey too, honestly. With that said, I do really like Sunshine's setting and stages, and Mario and FLUDD are fun to control. (The rocket nozzle is nothing short of awesome - it's essentially a super jump, how can you not love that?) However my problems with that game are that some of the bonus stages/shine sprites feel really hard for the wrong reasons (like the chuckster stage and aforementioned pachinko stage), and yeah I do agree that the blue coins could have been handled better. Not every shine sprite is of equal value, either - you're required to get the first 7 shines in each main world to get to Bowser. Compare that to Super Mario 64 or any other 3D Mario game, where you can get whichever stars/moons you want, as long as you get the required amount, and still beat the game. Not an issue if you're going for all 120 shine sprites, but for a casual playthrough it's kind of limiting for a 3D platformer. Just my own critiques of the game - it's totally cool if Sunshine's your favorite 3D Mario.

My least favorite 3D Mario is 3D Land. Not because it's bad, of course, it's a perfectly fine game that plays like your typical 2D game and makes nice use of the 3DS's 3D screen, and has a really cool Bowser fight at the end, though I wish the levels were a bit more creative. Not sure I'd agree with what the game requires of you to unlock the real final level either. 3D World improved on what 3D Land did tenfold, and you can be a cat in it.

I'm good at racing games as well. What you said might be one of the reasons. We grew up playing platformers, we liked them and we developed skills.

Of course, I understand your reasons for preferring other platformers and your critiques of Super Mario Sunshine are shared by thousands of players. I'm not a big fan of the New and 3D-Land-World Mario games but New Super Mario Bros. U and Super Mario 3D World are good. The thing that is special about Super Mario 3D Land is the stereoscopic 3D.

Mario Sunshine: Got all 8 coins! Now, just to claim your prize! Easy, right? The hard work was done. XD

@WoomyNNYes that one was just cruel. But for me, it was the Sand Bird......I don't know why but I could not stay on that thing when it turned.......I just could not see it with the camera panning everywhere. I finally got it today after the 30th try or so.

The lily pad game was strangely easy for me......I think I just got really lucky because I got myself about 50 lives going in so I felt like I had lots of room......it must have just made me relaxed.......I didn't even need to use the underwater trick on it. Getting there however........that was just mean. I don't like Yoshi very much in Sunshine, I find him really hard to maneuver.

@WoomyNNYes That episode used to give me so much trouble when I was a kid. My issue though, was that I was sometimes inaccurate in the direction I was facing, and instead of landing on the dock with the Shine, I would land on another Blooper and I would end up switching Bloopers and jetting right back out on the water. Then I just ended up switching Bloopers over and over because I couldn't get the direction quite right until I crashed into something and died. Definitely a tricky finish.

@Bolt_Strike oh god, what a nightmare.....I had no idea about this when going in......so at the end I was like "what the heck? how do I get off? OH NO!".

OMG why do some of these levels have auto panning cameras on caffeine? falls into a pit (red coins of ricco tower)

I love this game but it may defeat me before I defeat it......haha. If not, perhaps Galaxy will finish me.

Super Mario Sunshine is one of the roughest, least-polished games Nintendo ever released. However, it's still fun to play in its own right. I love the tropical theme.

@SnackPop definitely agree from the storyline standpoint. I feel like the backstory was abandoned almost immediately and ultimately it feels like it was designed for the "collector" players rather than for a goal-oriented adventure. Due to that, it feels almost unplayable without a checklist.....and the fact that one is not integrated in the game (specifically for the blue coins and the Plaza Shines) is a strange choice.

It's still one of my faves though.......after I figured out what I was supposed to be doing (i.e. got a checklist).

@cordova94 I mean those are valid issues but I wouldn't really call them "storyline" issues because they have nothing to do with the narrative, just the collection. I think you mean progression?

I actually think the game is structured with the story in mind, some of the worlds have overarching stories or at least elements of one (Noki Bay is a good example, especially the first 4 episodes which is an entire story arc devoted to trying to clean the source of the pollution in the bay), and you're required to complete Episode 7 of every world which seems like a decision to get you to experience the "stories" before finishing the game. They're not quite as polished as say, Galaxy or Odyssey was in that regard, but I can appreciate how they tried to make the episodes feel like well, episodes.

@SnackPop I think the game wouldn’t have gotten nearly as infamous for it not being polished, not that being polished would have ruined anything, it wouldn’t.

@WoomyNNYes oh boy, I did that challenge fairly recently forgetting how miserable it was. It is absolutely cruel that you can bungle the whole thing while trying to go back and get the shine. It's so mean it's actually kind of hilarious. Climbing the chainlink fences is another thing that ruins me without fail. I forget the controls and let go/jump away when i mean to flip one of the panels.

@SnackPop what you said sums up how I feel pretty much. Lots of fun to be had, but usually made worse by jank.