We are used to finding game glitches at a pretty early phase in our playtime (heck, opening week for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet saw our Twitter feeds flooded with 'em), but this isn't to say that there aren't more out there. One such example has been brought to our attention today and it is, predictably, to do with Super Mario Sunshine.
Anyone who has played Sunshine is bound to have come across the odd glitch once or twice. Perhaps you saw Mario fall through a floor and plummet to his death, or maybe you found yourself leaping in and out of walls like Marvel's Nightcrawler. Fortunately, most of these are at the 'freaking annoying' end of the glitch spectrum; the other end is reserved for those like the Gelato Beach softlock glitch which was recently demonstrated by YouTuber Gaming Reinvented.
As the name suggests, this is a softlock glitch that happens to take place in the game's World 3: Gelato Beach. Unique to Italian versions of the game, a game-ending softlock can occur simply by reading a sign in front of a cabin during Mission 8: 'The Watermelon Festival'. Reading said sign causes two text boxes to pop up instead of the normal one. As the second, empty box appears on screen, the game locks down and the only way to get out is by resetting the console (who said that reading was good for you, eh?).
So slippery was this glitch that it managed to sneak under the radar for the last 20 years, even worming its way into the Italian version of 2020's Super Mario 3D All-Stars. If you find yourself with an Italian copy of the game and want to see the glitch in action, Gaming Reinvented has you covered and has made a video showing what not to do. You can check it out below:
Whether Mario Sunshine will ever get another rerelease remains to be seen (it is certainly in need of a good revamp, if so) but finds like this demonstrate that we still need to remain vigilant when playing. There are still glitches a-plenty to be found, so it seems.