TheSuper Mariofranchise has been Nintendo’s crown jewel for decades now, and it’s been amazing to watch how the character and the franchise as a whole have evolved along withNintendosince their humble beginnings. EverySuper Mariogame tries to innovate the platforming genre in a major way, with some of these risks paying off more than others.
Related:The 10 Best Games In The Super Mario Franchise Ranked (According To Metacritic)
Mariois still Nintendo’s greatest tool to move hardware, but bothSuper Mario 64andSuper Mario Sunshinehave become important titles and learning experiences for Nintendo. There’s still a ton of nostalgia that’s associated with these games, but they’re both subject to a number of flaws and advantages.
10Super Mario 64: It Pushes The Series Into 3D
It’s a major turning point when any video game franchise that’s been around since the earlier generations finally transitions over into 3D. Some properties can’t survive the shift, but theSuper Marioseries has skillfully acclimated while still finding clever ways to embrace its 2D roots.
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Every 3DSuper Mariotitle is special in its own way, butSuper Mario 64opened the floodgates and showed audiences what’s possible. It’s still considered to be one of the best video games of all time, and if its launch wasn’t so successful then the landscape of the series could’ve been very different.
9Super Mario Sunshine: Its Storyline
Super Mario 64is a great game for a number of reasons, but its storyline is not one of them. Granted, theSuper Mariotitles are fairly barebones when it comes to their narratives, butSuper Mario 64’splot is particularly scant.Super Mario Sunshinestill seesPeachin peril with Mario coming to the rescue, but it goes much further.
Related:5 Things Fans Loved about Super Mario Sunshine (& 5 Things We Hated)
The story begins with Mario being framed for some widespread vandalism, which also introduces the vile Shadow Mario. Additionally, there’s the first appearance of Bowser Jr., who is informed that Peach is his mother and it’s Mario who’s the villain here.
8Super Mario 64: Its Music
All of the games in theSuper Mariofranchise have some of the most celebrated and recognizable music from any Nintendo titles. Koji Kondo is the composer responsible for the engaging music for the majority of theSuper Mariogames, including bothSuper Mario 64andSuper Mario Sunshine. Sunshinestill features some amazing music, both original and remixes of old classics, butSuper Mario 64’ssoundtrack just slightly beats it and features a few more iconic tracks that have become emblematic of theSuper Mariofranchise.
7Super Mario Sunshine: Its Variety Of Boss Battles
Super Mario 64does an excellent job translating many of the traits of the classicSuper Mariotitles into a modern, three-dimensional environment. However, if there’s any element that suffers in the Nintendo 64 title it’s that theboss battlesare fairly one-dimensional. Most of the fights revolve around Mario either throwing or jumping onto an enlarged energy, including the Bowser battles.Super Mario Sunshinereally gets creative with its bosses, which make use of Mario’s acrobatics, as well as the FLUDD concept, with one fight even set on a raging rollercoaster.
6Super Mario 64: It Doesn’t Complicate The Formula
Super Mario 64is an excellent lesson in restraint due to how it doesn’t overload the player with copious upgrades and power-ups. Many titles in theSuper Marioseries, both before and afterSuper Mario 64,can go overboard with all of Mario’s abilities, with many of them often being unnecessary.Super Mario 64restricts itself to three different Caps that offer Mario diverse skills. These Caps don’t fundamentally change the gameplay in any way. They’re much simpler than the whole FLUDD concept and its various nozzles, by comparison.
5Super Mario Sunshine: Its Use Of Yoshi
It’s been revealed that at one pointSuper Mario 64had plans to incorporate Luigi, but the game ends up being very light with Mario’s supporting cast of friends.Yoshimakes a very brief appearance on the top of Peach’s castle as some minuscule post-game content.Super Mario Sunshinemakes Yoshi a crucial part of the game and there are a number of stages with Yoshi-centric Shines. The Yoshi mechanics may be more complex than necessary, but it’s appreciated that Mario’s companion is brought into the game.
4Super Mario 64: How It Handles Secret Goals
Super Mario 64is fairly direct with its goals and even though the hints for each star are presented as riddles, none of them attempt to confound the player or really push their deductive reasoning. However, there are a number of stars and secretshiddenin the game that are not advertised nearly as well. None of these things are mandatory, but it’s the perfect balance to keep gamers on their toes and looking for secrets. Even objectives like knowing to look into the skylight to enter the Wing Cap stage are far from obvious on the initial playthrough.
3Super Mario Sunshine: Its FLUDD-less Secret Levels
As innovative as it is forSuper Mario Sunshineto introduce the FLUDD concept into Mario’splatformingarsenal, it somehow becomes even more ambitious to then take FLUDD away from Mario in a number of hidden stages.Super Mario Sunshinecontains some optional secret levels where Shadow Mario steals FLUDD and forces Mario to improvise with his natural platforming skills. These levels are pure platforming bliss and while they’re more difficult than the standard stages, they’re tons of fun for dedicated fans of the platformer genre. It’s a level of platforming far beyond anything inSuper Mario 64.
2Super Mario 64: It’s More Accessible
Super Mario 64faces a difficult task in the sense that it doesn’t just try to cater to longtimeSuper Mariofans, but also to new adopters for theNintendo 64who might not even be gamers in the first place.Super Mario 64rises to the occasion with gameplay that retains the essence of the previous games in the series, yet remains accessible.Super Mario 64allows players to beat the game without collecting absolutely everything.Super Mario Sunshineis more punishing with its gameplay and goals, which can discourage some that don’t want to put in the work.
1Super Mario Sunshine: It’s A Harder Mario Game For More Hardcore Platforming Fans
Super Mario Sunshineoften gets overlooked because it’s an outlier in theSuper Mariofranchise that mixes things up more than the average entry in the series. However,Super Mario Sunshineis the perfect game for fans who are hungry for an actualchallenge.Super Mario Sunshinethrows a lot at the player and features some very punishing platforming. There are different uses for FLUDD, many unique varieties of secret stages, races against Shadow Mario, and a collection of hidden blue coins, which are perhaps the game’s biggest challenge.
