Super Mario Sunshine
The follow up to Super Mario 64, and although most would agree that it doesn’t quite surpass Mario’s original 3D adventure, most would agree that it is still a fantastic game. Super Mario Sunshine took Mario to a mostly tropical island setting and gave him a funky new jet pack called FLUDD.
FLUDD changed the gameplay significantly form Super Mario 64. A lot of the time you would spent the time spraying the walls and ground to wash of graffiti in a kind of reverse Splatoon scenario, and could also use the jet pack to fly and hover. Super Mario with Tails from Sonic style ability to hover meant that players had a lot more leeway with their jumps and it didn’t quite feel like Mario. Of course, previous NES and Super Nintendo games had given Mario special suits where he could fly and float, but never had it been so integrated into the gameplay as it was here.
This game also pushed the Mario series into new realms of storytelling with voiced cut scenes and a larger plot than usual. The island hub world may not be as iconic as Peach’s Castle, but it’s still filled with secrets and is a solid adventure that is far and away the best 3D platformer of the generation.
