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Nintendo has unveiled a playable version of Super Mario Sunshine at E3 2002. The base gameplay is similar to that of Super Mario 64, but there are plenty of added elements to make the game unique. There are six playable areas in the E3 demo: Weeding at the Windmill, Piranha Peril, Muddy Port Mystery, Pesky Pest and the Shaky Mirror, Wiggler's Return, and Junior's Playing Room. The areas are all included in a menu screen, and you simply select the area you wish to play, press the A button, and then watch Mario materialize from a mass of floating particles in the level.
As the game begins, Mario and Peach land on an island, ready for a relaxing vacation. But soon the pair finds that the island has been vandalized with piles of black and brown pollution, and the authorities are blaming Mario for the crime. It's up to Mario to clean up the goop and return the island to its former state while performing specific tasks for the game's many non-playable characters. If Mario succeeds, sunny days will return to the island once again.
Weeding at the Windmill is the game's starter level, and it features a wide variety of terrain, allowing you to get used to the game's controls. Making Mario jump is accomplished with the A button, and timing your jumps correctly will cause him to perform double or triple jumps. Mario can also perform a new jump called the spinning high jump by rotating the analog stick 360 degrees and pressing the A button. Other Mario staples such as the backflip and sideflip have returned, and jumping and then pressing the L button while in midair performs the butt-stomp. The B button allows Mario to talk with the characters scattered throughout the game, grab objects, or slide on his stomach. The wall jump has also returned, and it is much easier to pull off this time around. However, Mario's traditional melee attacks have been removed in favor of a different means of combat.
New to the Mario franchise is a water cannon that is mounted on the plumber's back. The E3 demo allows the player to use the cannon for two separate purposes. Switching between the two uses is as easy as tapping the X button. The cannon will spray water, or it can be used to make Mario hover above the ground. Both actions are initiated by pressing the R button. While spraying water, you can adjust its trajectory with the analog stick, and you can control the direction you fly as well. You can even perform a high or triple jump and then activate the hover capabilities for some added height. To refill the cannon's tank, you simply jump into a water source. Mario can run and slide on the goop by pressing the B button, and he can spray water while sliding. This technique comes in handy for cleaning up large sections of pollution in a short period of time. The goop itself is generated by holes in the ground that must be thoroughly doused with water to be destroyed. Doing so will trigger real-time cinemas that show the levels being morphed so that new ways of travel are opened. The water cannon can also be used to propel Mario around on lilly pads or to generate momentum while he's standing on a power line to cause it to swing back and forth and reach new heights.
As is customary in Mario games, it's fun to simply run around with the portly plumber, jumping off objects and fooling around with the game's physics. And in this sense, the controls are incredibly tight and responsive. Mario will automatically lock on to the power lines scattered throughout the levels, and they react with incredible realism to his movements. Mario will slip and fall on the goop and will be unable to make progress. Despite the fact that the goop is completely random, the hit detection is absolutely perfect. There are several boss fights included in the E3 demo. One asks you to spray a small sapling with water, causing it to grow and knock a large caterpillar on its back. Mario must then jump on top of the caterpillar and butt-stomp one of its segments. Another boss fight takes place inside a huge column, where a massive piranha plant must be fought as it vomits up huge amounts of goop and smaller piranha plants attack Mario from the ground.
The attention to detail in the gameplay is matched by the graphics. Mario's footsteps can be seen in the goop, and creatures will morph out of the ooze and attack. Mario will become covered in the pollution after sliding around in it on his belly, and when you then jump into one of the water sources it can be seen dissolving into the water. The draw distance for the levels is amazing, and a slight distance blurring effect is instituted to haze objects on the horizon. There's also a nice blurring effect used for the water, and it can be seen in even the smallest drop that shoots from Mario's cannon. The Y button will make the camera center behind Mario, and holding it will allow you to view the levels from a first-person perspective. The camera can be manually adjusted using the C stick. The camera gets stuck behind objects occasionally, but Nintendo has found a unique way to work around it. Even if an object obscures your view of Mario, you'll still be able to see his silhouette. Texturing is the game's biggest issue thus far. While flatly shaded to give the game its Mario aesthetics, the textures that cover each level's border are of a low resolution and stand out against the rest of the game's visual presentation. But in all, Super Mario Sunshine is a visual treat, and it's what you would expect from a Mario game in this generation of consoles. The display is incredibly clean and crisp, and the frame rates are at a rock-solid 60 frames per second no matter how much action is taking place onscreen.
As is the case with prior Mario games, Super Mario Sunshine is all about interacting with every last part of the environment. If you see something in the game and think to yourself, "Gee, I wonder if I can do that," chances are you can. The gameplay is unique, the interactivity is unmatched by any other game, and the visuals must be seen to be appreciated. Dolby Pro Logic II support rounds out a rather impressive package that should be at the top of your list of games to keep an eye on. We'll have more on Super Mario Sunshine as E3 wears on, as we'll undoubtedly uncover more details the more we play it. Stay tuned.
By Shane Satterfield, GameSpot VG [POSTED: 05/22/02
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