![]() ![]() Unlike other Mario locations, which are often fantastical and feature several platforms and level design elements floating in the air, Isle Delfino is much more grounded in its aesthetic design. Isle Delfino’s impact on Mario Sunshine’s levels goes beyond their theming, however. If the developers at Nintendo had chosen not to strictly enforce the tropical theming, then we might not have gotten, for example, the towering ancestral ruins of Noki Bay, easily one of the most arresting locations in the franchise. It is often said that limitation breeds creativity, and it’s hard to think of a better example of this in the Mario series than Sunshine. ![]() An idyllic countryside village serves as an effective substitute for the grassland areas that typically kick off each Mario adventure, and setting the trademark haunted area within a multistory resort hotel makes for what might be the series’ most novel take on that trope yet. This may sound creatively limiting at first, but the game nonetheless manages to craft interesting, imaginative level themes that still adhere to the tropical setting. But since Isle Delfino is a tropical paradise, Mario Sunshine evidently has to match all of its major levels to that central theme. Typically, the Mario series boasts a huge number of distinct locales and biomes to explore, from grasslands, to volcanoes, to even massive mechanical recreations of Mario himself. Image courtesy of Nintendo A Living, Breathing World Even 20 years on, no other Mario game has crafted a world quite like that of Mario Sunshine. Isle Delfino, the game’s central location, is the glue that holds everything together, with the level design, narrative elements, and structure all existing in service of it rather than the other way around. Although the overall structure remained mostly the same as it was in Mario 64, Sunshine took full advantage of the Gamecube’s power to accomplish what prior installments never could: a fully-realized, cohesive world not far off from our own. Later on, Super Mario 64 expanded the series’ scope in a major way, featuring sprawling 3D worlds that players could naturally uncover by navigating a fully-explorable hub area.īut it was with Super Mario Sunshine where the series’ continually-evolving scope would arguably reach its peak. 3 and Super Mario World would build upon what the original established by implementing a world map feature that not only placed each game’s myriad levels within a larger context, but also contained its own tantalizing secrets and locales to discover. At the same time, though, this notion glosses over the fact that for much of its early years, the Mario series continuously pushed the boundaries of what kinds of adventures and worlds were possible within a platforming space.Įven as far back as the original Super Mario Bros., the idea of an extensive quest spanning several disinct levels that were not limited to single screens was incredibly novel for its time. ![]() It is true that Mario has always been incredibly gameplay-centric, and this has consistently led to most of the series’ entires being remarkably enjoyable to play and revisit. Meanwhile, those looking for pure, unadulterated “video-gamey” fun can stick to the Mario series. Generally, so the saying goes, franchises like The Legend of Zelda are what players should go to if they want captivating adventures and worlds to get lost in. There exists a prevailing notion that Mario games like 2002’s Super Mario Sunshine are at their best when they focus almost exclusively on their core platforming gameplay. ![]()
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