It’s been 20 years since Mario’s lone platforming title was released on the ill-fated Nintendo Gamecube. In the intervening years since then, we came to learn just how troubled the development was and how rushed it came out the door in order to help sagging GameCube sales at the time. Despite some of its more bizarre game design choices, many people still hold Sunshine up as their favorite 3D Mario game.

Rushed development cycles were a common theme with the GameCube. With the PlayStation 2 selling gangbusters from the very beginning, and Microsoft throwing their hat into the console ring with the original Xbox, Nintendo could not afford to be as patient with the GameCube as they probably would have liked. After a development time of around 18 months, Nintendo released Super Mario Sunshine in Japan on July 19, 2002, with a western release the following month.

In a 2002 interview, Shigeru Miyamoto, one of the game's producers, opened up about Sunshine's rather short development cycle.

"If we add the development period for this engine to the overall development time, the development of Super Mario Sunshine took a relatively long time. However, after we started actually making the game, it took about one and a half years to complete Super Mario Sunshine."

For perspective, Super Mario 64 took around three years and Mario Galaxy took two-and-a-half. Many players at the time praised Mario Sunshine for its unique gameplay mechanics, incredible soundtrack, and its memorable summertime colour palette and atmosphere. When you think of GameCube titles, Mario Sunshine is inevitably one of the first ones mentioned. Despite how much the game got right, it wasn’t without its faults, even by the standards of the time. 

For starters, Sunshine had the misfortune of following Super Mario 64, a game which not only ushered Mario into 3D with flying colors, but also set the benchmark for every 3D platformer from that point forward. Needless to say, Sunshine had a hell of an act to follow, so instead of following it directly Nintendo went full leftfield with the core game mechanic: The Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device (or F.L.U.D.D.) - essentially a talking water-based jetpack and super-soaker that aided in platforming and cleaning sections of the world. This ended up very well executed, but it was definitely difficult to market to a mass audience. 

Mario’s water-spewing backpack offered wildly different mobility options. With different nozzle attachments that allowed him to slowly hover over wide areas, platforming sections were easier than in previous games. He also had a rocket nozzle that can lift him up to high areas, and a turbo nozzle that sped up Mario’s movement. These were fairly standard movement changes, but apparently Nintendo had planned about a half-dozen others that had to be cut due to time constraints. You could feel that lack of variety, which combined with a lack of in-game items could make the game feel somewhat limited in how you could approach different sections. To get around this and the complaints some staff internally held about the game's lack of difficulty, sections were added that removed F.L.U.D.D. entirely, which played more like Super Mario 64.

Whole stages were cut from the game. Supposedly several additional worlds were planned before being cut back to the eight featured in the game. The Pinna Park stage, for instance, was originally supposed to be another hub area like the main isle Delfino section the game starts you in, but ended up being converted into its own stage instead (presumably because the small numbers of stages didn't warrant a second hub area). Yoshi also had a much larger role in the game before launch, but ultimately became more of an easter egg. Obtaining Yoshi involved finding his egg and delivering the fruit the egg asks for. This whole process is fine the first time, but becomes tedious the further you are in the game. 

There are a number of incredibly frustrating sections in Sunshine - far more than in any other main line Mario title. The most infamous one of these is probably the Sand Bird, which involves running around collecting red coins on a bird made of sand as it flies through the air. Sadly, the bewildering camera and lack of proper balance when the bird moves makes this an arduous task.

The Pachinko stage suffered from the same problem. While a cool concept, it becomes so time-consuming that it really starts to grate. Players must go through the same routine every time until they land in every spot of the machine and obtain the necessary red coins. If you fall through the middle you need to start over again.

This same design is even more egregious in the lily pad level. Players need to find a fruit to acquire Yoshi, wait for an incredibly slow boat, get on it, then wait to get to the island with the pipe that leads to the stage. The stage itself uses F.L.U.D.D. as a way to correct movement in order to grab all of the red coins. If you miss even a single one, you need to start all over again, which involved grabbing Yoshi again, waiting for that same boat to arrive, and waiting to get to the island. The process of restarting this challenge can take several minutes with the likelihood that you need even another attempt.

In order to unlock the final stage of the game, the player only has to obtain the first seven shine sprites in every section of the game. This leaves the remaining shine sprites in each stage completely optional. Only 50 of the game's 120 total shines are deemed necessary by the developers. Had Nintendo had more time to discuss what exactly constituted a finished save file, there would likely have been more thought put into how players could approach every stage. Mario 64 found a great balance between challenge and player agency. Sunshine, unfortunately, wound up far more linear than that.

It really is a testament to the talent at Nintendo that even with all these problems, they still managed to deliver a game that, on balance, is a classic. The atmosphere and island aesthetic still have not been matched by another Nintendo title, and despite how frustrating it could be at times, F.L.U.D.D. was an unexpected and forward-thinking shift from the typical Mario platformer standard that had been set with Super Mario 64. The lasting legacy of Super Mario Sunshine is that despite all of its problems, it still comes together as one of the most memorable titles in the entire series.