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Not from me at the moment, since I don't expect to receive mine until early next-week. But, a kind chap has posted some preliminary impressions, since kiosks are popping up all over Japan with Mario's latest adventure.
*****
EARLY IMPRESSIONS - Mario Sunshine (updated)
This is going to be briefer than the game deserves, because I’m typing something relatively extensive for later this week.
Dunno what version this was, but it looks final to me – you have access to the world map from the start.
Switch on: Nintendo logo, Dolby Pro-Logic II logo (so it is supported…) and a cut scene begins. Mario on a place with Peach. They watch a commercial for their holiday destination, with strange aliens inviting them to island paradise. All the dialogue is in English, with Japanese subs (didn't see an option to switch language, sorry).
Mario starts dreaming of seafood. Plane flies through cloud, clouds part…. And we see a beautiful tropical island. ‘Dolphic Island’ (spelt Dolphic, not Dolphin).
If there was anymore to this cut-scene, I skipped it. Time to play!
I only tried three stages. One was the port stage with ships, and Mario World style grills you can climb over and flip around. This stage felt a bit muddled to me, though possibly because I was still getting used to the controls.
Ah yes, the controls:
A is standard jump, land, press again is the ‘whoopee’ high jump, then the mega-high triple jump. Same as Mario 64.
B is context sensitive, allowing you to slide around, dive ahead etc. R shoulder button is shoot water. X button changes the shape of your water cannon – the two I had access to at the start were ordinary shoot, and jetpack. One thing that bothers me is that I can’t seem to run and shoot water at the same time – am I doing something wrong?
Otherwise, control is perfection. It has that familiar string-attached feeling, Mario is glued to every single controller movement. Pure interactivity.
Control basics are very similar to Mario 64, but the water canon adds a huge amount -- because you have to start thinking about how to apply it to the environment around you. You can do a lot with this, and there are many combinations depending which formation the canon takes (gun, jet pack etc). It's almost too much... though with practice I can imagine very intuitive.
The big difference is the size and complexity of the levels. You could spend hours screwing about in each stage, shooting stuff, sliding about, trying the water canon on things... and go nowhere. It seems like the stages have been designed with total non-linearity. Explore, goof about, get a few Sunshine coins along the way if you come across them.
Second stage I tried was a green hills style area, the first level I imagine. This was fantastic. The worlds are so much bigger and MORE INTERACTIVE than Mario 64. You can flip off the side of everything, jump really high, jetpack even higher, dive ahead and slide around on your stomach… the water spray can be used in really cool ways. Though the clear winner in the ‘utter delight’ stakes was tight rope walking. Some levels have ropes extended hundreds of feet high, and sliding down them, flipping around off them, getting momentum and jumping really high is super, super fun.
Music is predictably calipso, happy, happy joy. Haven't heard the Mario theme yet.
Third one I played (a very quick bash) was this big, scary dark stage which was classic Mario brilliance, in the style of the last Rainbow stage in Mario 64. No ground. No form or logic to the level. Just spinning gears and rotating block madness positioned surreally in space, seemingly stretching on forever. Platform perfection.
Err… ok this is getting long. I don’t want to blow the wad early so to speak, so I’ll quit there. If you have any specific questions lemme know and I’ll try to answer.
Three more days!
******
*****
EARLY IMPRESSIONS - Mario Sunshine (updated)
This is going to be briefer than the game deserves, because I’m typing something relatively extensive for later this week.
Dunno what version this was, but it looks final to me – you have access to the world map from the start.
Switch on: Nintendo logo, Dolby Pro-Logic II logo (so it is supported…) and a cut scene begins. Mario on a place with Peach. They watch a commercial for their holiday destination, with strange aliens inviting them to island paradise. All the dialogue is in English, with Japanese subs (didn't see an option to switch language, sorry).
Mario starts dreaming of seafood. Plane flies through cloud, clouds part…. And we see a beautiful tropical island. ‘Dolphic Island’ (spelt Dolphic, not Dolphin).
If there was anymore to this cut-scene, I skipped it. Time to play!
I only tried three stages. One was the port stage with ships, and Mario World style grills you can climb over and flip around. This stage felt a bit muddled to me, though possibly because I was still getting used to the controls.
Ah yes, the controls:
A is standard jump, land, press again is the ‘whoopee’ high jump, then the mega-high triple jump. Same as Mario 64.
B is context sensitive, allowing you to slide around, dive ahead etc. R shoulder button is shoot water. X button changes the shape of your water cannon – the two I had access to at the start were ordinary shoot, and jetpack. One thing that bothers me is that I can’t seem to run and shoot water at the same time – am I doing something wrong?
Otherwise, control is perfection. It has that familiar string-attached feeling, Mario is glued to every single controller movement. Pure interactivity.
Control basics are very similar to Mario 64, but the water canon adds a huge amount -- because you have to start thinking about how to apply it to the environment around you. You can do a lot with this, and there are many combinations depending which formation the canon takes (gun, jet pack etc). It's almost too much... though with practice I can imagine very intuitive.
The big difference is the size and complexity of the levels. You could spend hours screwing about in each stage, shooting stuff, sliding about, trying the water canon on things... and go nowhere. It seems like the stages have been designed with total non-linearity. Explore, goof about, get a few Sunshine coins along the way if you come across them.
Second stage I tried was a green hills style area, the first level I imagine. This was fantastic. The worlds are so much bigger and MORE INTERACTIVE than Mario 64. You can flip off the side of everything, jump really high, jetpack even higher, dive ahead and slide around on your stomach… the water spray can be used in really cool ways. Though the clear winner in the ‘utter delight’ stakes was tight rope walking. Some levels have ropes extended hundreds of feet high, and sliding down them, flipping around off them, getting momentum and jumping really high is super, super fun.
Music is predictably calipso, happy, happy joy. Haven't heard the Mario theme yet.
Third one I played (a very quick bash) was this big, scary dark stage which was classic Mario brilliance, in the style of the last Rainbow stage in Mario 64. No ground. No form or logic to the level. Just spinning gears and rotating block madness positioned surreally in space, seemingly stretching on forever. Platform perfection.
Err… ok this is getting long. I don’t want to blow the wad early so to speak, so I’ll quit there. If you have any specific questions lemme know and I’ll try to answer.
Three more days!
******
Mario sunshine looks ok
More impressions, this time from the IGN Boards;
*********[SPOILERS]
Conker3000: How big are the worlds compared to Mario 64?
My friend: The island is about 3 times bigger than Mario 64
Conker3000: Question 2: Have you found the game easier or harder than Mario 64 so far?
My friend: If you'd remember the first few levels of Mario 64 they were pretty easy.Mario Sunshine offers more difficulty.
Conker3000: Can you give an example of how it is difficult?
My friend:Yes.In Mario 64 there are various missions in the levels to collect more stars. In Super Mario Sunshine, its just one big world on an island with all the mission objectives happening at the same time.
Conker3000: How long have you been playing so far?
My friend: Well I've been playig for about 7 hours straight and I've only completed a small portion,and Im pretty darn good.
Conker3000: Have you seen Yoshi yet?
My friend: I've seen a red Yoshi egg. I'm presuming its a red Yoshi but I can't get Yoshi to come out I guess I skipped something
Conker3000: Is this a type of game you can just jump into and play like Mario 64? Or does it take some dedication?
My friend: If you're used to Mario 64 you can jump into this easily, with the exception of the Cube controller's layout and the new functions.
Conker3000: Does the import version have options for english?
My friend: No, it does not.
Conker3000: Do you start off with the water backpack thing and can you take it off? --- lol sorry to make it one big question.
My friend: No Dr. E. Gadd makes an appearance and gives Mario his water pack.
Conker3000: Visually, how is this game. Is it better than the movies put on the internet?
My friend: I haven't checked the movies for the sake of surprise but I did check out the pictures. Never just a game by movies. To stay on topic, yes, the game does look better than the pictures show.
Conker3000: And does this game support Dolby Pro Logic II Surround Sound?
My friend:It doesn't show it has dolby but it sure sounds like it (I skipped the title screen)
Conker3000: How are load times?
My friend: It feels like one second.
You don't feel them. Kinda like Luigi's Mansion.
Conker3000: How does the game save?
Friend: Auto-save
Conker3000: Who is the first boss?
My friend:Giant yellow catapillar. Yea,have you seen a caterpillar wearing a hat? (don't answer that)
Conker3000: Can you do melee combat like punching and kicking?
My friend: No, you can't unfortunatly.
Conker3000: When does it save the game? When you get a shine?
My friend: When you quit the game, it saves.
Either you press start and go to quit. Or just turn the GCN off. Just make sure you turn off the power at least 2-3 seconds after you quit just to be on safe side.
Conker3000: Is there a mini game at the beginning of Mario Sunshine or the ability to stretch Mario's face in the beginning?
My friend: Nope.
Conker: See any Goombas so far?
My friend:I have only seen Goombas on one "part" of the Island "so far" and that part alone.
*********[/SPOILERS]
*********[SPOILERS]
Conker3000: How big are the worlds compared to Mario 64?
My friend: The island is about 3 times bigger than Mario 64
Conker3000: Question 2: Have you found the game easier or harder than Mario 64 so far?
My friend: If you'd remember the first few levels of Mario 64 they were pretty easy.Mario Sunshine offers more difficulty.
Conker3000: Can you give an example of how it is difficult?
My friend:Yes.In Mario 64 there are various missions in the levels to collect more stars. In Super Mario Sunshine, its just one big world on an island with all the mission objectives happening at the same time.
Conker3000: How long have you been playing so far?
My friend: Well I've been playig for about 7 hours straight and I've only completed a small portion,and Im pretty darn good.
Conker3000: Have you seen Yoshi yet?
My friend: I've seen a red Yoshi egg. I'm presuming its a red Yoshi but I can't get Yoshi to come out I guess I skipped something
Conker3000: Is this a type of game you can just jump into and play like Mario 64? Or does it take some dedication?
My friend: If you're used to Mario 64 you can jump into this easily, with the exception of the Cube controller's layout and the new functions.
Conker3000: Does the import version have options for english?
My friend: No, it does not.
Conker3000: Do you start off with the water backpack thing and can you take it off? --- lol sorry to make it one big question.
My friend: No Dr. E. Gadd makes an appearance and gives Mario his water pack.
Conker3000: Visually, how is this game. Is it better than the movies put on the internet?
My friend: I haven't checked the movies for the sake of surprise but I did check out the pictures. Never just a game by movies. To stay on topic, yes, the game does look better than the pictures show.
Conker3000: And does this game support Dolby Pro Logic II Surround Sound?
My friend:It doesn't show it has dolby but it sure sounds like it (I skipped the title screen)
Conker3000: How are load times?
My friend: It feels like one second.
You don't feel them. Kinda like Luigi's Mansion.
Conker3000: How does the game save?
Friend: Auto-save
Conker3000: Who is the first boss?
My friend:Giant yellow catapillar. Yea,have you seen a caterpillar wearing a hat? (don't answer that)
Conker3000: Can you do melee combat like punching and kicking?
My friend: No, you can't unfortunatly.
Conker3000: When does it save the game? When you get a shine?
My friend: When you quit the game, it saves.
Either you press start and go to quit. Or just turn the GCN off. Just make sure you turn off the power at least 2-3 seconds after you quit just to be on safe side.
Conker3000: Is there a mini game at the beginning of Mario Sunshine or the ability to stretch Mario's face in the beginning?
My friend: Nope.
Conker: See any Goombas so far?
My friend:I have only seen Goombas on one "part" of the Island "so far" and that part alone.
*********[/SPOILERS]
Time_Warp wrote:
> Bleeders wrote:
>
>
> And I'd be making this up because?
>
> In anycase, these impressions weren't written by myself. They were
> written by Justin from the Gaming-Age forums.
>
>
> Sorry, just checking. Note the smiley. (:)
It's cool :)
> Bleeders wrote:
>
>
> And I'd be making this up because?
>
> In anycase, these impressions weren't written by myself. They were
> written by Justin from the Gaming-Age forums.
>
>
> Sorry, just checking. Note the smiley. (:)
It's cool :)
Need this now...
Gonna go back to my SNES and play all the classics on Mario allstars over the summer to get me back in the mood for mario :)
Gonna go back to my SNES and play all the classics on Mario allstars over the summer to get me back in the mood for mario :)
It sounds sweeeet and I can't wait, think i'll wait to get the game to find out more. Roll on October or if I can't wait August and i'll get a freeloader.
Time_Warp wrote:
> Sounds good but I am not sure if everyone will want to here a more
> extensive piece as the surprise of the game would be better than
> knowing about the stages... If you are telling the truth...(:)
And I'd be making this up because?
In anycase, these impressions weren't written by myself. They were written by Justin from the Gaming-Age forums.
> Sounds good but I am not sure if everyone will want to here a more
> extensive piece as the surprise of the game would be better than
> knowing about the stages... If you are telling the truth...(:)
And I'd be making this up because?
In anycase, these impressions weren't written by myself. They were written by Justin from the Gaming-Age forums.
Not from me at the moment, since I don't expect to receive mine until early next-week. But, a kind chap has posted some preliminary impressions, since kiosks are popping up all over Japan with Mario's latest adventure.
*****
EARLY IMPRESSIONS - Mario Sunshine (updated)
This is going to be briefer than the game deserves, because I’m typing something relatively extensive for later this week.
Dunno what version this was, but it looks final to me – you have access to the world map from the start.
Switch on: Nintendo logo, Dolby Pro-Logic II logo (so it is supported…) and a cut scene begins. Mario on a place with Peach. They watch a commercial for their holiday destination, with strange aliens inviting them to island paradise. All the dialogue is in English, with Japanese subs (didn't see an option to switch language, sorry).
Mario starts dreaming of seafood. Plane flies through cloud, clouds part…. And we see a beautiful tropical island. ‘Dolphic Island’ (spelt Dolphic, not Dolphin).
If there was anymore to this cut-scene, I skipped it. Time to play!
I only tried three stages. One was the port stage with ships, and Mario World style grills you can climb over and flip around. This stage felt a bit muddled to me, though possibly because I was still getting used to the controls.
Ah yes, the controls:
A is standard jump, land, press again is the ‘whoopee’ high jump, then the mega-high triple jump. Same as Mario 64.
B is context sensitive, allowing you to slide around, dive ahead etc. R shoulder button is shoot water. X button changes the shape of your water cannon – the two I had access to at the start were ordinary shoot, and jetpack. One thing that bothers me is that I can’t seem to run and shoot water at the same time – am I doing something wrong?
Otherwise, control is perfection. It has that familiar string-attached feeling, Mario is glued to every single controller movement. Pure interactivity.
Control basics are very similar to Mario 64, but the water canon adds a huge amount -- because you have to start thinking about how to apply it to the environment around you. You can do a lot with this, and there are many combinations depending which formation the canon takes (gun, jet pack etc). It's almost too much... though with practice I can imagine very intuitive.
The big difference is the size and complexity of the levels. You could spend hours screwing about in each stage, shooting stuff, sliding about, trying the water canon on things... and go nowhere. It seems like the stages have been designed with total non-linearity. Explore, goof about, get a few Sunshine coins along the way if you come across them.
Second stage I tried was a green hills style area, the first level I imagine. This was fantastic. The worlds are so much bigger and MORE INTERACTIVE than Mario 64. You can flip off the side of everything, jump really high, jetpack even higher, dive ahead and slide around on your stomach… the water spray can be used in really cool ways. Though the clear winner in the ‘utter delight’ stakes was tight rope walking. Some levels have ropes extended hundreds of feet high, and sliding down them, flipping around off them, getting momentum and jumping really high is super, super fun.
Music is predictably calipso, happy, happy joy. Haven't heard the Mario theme yet.
Third one I played (a very quick bash) was this big, scary dark stage which was classic Mario brilliance, in the style of the last Rainbow stage in Mario 64. No ground. No form or logic to the level. Just spinning gears and rotating block madness positioned surreally in space, seemingly stretching on forever. Platform perfection.
Err… ok this is getting long. I don’t want to blow the wad early so to speak, so I’ll quit there. If you have any specific questions lemme know and I’ll try to answer.
Three more days!
******
*****
EARLY IMPRESSIONS - Mario Sunshine (updated)
This is going to be briefer than the game deserves, because I’m typing something relatively extensive for later this week.
Dunno what version this was, but it looks final to me – you have access to the world map from the start.
Switch on: Nintendo logo, Dolby Pro-Logic II logo (so it is supported…) and a cut scene begins. Mario on a place with Peach. They watch a commercial for their holiday destination, with strange aliens inviting them to island paradise. All the dialogue is in English, with Japanese subs (didn't see an option to switch language, sorry).
Mario starts dreaming of seafood. Plane flies through cloud, clouds part…. And we see a beautiful tropical island. ‘Dolphic Island’ (spelt Dolphic, not Dolphin).
If there was anymore to this cut-scene, I skipped it. Time to play!
I only tried three stages. One was the port stage with ships, and Mario World style grills you can climb over and flip around. This stage felt a bit muddled to me, though possibly because I was still getting used to the controls.
Ah yes, the controls:
A is standard jump, land, press again is the ‘whoopee’ high jump, then the mega-high triple jump. Same as Mario 64.
B is context sensitive, allowing you to slide around, dive ahead etc. R shoulder button is shoot water. X button changes the shape of your water cannon – the two I had access to at the start were ordinary shoot, and jetpack. One thing that bothers me is that I can’t seem to run and shoot water at the same time – am I doing something wrong?
Otherwise, control is perfection. It has that familiar string-attached feeling, Mario is glued to every single controller movement. Pure interactivity.
Control basics are very similar to Mario 64, but the water canon adds a huge amount -- because you have to start thinking about how to apply it to the environment around you. You can do a lot with this, and there are many combinations depending which formation the canon takes (gun, jet pack etc). It's almost too much... though with practice I can imagine very intuitive.
The big difference is the size and complexity of the levels. You could spend hours screwing about in each stage, shooting stuff, sliding about, trying the water canon on things... and go nowhere. It seems like the stages have been designed with total non-linearity. Explore, goof about, get a few Sunshine coins along the way if you come across them.
Second stage I tried was a green hills style area, the first level I imagine. This was fantastic. The worlds are so much bigger and MORE INTERACTIVE than Mario 64. You can flip off the side of everything, jump really high, jetpack even higher, dive ahead and slide around on your stomach… the water spray can be used in really cool ways. Though the clear winner in the ‘utter delight’ stakes was tight rope walking. Some levels have ropes extended hundreds of feet high, and sliding down them, flipping around off them, getting momentum and jumping really high is super, super fun.
Music is predictably calipso, happy, happy joy. Haven't heard the Mario theme yet.
Third one I played (a very quick bash) was this big, scary dark stage which was classic Mario brilliance, in the style of the last Rainbow stage in Mario 64. No ground. No form or logic to the level. Just spinning gears and rotating block madness positioned surreally in space, seemingly stretching on forever. Platform perfection.
Err… ok this is getting long. I don’t want to blow the wad early so to speak, so I’ll quit there. If you have any specific questions lemme know and I’ll try to answer.
Three more days!
******