Super Mario Sunshine remains one of my favorite Mario games because of its summer atmosphere. The gameplay was great too, but there’s no denying in 2024 it feels a bit rough in places. The team behind Sunshine later followed up the game with one of the best sequels ever made, Super Mario Galaxy, which in my view outdid Sunshine in nearly every way.
That said, Sunshine still has its diehard supporters who claim it’s the best 3D Mario game. One of the reasons for that is its high difficulty level (compared to other Mario games). To some people, a hard difficulty is a selling point.
Shigeru Miyamoto, however, is not one of those people (at least in the past). A new translation of an old 2002 interview with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has unearthed some details about Miyamoto’s opinion on the game.
Here’s what Miyamoto had to say about Super Mario Sunshine‘s difficulty in Nintendo Dream magazine:
I want Mario to be a game that all audiences can enjoy. Something that Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, even little children can easily pick up and play, and right away understand what’s fun about it. However, I think Mario Sunshine turned out to be difficult for the average user. It’s something I very much regret. I want someone who hasn’t played a game in 10+ years to play our game, but I think such a person wouldn’t know what’s going on in Mario Sunshine.
Honestly, Miyamoto is exactly right. My girlfriend, family, and countless other non-gamers would not be able to pick up Super Mario Sunshine today and do well with it. Even Super Mario Galaxy might be a bit much for some non-gamers today—but at least Galaxy feels more polished and streamlined, especially in Mario’s movement.
There’s lots of other interesting details in this interview, so we recommend checking out the full article here.
You can play Super Mario Sunshine if you’re lucky enough to own the limited Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection on Nintendo Switch. And, of course, it’s available on the Nintendo GameCube.