Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube)

By JON MINIFIE

(Herald rating: * * * * * )

It seems weird that Nintendo's GameCube was released here without Mario, who let his brother hog all the limelight at launch time with Luigi's Mansion. Cube owners won't have long to wait now before the petite plumber makes a welcome return.

Shigeru Miyamoto's Super Mario Sunshine made a bit of a splash at this year's E3 and this month, Kiwi Cube fans will be able to see what all the fuss was about.

The first thing that strikes you when playing Super Mario Sunshine is that it just looks so good. The GameCube is deceptively powerful and the game features some dazzling effects.

As in past Mario titles, the game is set in a huge and highly colourful 3D environment.

There's a familiar, eco-friendly vibe throughout the plot which sees Mario and Princess Peach trying to take a relaxing holiday on a gorgeous tropical island. But a mysterious sludge-like substance is polluting the delicate ecosystem and even affecting the life-giving rays of the sun.

Mario is framed for the crime and must eliminate the contamination, find the real culprit and clear his name.

Super Mario Sunshine's gameplay consists mainly of puzzle-solving and platform action that sees Mario leaping about like a teenage Russian gymnast on a sugar rush.

He still does his patented double and triple jumps and butt-attacks but Mario has learned a lot of new tricks since his days on the N64 — he now leaps from wall to wall, Jackie Chan-style, to climb up on the rooftops.

In fact, considering his build, Mario has incredible physicality — he can run, walk, crawl, jump, climb, beg, roll over, you name it, the stout wee plumber can do it.

Mario also wields powerful water cannon to help him in the big clean-up. It looks suspiciously like the souped-up vacuum cleaner his brother wore in that spooky mansion but has many more uses.

I have always had huge respect for Nintendo, who were busy creating video games when Sony made radios and Bill Gates was still in short shorts.

Super Mario Sunshine is a must-own title for all Cube fans and with some strong first- and third-party titles on the way before Christmas, the future looks sunny.

$129.95

jon@tenthplanet.co.nz