Super Mario Sunshine: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide

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It’s July! And in the immortal words of Cliff Richard, “we’re all going on a summer holiday”…well, at least some of you lucky lot are. 

 

At the NVM, we are often dreaming of those idyllic summer days spent lazing on our towels on the sun soaked beaches of Scarborough. In preparation for those holiday vibes we are celebrating the glorious 20th anniversary of perhaps the most ‘summer’ game of all time: Super Mario Sunshine. 

 

As an added bonus, throughout this month, we are not just showcasing Super Mario Sunshine, but we are also celebrating the existence of Super Mario Sunshine: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide as our Object(s) of the Month.

Super Mario Sunshine: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide (2002)

 

 

 

For us Europeans, Super Mario Sunshine was released on the Nintendo GameCube on 4 October 2002. However, in Japan, the title was released on 19 July — which seems like a much more appropriate date considering the themes of the game.

 

Super Mario Sunshine was the GameCube’s newest entry to the Super Mario series. The title saw our hero and his new flashy F.L.U.D.D. multipurpose water tool saving the paradise island of Isle Delfino against a mysterious Shadowy figure that also looks a lot like Mario…

Our Super Mario Sunshine: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide serves as a player’s invaluable guide to all the content within Super Mario Sunshine. This was no mean feat. Super Mario Sunshine was a sun-drenched and dynamic new entry into the series. It contained larger worlds than the iconic Super Mario 64, and these worlds were filled to the brim with hundreds of secrets, platforming challenges, and collectibles. In particular, Super Mario Sunshine focused on the collection of Shine Sprites in order to save Isle Delfino from wanton pollution and thoughtless vandalism!

Before we could all share our top pro gaming tips widely on the internet within minutes, strategy guides were invaluable currency. If you got stuck on a certain level, or were missing that final pesky collectible, strategy guides were reliable tools that would (usually) help you out. In many ways, the strategy guide was a more economical iteration of a Game Tip hotline that was hugely popular in the late-1980s.

Instead of calling a Gameplay Counsellor for £1.50 a minute on a landline phone (go ask your parents what a landline is kids), for a nominal fee, you could purchase and own in perpetuity an artifact of the game that uncovered all of its nooks and crannies and secrets.

And that is one of the most interesting things about our Super Mario Sunshine: Prima’s Official Strategy Guide, it is a historical artefact of play. These texts demonstrate a clear route of playing a game that is ‘official’ to the publishers/developers of the game. They showcase how a player can thoroughly explore all of Super Mario Sunshine through approved means, with no stone left unturned.

Our guide marks a set way of interacting with the game that tries to complete it and uncover all of its secrets. But remember, that is not the only way to play a game, just ask the legions of speedrunners who turn games like Super Mario Sunshine into a race against the clock.

In those circumstances, our official guide is tossed out of the window and replaced by the knowledge of these expert players in breaking the boundaries of what is possible in the game.