I always got the feeling that this game was seen as a classic. I never owned a Gamecube growing up, but I’m pretty sure I remember my friend having one and playing Sunshine a bit (although he was way more into Zelda and Smash).
Eventually I got round to playing Sunshine the other year when Nintendo released a triple pack on Switch. It was fun! I loved the aesthetic and interesting water spraying mechanics. However the other day I had a friend round and we were emulating the game, taking turns to beat levels. It struck us how frustrating the game was at points - especially those platforming levels in which you lose the FLUDD. You really notice how slippy and floaty Mario feels in this. In Mario 64 and Galaxy, the movement felt so precise in comparison and you knew exactly how the character would react to your inputs.
The levels too seem quite harsh at points. The Ricco Harbor level which introduces the rocket nozzle has frustratingly narrow platforms with constantly spawning wind enemies. My attempts to get back up to the top after falling off felt like cheating - i.e. lining up the rocket to land on different ledges rather than going all the way around the map again. I couldn’t tell if that was what the developers intended.
Overall I do really love the game, but it feels like an awkward transition in the 3D Mario series. As if Nintendo were trying to innovate with new mechanics before they’d perfected the basic 3D platforming. Is it just me, or do others feel the same?
It’s more about feeling. The platforming feels crisp, the levels feel the right size, the controls feel responsive. No other Mario game has quite matched SM64’s mobility, not even my beloved Galaxy games
That’s fair, although I’ve always considered Galaxy to have a pretty good moveset. What was it missing compared to 64?
Odyssey gives you an insane level of movement, which I love. It’s fun to just run around levels.
Oh, nothing was missing. In fact, Galaxy’s one of my absolute favourite games ever, and it feels fantastic.
I just personally feel 64 feels perfect, in ways that no other 3D platformer (let alone any 3D Mario) has matched. If I could try Galaxy with a regular controller, though, that might change things. (I know you can play it on Switch, but you still need to point at stuff, and it’s not ideal)