Super Mario Sunshine (Game Cube, 2002)

as far as mario action platform games go, this is probably my least favorite. the art is bright and gorgeous, the new cute island characters are nice, and the controls are easy to use, but its just not that fun. like super mario world for SNES, there's a quick ending and a completionist's ending, but sunshine's puzzles are just frustrating at times. i played this one for months and never beat it. the secrets were easy to spot, but for each one i would spend hours on end trying to time the same sequence of jumps, launches and other actions JUST RIGHT in hopes of reaching it, only to fail and start back over from the beginning again.

also, that water pack you have to carry throughout the entire game is just irritating. the idea of a water jetpack is neat, but the use of an anthropomorphic whining one isn't nearly so amusing. i'd probably give the game 4 stars if it didn't talk.