Super Mario Sunshine cover art

Super Mario Sunshine

Mario cleans up a tropical island with a water pack in one of the trickiest 3D platformers Nintendo made.

Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION7 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE1 /10OPTIMIZATION5 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    7/10

    FLUDD hover control and slippery platforming are demanding

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    0/10

    No adaptive opposition

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    1/10

    Levels are fixed once learned

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    5/10

    Shine routes and movement tech to master

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

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Game details

Released
2020
Developer
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
Franchise
Mario
Platforms
Switch
Modes
Single player
IGDB users
72/100
PlatformAdventureActionSandbox