Hey everyone, welcome again to Should Have Been! In this section, I cover what I think should have been in a game, and the beta elements of the game.
Obviously I did something very likeable last month, because I received loads of PMs on the MarioWiki Forum! It was over 9-*shot* - no really, it was over nine!
The first was from YoshiGo99, who suggested:
"I just read your section, that is really good! You should do Super Mario Sunshine or like a Gamecube game."
Hey, YoshiGo! Thanks for your suggestion (and, in case I forget to mention, all people who made a suggestion)! I'd quite like to cover Super Mario Sunshine at some point, as I do have a Gamecube and quite a lot of the Mario games on the console, and I did enjoy the game, even if there was a lot to improve.
Next was from Gregxxx, who said:
"hey, i really like your Should Have Been section :). you should cover next month mario&luigi: superstar saga. it's a great game, and full of beta elements. So, please, cover this game next month
Gregxx"
Hi, Greg! Sorry, but I don't have Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, so I'm very sorry to disappoint you. I don't doubt for a second that it's a great game, or that there are tons of beta elements and possible improvements. If you want me to cover a certain thing or two that could have been improved with the game, you can send me a personal message for that, too! Also, thank you, and I'm very happy you like the section.
Next PM is from Warioman64, who suggests:
" i have the perfect idea for this section!ready............. super smash bros melee! there is plenty to discuss and you could even add the glicthes to each game! make sure mention the sensitive controls! p.s. you are right about hackers in mario kart wii.I Hate the people who beat mario circuit in 0.295 seconds!"
Hello, Warioman, and thank you for your suggestion. I have Super Smash Bros. Melee, so I may cover it at some point in the future. I enjoy the game, and know about the glitches; plus, there's lots of beta elements. Also, glad to see you agree.
Looks like YoshiGo99's making a comeback:
"I would really like to see u do Super Mario Sunshine or Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door for your section of the 'Shroom, Should of Been."
Hey, YoshiGo, your voice is echoing! Thanks for the suggestion again. I don't have Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but Super Mario Sunshine is possible.
Gamefreak75 (apocalypseArisen 0_0) sent this:
"So I heard you were taking suggestions for SHB, so I have one:
Luigi's Mansion
You should totally do the one I suggest before anyone else's suggestions, because if you don't, I w0n't be 0kay with it. 0_0"
<insert unused greeting here>, Gamefreak, I'm too lazy to do it myself. Thanks for the suggestion, anyway. It appears I (surprise, surprise) don't have Luigi's Mansion. I've seen a playthrough of it, though, so I know some stuff about it. So, distantly, it's possible.
Finally, I got a PM from WakerLuma:
"Hi, I'm new but I have been reading your "Should Have Been" column for a long time. I just have a suggestion for your next column. Perhaps you could do one of the following:
Mario Tennis
Mario Golf
Another Mario Party
Thank you."
Also, 6 is bigger than 9.
So, I've come to the final decision:
Since YoshiGo was so devoted to ask twice, I've decided to choose Super Mario Sunshine. Don't worry if your suggestion wasn't picked, So, what should have been in this game?
What should have been in this game?
I enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine: the concept of FLUDD was innovative, the controls were easy to grasp, and the game had a decent difficulty level (overall...). But there is definitely room for improvement.
First, notice how I said the difficulty level was decent overall? It wasn't always that great...first point: the secret levels. The secret levels of this game (which are required secrets) are WAY TOO HARD. I mean, I even had problems with the first one. Up until then (which is just the third mission of the game), everything was relatively easy, and then the difficulty almost doubled. Sure, it's good that Mario has to use his natural skills somewhere, but I don't remember anything from Super Mario 64's third mission being this hard.
Also, many of them are tediously hard to get to. I really hated the mission (or episode, in this game) The Beach Cannon's Secret from Pinna Park. You had to take out a Monty Mole, by throwing the Time Bob-ombs it shoots at you at it, or directing the Bullet Bills it shoots at you back to it, which is harder than it sounds. Then, getting into the cannon can be a pain. And then, you have to do a secret level, which is just adding insult to injury. And as the game processes, they get worse. Getting to the secret level in The Secret of Casino Delfino in Sirena Beach's Hotel Delfino is awful too. And the less said about both getting to and completing the Waterfall, the better. And, in this game, you have to complete up to and including Episode 7 of each level to be able to unlock the final level, which can be hard. The final level is hard as expected, but the final boss, who I haven't gotten to yet, looks...well, not that hard. No offense to anyone who did find it hard. I can help but think there should have been an extra phase to that battle. I think it would have been great to fight Bowser and Bowser Jr. as you were falling from the...bathtub? Also, the game does nothing to explain how Bowser got so huge in the first place. And how did he shrink while he was falling? And then, him and Bowser Jr. are suddenly fully-recovered, on a boat, quite far away, just after Mario and Princess Peach have finished falling. That was pretty confusing.
Enough rambling on about the final scene, let's move to something else. I don't have anything bad to say about the controls, as I liked them. I thought Mario had enough tricks and moves he could perform with FLUDD. Moving on, I felt that many of the Missions in the game were basically most of the same concepts. There were lots of missions with Red Coins, lots of missions with Secret Levels, at least one mission in every level where you chase around Shadow Mario, and many bosses got used too much (e.g. Gooper Blooper, Petey Piranha). I feel some of them could have been more unique. I liked it (well, it was a disaster, but it's nice to see the occasional one) when Delfino Plaza was flooded: I think things like this happening to hub areas is something that many video games lack, because it's something new, and something different. A lot of that happened in this game.
I don't see why so many people hate this game. Sure, it's the black sheep of the series, but isn't change good? A main complaint is due to the "terrible" voice acting. While it may be pretty bad, it's only in certain cutscenes, and they certainly didn't ruin Mario or Princess Peach's voice. And some voices, like Bowser's, or the Pianta Attorney's, are so bad, it's rather funny. And the cutscenes aren't exactly common. But still, I think there shouldn't really have been any voice acting in the cutscenes. Perhaps that would stop some haters. Also, this game was ridden with glitches. Just look. I even discovered a unique glitch, and I think many people also did. Nintendo should have fixed some of these, or even just prevented them from happening in the first place. Finally, I think there should have been more levels in this game, and the final level should have been unlocked by an amount of Shine Sprites, instead of amount of missions completed.
Oh, and King Boo looks really weird.
Other than that, there's not much else to say. I enjoyed this game a lot, and didn't think much else should have been in it. Except...
What enemies should have been in this game?
Okay, I get that Nintendo were trying to bring in some different species, but Bloopers, Bubbas and Piranha Plants are present, along with many other regular enemies, so why not have these enemies:
- A different species of Koopa – Electro-Koopas and Snooze-A-Koopas were the two species of Koopa that appeared in this game, but I think there should have been another. After all, what Koopa King sends Cataquacks to fight Mario?
- Normal Wigglers – I feel these guys should appear more, and, since there was a Giant Wiggler, why not?
- Badly-drawn versions of classic enemies, like Goombas – Since Goombas wouldn't be over on Isle Dullfino, why not liven things up a bit. It worked well with Adeleine in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, and could be nostalgic to both fans of Mario and Kirby games. Plus, it would be fitting, because Bowser Jr. isn't the greatest artist.
- The Angry Sun – Because there's so much sun in this game, make it evil! I can imagine you'd fight him in Delfino Plaza, and that would unlock the path to Noki Bay.
Beta elements
There are quite a few differences in the final version of Super Mario Sunshine to the beta version:
Delfino Plaza, starting off, originally was either not the hub area, or looked drastically different. Early footage showed a giant creature rampaging around a very different hub area. According to the Cutting Room Floor, this creepy enemy is called Hinokuri, and spawns Strollin' Stus and Swoopin' Stus, which actually come out of eggs. Also, it's yellow, and has an eye on the top. Some versions wear a skull helmet. 0_0
Uh, so, now we're out of crazytown, there was a test level, which can be found via Action Replay codes. It's got some green Graffiti, quite a few different floor textures with random numbers on them, NPCs who say a pre-loaded error message, and Rock Blocks, which were most likely replaced by Watermelons. Humans were once intended to be the main species on Isle Delfino, instead of Piantas and Nokis. Also, Green Yoshis were intended to be in the game, but, strangely, weren't. As well as the main hub, Bianco Hills, The Shell and the Hillside Cave Secret had different designs, originally.
Boos had different, more classic designs, Swoopin' Stus looked different too, there were originally Brown Pokeys, and Gooper Blooper was originally blue (and fought in a different place in Ricco Harbor. Strollin' Stus were also meant to appear at some point in Delfino Plaza. There were more Crates in Delfino Plaza in the Beta, plus Black Piantas. Giant Stus would have originally chased Mario around, like regular Strollin' Stus. Mario's Health Meter originally was a Sun with a number in, signifying Mario's remaining health. FLUDD was also originally skinnier, but Nintendo cancelled his diet.
Behind a door in Noki Bay's Bottle, the player can see a book. It is unknown if this would have held any significance...or, apparently, according to the Bottle article, it was part of a scrapped mission...I don't know if that's true, but it's plausible. In the test level, there is a Soccer Ball, and a Cardboard Box which serves as a goal, which probably was a test for the rolling Fruit. The Warp Pipe at the entrance to Sirena Beach looked different too. Palm trees had thinner trunks (Nintendo hates diets, this is canon), and the Piranha Plant-heads, which were covered in Graffiti and rolled down the path to the Windmill in Bianco Hills, were fashioned to look like Petey Piranha's head.
Poinks could originally be found in Gelato Beach. There's also some unused, untranslated from Japanese, text for the menu, and an unused audio track. In the files for Pinna Park, there was an unused, paper-thin drawing of a Goomba, called a Kug. It has just one texture, and would have been an enemy. So those "Drawings" I thought should have been in the game weren't too far away. Finally, many beta pollution maps can be found:
- For early Bianco Hills, there was one with drawings of a Kug, a Piranha Plant and a creepy face. Not to mention weird hands, balls of fluff and droplets. The texture for said pollution is unused too, and rather unsettling.
- For the underwater portion of Noki Bay, there was what can only be described as the spray tool from Microsoft Paint. Also, there was the Japanese word for "stupid". Gee, thanks.
- For Sirena Beach, there was the shape of a Kug.
Thanks for reading, and, if you want to see me cover a game, send MrConcreteDonkey (that's me, you silly) a personal message on the MarioWiki Forum. Also, if you want to see me talk about a certain thing that Should Have Been in a Mario game (it doesn't have to be the one I did in the most recent issue), starting this month, you can send me a PM for that, too. Bye!