Leonhart collects, rates, ranks, and rants about every Star/Shine in 3-D Mario!

Yes, all 603 of them. That's right. I am a masochist, especially considering I'm going to be doing this for Mario Sunshine! I've never collected all 120 Shines in Sunshine, so this will be a first for me! I also haven't played Mario 64 and Sunshine in 7+ years, so this is an excuse to play them again!

Some basic premises I will be using for this playthrough:

--I will fully complete each game before moving on to the next, and I will be playing them in order

--I will be collecting all the stars as Mario, for the sake of consistency and the fact that all you get by switching to Luigi is bad traction (Boo Nintendo)

--I will be starting each game from scratch to get the full experience and so I don't have anything I wouldn't normally have (such as the various caps already being activated in Mario 64), so I won't be using my fully completed save files from Mario 64 or either Galaxy. It won't change much, but either way, it's more satisfying to collect a completely golden star/shine rather than a clear one!

--I won't be doing any sort of special challenges or anything of the sort, just straight up playing and collecting the stars/shines

--I will also be keeping track of how many times I die collecting each star, including a running chronicle of all stupid deaths ("stupid deaths" being defined as something that happened because of me being careless, accidentally doing something wrong, etc. as opposed to dying because it's legitimately difficult)

--In addition to rating and ranking each individual Star/Shine, I will rank each individual world as well

Keep in mind, my rankings will be completely subjective and made on the spot, likely with silly, irrational reasoning if I had a difficult time with it, so you probably won't agree with them!

Bob-omb Battlefield
Star #1: Big Bob-omb on the Summit

Ah, more nostalgia boosting! This one isn’t too difficult. It’s not hard to get up to the top, and the Bob-omb King dude is way too slow, and he doesn’t even hurt you if he throws you. I know it’s not meant to be difficult since it’s the very first star, but still, I don’t think I can rate this one very highly.

3.5/10

Star #2: Footrace with Koopa the Quick

Oh man, to be honest, I hate races against the clock in video games, even easy ones like this. I always freak out when I do them because I’m always worried I’m going to screw up and lose. Didn’t happen here, and I beat Koopa the Quick by a lot. My time was 1:07, not bad, I guess. Again, pretty easy, but more of a sense of tension than the first star, so I’ll rate it a bit higher.

4/10

Star #3: Shoot to the Island in the Sky

Uhhhh…Yeah, this one takes no effort. You just have to make sure you aim high enough to get onto the island (generally aim just a little above the treetop), and you got it. Just hit the box, and BAM! Star power.

2/10 (Note I will be reserving sub-2 scores for ones that are really bad or I really hate)

Star #4: Find the 8 Red Coins

As far as Red Coin stars go, this is probably as easy as it gets. None of them are in difficult-to-find locations, and none of them are in really dangerous areas, except the one on the Chain Chomp’s post, which isn’t that bad if you run as soon as he barks and tries to bite you because you have enough time to get it and get out of range. So yeah, like most of the stars in this world, it’s pretty basic, so I can’t give it a high score.

3/10

Star #5: Mario Wings to the Sky

Speaking of Wing Cap stars…! This one’s pretty simple though. All you really have to do in aim well, and pull up once to make Mario skyrocket and you can get through all the rings in one go. I didn’t manage to do that though because I suck…! Only took me two tries though, which is better than usual. I was also able to fly right into the star, which was cool. Probably the most “challenging” of Bob-omb Battlefield’s stars, which isn’t saying too much.

4/10

Star #6: Behind Chain Chomp’s Gate

This is probably the only one that I ever died on in this world back in the day. It’s kinda difficult in a way because of bad camera angles, and you’re trying to rush to get one butt stomp in before the chain chomp attacks again. It did hit me a couple of times because I was trying to get it done quickly and so I overstayed my welcome. Never died though. Despite creating a sense of tension, this one’s way too short and not difficult enough to give a high score to, so…

4/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

As a general rule, whenever I played Mario 64, I would always try to get the 100 coin star on the same star as the 8 Red Coin one, for whatever the reason. It’s not too difficult to do here, although you basically do have to kill every enemy you can find and use the cannon to collect a bunch of coins that are in the air that you have to use for Star #5 (which I can’t get right now because of no Wing Cap). I did almost make the supremely stupid mistake of making my 100th coin one of those and have it materialize it midair, which I have done before and had to use the cannon to aim and hit it. Either way, not a bad star.

4.5/10

Bob-omb Battlefield Overall Evaluation

Man, this place is a nostalgia rush because this is where 3-D Mario all began! It has a nice, simple design, lots of wide open space to explore. The mountain spire in the middle is cool, and of course, cannons are always great. Since it is the first world though, all of the stars are ridiculously easy to acquire. Again, don’t get me wrong. I love this place, but “objectively” speaking and compared to a lot of the worlds that come after this one, I can’t rate it too high. I rate it over Whomp’s Fortress, but just barely.

5.5/10

Whomp’s Fortress
Star #1: Chip Off Whomp’s Block

There’s a really cheap way to beat this guy. Basically just stand in front of him, and when he starts to fall down you can run between his legs. Then you can side somersault onto him and ground pound him. No problems. He’s got more of a presence about him than the Bob-omb King though (as well as better cheesy dialogue, man, I forgot how much of it this game had), so I’ll rank him higher than that.

4/10

Star #2: To the Top of the Fortress

This one’s your standard “Hop across platforms with some of the platforms moving in and out of the wall” deal. Not too bad. I do love the view that you get after you collect the star and the camera zooms out. I always loved it when the camera zoomed out like that. It felt so…atmospheric, I guess. Can’t really think of the right word.

Oh, and I have suffered my first death of the game, and it was a stupid one to boot! I was running across the platform at the very beginning, and once you get past those wall pillars with eyes that move in and out of the wall, you get to a part where the floor moves back and forth out of the wall. Well, the first platform was in the wall, so I decided to long jump over instead of waiting for it to pop back out, and for some reason, my controller didn’t respond to me trying to shorten the distance of my long jump, and I went right into the next gap and to my death! Oh well.

3/10

Star #3: Shoot into the Wild Blue

For some reason, I thought this was a different star than the one it ended up being, hence the two stupid deaths I suffered. I thought it was the star in the cage, which I remembered that you use the owl to get into, but you can use the cannon and make it if you’re good enough. Oh well. This one’s pretty easy. Just aim so that you shoot yourself into the pillar, and you won’t die!

Stupid death #2: I was running across that wooden board you can knock over at the very top, and I accidentally fell off because I was running too fast, and there’s nowhere good you can fall from there!

Stupid death #3: I was on top of the Thwomp, and I slipped off and fell straight into the gap I fell through for my first stupid death! Oh well.

2.5/10

Star #4: Red Coins on the Floating Isle

This one’s not too bad either. The red coins are placed a little better than the first world’s, so it takes a bit more time to get them all. I accidentally overjumped the island where the last red coin was, and I had to go all the way back up to get it, argh.

3.5/10

Star #5: Fall onto the Caged Island

Really easy to do if you use the owl, although for some reason I was under the impression that the owl flew on a set course and you didn’t have to control it so it flew out to the edge of the map, and then I realized, “Oh yeah, I have to control the thing.” Then I started flying back and right when I made it back to land, it told me it couldn’t carry me anymore and to lay off the pasta. I’ve never had that happen before, and it almost resulted in a stupid death! But I will give this one some bonus points because trying to land in the cage using the cannon is a nice challenge and good fun.

5/10

Star #6: Blast Away the Wall

This one’s another really easy one, as long as you know what you’re trying to do (Honestly, I might rank some of these higher if I hadn’t done them a million times and know exactly what I’m doing, but alas!), but I always enjoyed shooting Mario into things, especially when it makes things explode. And I always try to use the cannon to shoot Mario back into the star instead of taking the long way up like a sissy. Cannon forever.

4/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

This one is one of the easier 100 coin stars just because of how many there are. You can easily get 150 coins or more here. There’s a blue coin panel that gives you an easy 20, plus a handful of Piranha Plants who drop blue coins when you kill them, as well as Whomps being coin machines. I will rank this one a bit higher than the last one because it’s so darn satisfying to punch a sleeping Piranha Plant. It just feels so good.

5/10

Whomp’s Fortress Overall Evaluation

The level is certainly a classic, but one thing I’ve noticed while I’ve been playing it: It’s really small. Everything is about being “tall” here and not about being big, necessarily. There’s a lot of climbing and stuff, but the overall area isn’t very wide. There isn’t a whole lot to do here outside of star chasing, and there aren’t a lot of enemies to face. It’s not that difficult to navigate either. I do love the design though. The tower is great. The stars aren’t that difficult to obtain, but again, it’s early in the game, so it’s understandable. You can have some good fun with the cannon though, so I’ll give it that. I’ll probably get lynched for this score, but…

5.5/10

Jolly Roger Bay
Star #1: Plunder in the Sunken Ship

Ah, the water music is back. Excellent. This one’s not so bad since all you have to do is open 4 chests in the right order to (somehow) cause the ship to rise to the surface and empty out all the water. I actually forgot the order for opening the chests in this one, so I received quite a few shocks before discovering the solution! Also, this world is notable for the first appearance of THAT EEL of our childhood nightmares.

3.5/10

Star #2: Can the Eel Come Out to Play?

Oh man, now here’s where stuff started gettin’ real in Mario 64. Not only do I have to lure the eel out, but I have to pick the star off of its tail without running out of air and without getting hit in the process? Thankfully, this one was a success in both areas. I managed to get the star off of the tail on the first try, and I grabbed it with 2 pie pieces left on my life chart. I won’t deny it though. There’s a feeling of intensity and hesitance when you’re trying to get this star because this eel still scares me to this day. It’s a simple, yet effective star.

5.5/10

Star #3: Treasure of the Ocean Cave

This one is very similar to the first star because you have to open 4 chests in a particular order to get the star. The differences are that you don’t have to do this one underwater and I actually managed to remember the correct order on this one, so no shock treatment for me! I do love the ocean cave though. It’s got a neat atmosphere, and trying to avoid getting hit by the falling rock pillars is a rush!

4/10

Star #4: Red Coins on the Ship Afloat

This one isn’t too tough because half of them are in clams, three of them are on the ship, and one of them is on a stalagmite right next to the pink Bob-omb. For some reason though, I had a hard time finding that fourth clam, and then I saw it right before you get to the ledge where you run onto the ship. Whoops!

3/10

Star #5: Blast to the Stone Pillar

This one’s pretty standard fare for a cannon star. It does take some precise timing because there’s a pretty small area where Mario can actually grab on to the stalagmite. I managed it on my first try though! Huzzah! Next star involves the Metal Cap though, so I gotta move on for now! Jolly Roger Bay evaluation still to come!

2.5/10

Star #6: Through the Jet Stream

Oh right, now that I have the Metal Cap, I can finish this world off, too. This one is pretty simple, but you get to be METAL MARIO, SON, so it’s nice. It’s always cool watching Metal Mario no-sell the jet stream. He’s like the Undertaker.

4/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

This one’s not too bad. Although there aren’t many more than 100 coins here, none of them are in difficult locations to get to, and there’s a convenient Blue Coin button that gives you a free 30 coins (and you’d better use it because you won’t get 100 coins otherwise, I don’t think). Pretty good because it makes you go just about everywhere in this world to get it, so you end up doing a lot of exploring.

5/10

Jolly Roger Bay Overall Evaluation

It’s not very often that a game gets a water level right, but Mario 64 does a good job with this one (We’ll see how Dire, Dire Docks holds up later). The design is good. I love the sunken ship. The world isn’t TOO big, so it doesn’t make swimming a chore. Plus, it’s got the eel from our childhood nightmares. I’m not really sure what score I should give this one. I really do think the first two worlds get a lot of love because of nostalgia rather than the actual quality of the worlds themselves (and I gave them some benefit of the doubt in those areas as well), and I think Jolly Roger Bay is just better.

6/10

Cool, Cool Mountain
Star #1: Slip Slidin’ Away

Whoo, another slide star! This one’s a classic, too. No rails, just pure speed and some nice turns. I eschew the shortcuts for the sake of getting the full experience, and I am proud to say that I managed to do it without dying one time! I always go full speed ahead, baby! That’s the only way to slide!

6.5/10

Star #2: Li’l Penguin Lost

This one’s pretty easy as long as you don’t mind doing some freefalling! You can get down to the bottom pretty easily by jumping off the right side, and the snow breaks your fall with no health lost (provided you actually land in the snow). However, I decided to go the old-fashioned way and take the long way down. Well, there was a problem. As I was sliding down that hill where you eventually race the snowball body thing later, I accidentally slid too far and flew off the side, and the little penguin didn’t come down with me! Well, the hill is too slick to get all the way back up, so I was kinda stuck. I decided to go down to the bottom and ride the gondola back up (because I didn’t actually remember where it went). Well, as I was passing the pink Bob-omb, I decided I would go ahead and jump off and open the cannon for later. Well, apparently, my controller didn’t respond well and instead of jumping right and jumped backward and down to my death! Oh well. The second time I just said “Forget it,” and went “GERONIMOOOOOOOO” off the cliffs. Also, was I the only one who enjoyed doing mean things to these penguins? Either way, an interesting experience!

4.5/10

Star #3: Big Penguin Race

So how do you make a good star even better? By turning it into a race, apparently! Now I get to race this penguin down the slide, and this penguin plays dirty. He gets a head start, and he’s not afraid to try to push you off the side if he gets a chance! I opt not to play dirty and beat him without using the shortcuts. You don’t mess with MACH SPEED MARIO, son! I did accidentally hit a sharp curve too soon and bounce off the side to my death though!

7.5/10

Star #4: Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins

Well, that was unnecessarily complicated (See detailed log below). I was kinda frustrated that it took me so long to remember where that last red coin was (If you run to the right at the very beginning where there’s part of a bridge and jump down, it’s right there, but for some reason, I forgot there was even anything down there). I managed to accidentally rediscover the warp point in this stage as well! I remembered faintly there being something special about the bridge at the very bottom, so I was kinda walking around to see if I could figure out, and then…I warped! Oh well, this one is a pretty good star. Some of the coins are hidden well enough that it’s not immediately obvious where some of them are, which is nice. Probably the best one yet, despite my frustrations with it.

Stupid death #8: I was on top of the shack at the bottom where the race ends, and there was one of those snowmen who throws snowballs. I tried to run circles around him to kill him, accidentally ran into him, fell off the top, and apparently the game made me fall inward so that I fell off the cliff right below it.

Stupid death #9: Tried jumping off of the gondola to the pink Bob-omb again. Landed on the island this time, but my traction was bad and I slid off the side just barely. Whoops.

Stupid death #10: I had just picked up the red coin at the top of the gondola area, across from the bridge where those jumping snowmen go back and forth. Well, apparently I made a bad jump into a slippery downward slope. I tried to jump across the chasm to the other side, and I would’ve made it, but…I hit the wall first.

Stupid death #11: Finally got to the pink Bob-omb and activated the cannon. Decided to use it for fun and…overshot. Whoops.

Stupid death #12: Accidentally killed myself from taking too high of a jump. Didn’t think it was THAT high! Oh well, it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t miscalculated my jump across the bridge to where the star was! Argh

4.5/10

Star #5: Snowman’s Lost His Head

I love how this snowball body (somehow speaking) says “I’LL FOLLOW YOU!” and then jumps ahead on its own. What the heck. Funny thing is that I accidentally ran into it, so I ended up sliding down most of this one backwards on my belly, and I was finally able to get back in front of it when the course 180s right at the end. If I’m not mistaken, you can’t do the shortcut and have the snowball end up at the head, right? Because he’s FOLLOWING YOU! How dumb. Regardless, I’ll give it a little bit of a bonus because of the cool way in which I won this “race.”

5/10

Star #6: Wall Kicks Will Work

I forget. Which part of this star is supposed to be where I use the wall kick? Because just straight up wall-jumping is so much easier and more effective. Oh well. At least the camera zooms out after you collect it for an awesome view. This one can be tricky, if your timing is off, too. It’s a moderate challenge for this point in the game because you have to be able to wall jump consistently at this point.

Stupid death #13: Just barely aimed too low with the cannon getting to the other side.

3.5/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Man, getting 100 coins here is ridiculously easy because you can get 75+ coins just from the slide alone. Just make sure you do the slide FIRST so you don’t wind up with the 100 Coin Star appearing on the course! Either way, this requires virtually no effort as long as you use the slide. Not sure you can even do it without it, but I didn’t try, so…!

4.5/10

Cool, Cool Mountain Overall Evaluation

In my opinion, this is the first really good world in Mario 64. The first three have just been getting you used to everything, so this feels like the first world where they start throwing different things at you that don’t feel like tutorials. The design of the world is great, lots of sliding areas. There are some relatively difficult areas and stars. There’s a good bit of variety here, too (although you do get three slide-related stars, two of them races, but whatever). Either way, really fun world. I like it a lot.

7.5/10

Big Boo’s Haunt
Star #1: Go On a Ghost Hunt

Oh man, the atmosphere of this place is great. Very spooky. By the way, who else totally freaked out the first time the piano started moving? Whoa, memories. Anyway, this first one’s not bad. You just go around from room to room killing Boos until the Big Boo appears in the foyer at the beginning. Just backflip and butt stomp to kill these things. Also, cheesy dialogue galore!

4/10

Star #2: Ride Big Boo’s Merry-Go-Round

Pretty much the same as the last one, except all the Boos are in one location, including the Big Boo. That merry-go-round music is really creepy though. Gotta give it some props for that much. Just wish these ghosts weren’t so easy!

4.5/10

Star #3: Secret of the Haunted Books

Another really simple one. The main thing is avoiding those books that shoot off the bookshelves at you, which is a pretty nice feeling of “Oh crap!” to keep you on your toes because you don’t really know where they’re coming from. The solution to getting to the star is just pushing in 3 books in the right order, or you get book shot at you if you get it wrong. No problems here!

3.5/10

Star #4: Seek the 8 Red Coins

This one’s pretty good for a Red Coin star. They’re pretty well spread out, so you have to go all over the mansion to get them all. Some of them are in tight spots so you have to be careful to make sure you don’t fall off trying to get them (although now that I think about it, this place doesn’t have any “bottomless pits,” does it? If you fall from the top, you just fall into the merry-go-round area, so it’s not so bad.

5/10

Star #5: Big Boo’s Balcony

For some reason, I was under the impression you needed the Vanish Cap for this one, but it’s the next one! I guess it’s because the next star is in the same general location. Either way, this is another Big Boo fight, and it’s easy, too. The trick is being able to reach the star after you kill him, which I had to think about a little to remember, and I fell down a few times. I knew crawling was involved, but I couldn’t remember how to get onto the roof. Then I saw an area that it looked like I could walk on without slipping, and I long jumped over there. This might be the only part of the game where crawling is actually useful, so I guess Nintendo needed to make sure you had to use it somewhere!

4.5/10

Star #6: Eye to Eye in the Secret Room

I like stars that take advantage of the Vanish Cap, though they’re few and far between. One of the things that 3-D Mario started doing that I wasn’t a huge fan of was temporary powerups that expire after a certain amount of time. They carried some of that over into Galaxy, though they did have some powerups that actually lasted until you died. Back on topic, this one is pretty neat because you have to time and angle your wall jump correctly to get onto the ledge and make it through the passable wall before the Vanish Cap expires. I was bad at this star as a kid because I panicked and thought I had less time than I really did. It’s not that difficult, really, as long as you can nail the wall jump the first time. I did it the first time, which was a big huzzah for me!

5.5/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

This one’s not too hard because all the Boos and the spinning eyeball things give you blue coins for killing them, and there are plenty of enemies here to go around, including the Boos down on the merry-go-round again. It was kinda neat though because my 100th coin came from one of the red coins underneath those coffins, so when I hopped on top of it to get the star afterward, the coffin threw me off while I was celebrating!

4/10

Big Boo’s Haunt Overall Evaluation

This world has “atmosphere” in spaces. It’s almost perfect in terms of creepiness and spookiness for a Mario level. The mansion itself is beautifully designed and fun to explore. There are lots of neat little touches like the crazy piano and the books shooting at you to add to the mood. The stars here are pretty good, though I wish there were a bit more variety. Half of them are just beating Big Boo to get a star, though there is at least some variance in the setting and stuff. I’ll give this one an edge over the first two worlds, but I can’t rank it over Cool, Cool Mountain.

6/10

Hazy Maze Cave
Star #1: Swimming Beast in the Cavern

Man, who knew you had the power to control a dinosaur at will if you just butt stomp on its back? Well, Mario knew! That’s all there is to this star. Hazy Maze Cave was one of my favorites back in the day (We’ll see how it stands up when I’m done with it), but this is a pretty standard first star. Moving on!

3/10

Star #2: Elevate for 8 Red Coins

This one’s pretty easy, other than trying to work this stupid elevator that you have to press the arrows to make it go in the direction you want. It’s more tedious than it is difficult, but again, not so bad overall. You just go along for the ride in the upper part to get the other four. Funny story: When I was trying to get the 100 Coin star (I had already gotten all 8 Red Coins), I was hopping down from the area where I had killed the first eyeball right above where the red coin star spawns, and I almost accidentally landed on it (I had 97 coins at the time) jumping off that platform! I didn’t even think about it being right below me until I jumped off! I would’ve been very…upset, to say the least, if that had happened!

3.5/10

Star #3: Metal-Head Mario Can Move!

Oh right, I forgot there was another star in the underground cave where the dinosaur was! This one is pretty simple because the path leads you right to the switch, so you don’t have to wonder where it is. But still, it’s Metal Mario, son, runnin’ around underwater like nobody’s business! Don’t mess. I almost missed the last long jump to the star, too! Barely grabbed onto the ledge. Also, who names these stars?

5.5/10

Star #4: Navigating the Toxic Maze

It took me a little bit of time to remember where the ledge was that led to the star in the hazy maze, but no big deal. Metal Mario never dies, son! Plus, you can keep replenishing the Metal Cap as much as you need to, and nothing can hurt you. Metal Mario is so cool that he doesn’t even need to BREATHE! Seriously, hardcore dude.

Stupid death #23: For some reason, Mario did not jump crossing a ledge at the very beginning, and it was a quick drop to my death!

5/10

Star #5: A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit

For some reason, I thought this one was the third star, and turns out it was the fifth! Whoops. I knew there were two stars in the hazy maze itself, but I guess I got them mixed up! I had totally forgotten that there were Snifits and Monty Moles in this game until I got into the hazy maze! Oh well. Didn’t have any problems with the overhead bars that you have to hang onto and climb over to the star this time, for whatever the reason. Oh, and Metal Mario, son!

5/10

Star #6: Watch for Rolling Rocks

The “A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit” one (fantastic pun, by the way) was star #5, not #6 like I originally put, for the record. It took me a little bit to remember where this star exactly was, which led to my two stupid deaths, recorded below. Plus, for whatever the reason, Mario didn’t feel like wall jumping consistently, so it took longer than it should have.

Stupid death #24: Killed by rolling rocks, should’ve heeded the warning.

Stupid death #25: See above. For some reason, I got hit by three rocks in a row rolling onto the exact same spot.

3.5/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

My word, what a pain this was (as you can see below). You pretty much have to go everywhere in this place to get 100 coins. It’s not even that difficult. I just had some bad luck, really, especially in that one room with the boulders. I felt very proud about being able to kill those spinning eyeballs on those narrow platforms. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I managed! I’ll give this one points for relative difficulty.

Stupid death #18: Accidentally got rolled over by one of those boulders.

Stupid death #19: Apparently, zooming out the camera causes you to lose your grip on those overhead bars.

Stupid death #20: Tried to make the jump across the chasm where the bottomless pit is. Didn’t get far enough.

Stupid death #21: Accidentally went too far off to the side on those overhead bars and lost my grip, stupid bottomless pit.

Stupid death #22: See above, can’t figure out how in the world this thing is making me fall off these bars though

6.5/10

Hazy Maze Cave Overall Evaluation

Now I remember why I loved Hazy Maze Cave as a kid: Lots of Metal Mario stars. Unfortunately, there aren’t many worlds that make good use of the guy, so this is his one time to shine, and I always enjoy it. I think there’s also a noticeable spike in difficulty once you get to this point. There are a lot more ways to die now than there had been up to this point. There’s a good bit of variety in these stars as well. I won’t quite rank it above Cool, Cool Mountain, but it’s very close.

7.5/10

Lethal Lava Land
Star #1: Boil the Big Bully

Oh man, nothing like beating up Bullies and pushing them into the lava, and that’s what this one is all about! For some reason, I had more difficulty with it than I usually do (see below), but no major problems. Beating the Big Bully isn’t much harder than beating a regular Bully. I pretty much tricked him into rushing at me, got out of his way, and he ran himself over to the edge, so it just took one simple punch to do the job. I forgot that the ledge that leads up to the star collapses as you touch it, but thankfully, Mario jumps high enough from the lava that I could still reach the platform!

Stupid death #26: Somehow managed to get pushed off the edge by a regular Bully into the lava multiple times.

4/10

Star #2: Bully the Bullies

This is literally just more of the same. You get stars for beating up more Bullies. My timing and depth perception are truly terrible though. I had a comical moment trying to punch one Bully where we would simultaneously miss each other, and this went on about five times in a row. I don’t know how that happened. But then I did make up for it later by knocking two Bullies into the lava with one punch, which was awesome. Also, I didn’t realize that the Big Bully doesn’t know how to handle jumping. Like, you can’t jump over him, but if you jump when he charges, he just makes that “I’m hit” sound like 10 times in rapid succession, and he doesn’t go anywhere. Weird. Anyway, this one was fun. I liked it.

5.5/10

Star #3: 8-Coin Puzzle with 15 Pieces

This is one of the few Red Coin stars where I won’t get the 100 Coin Star in tandem because all the 8 Red Coins are in a very small location, so it’s not really worth the effort to run everywhere, get coins, and come back to do this. Plus, the Koopa shell for lava surfing isn’t available yet, so that hurts, too. Either way, this star’s pretty easy. You just keep running and as long as you don’t stop, you should be fine. Besides, the puzzle piece that’s about to move shakes a little bit right before it does, so you can figure out which one it is. Kind of a neat idea, but too easy.

3/10

Star #4: Red-Hot Log Rolling

I’ve always kinda liked this one even if it’s not that hard. I like rolly platform things like the log. There’s always a sense of “Don’t slow down or you’ll fall off!” with these things. You have to pay attention, and you can’t slack off. Plus, when you get the star, the camera pans around behind Mario for a nice view. Can’t beat that.

5/10

Star #5: Hot-Foot-It into the Volcano

I was actually trying to get the 100 Coin Star here, but if you die inside the volcano, you start over inside the volcano, so I couldn’t get them all. Died with 95 coins, which stunk. Anyway, I love the volcano. Superb design with just the right amount of difficulty. The threat of death is always imminent because one wrong move means you go into the lava, and you probably die. Having to jump from pole to pole at the very top right before you get to the star is pretty thrilling, too, because you’re just hoping you got the angle right because you know it’s a looooooong way down from there. I love this place, one of the best areas in the game. I’m going to give it a pretty high score, which I’m not sure you guys will agree with or not! Let’s see!

Stupid death #27: Was riding on the Koopa shell, hit a bad camera angle, ran into a wall, lava’d myself to death!

Stupid death #28: Was climbing a pole, didn’t see a fire stream machine thing, got knocked into the lava below and couldn’t get back to land in time.

8.5/10

Star #6: Elevator Tour in the Volcano

Another trip into the volcano, but in my opinion, this one’s not so great. There isn’t as much going on, and the camera angles really get in the way on this one. The game lets you have very little control over your camera angles, resulting in you potentially get blasted by those flamethrowers at the top of the pole without even realizing they’re there, like what happened to me before. I managed to get this star with 1 pie piece left because the flamethrower knocked me off, I landed in the lava, but I managed to barely land on the first elevator. Then I got past the flamethrower the next time without getting hit. It was pretty tense.

6/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Three words: Koopa Shell Surfing. Man, I love it. It’s so much fun to be able to ride over the lava at (relatively) high speed, collecting coins, killing spinning eyeballs, and whatnot. You can’t really make tight turns with the thing, so you have to be careful if you’re trying to turn around because you missed something (as I discovered). But either way, it’s a blast. One of the best 100 Coin Stars.

Stupid death #29: Accidentally ran into a wall again while riding the Koopa shell. Bah.

Stupid death #30: Was trying to long jump with low health, and uhhh…didn’t. Right into the lava I go!

Stupid death #31: Tried to long jump from higher up onto one of the elevator platforms, and…I didn’t make it!

7/10

Lethal Lava Land Overall Evaluation

Man, this world is a blast. I’ve already ranted about how much I love the volcano, so I won’t go there again. The world outside the volcano is great, too. 3-D Mario seems to do volcano/lava levels really well (Important hint for future rankings). It’s just really well designed. The atmosphere really conveys a sense of danger. There are very few areas where you really feel completely “safe,” either because of surrounding enemies or the fact that the platforms are narrow. Plus, lava is all around you, no matter where you go, and three dips in the lava equals death. One of Mario 64’s finest.

9/10

Shifting Sand Land
Star #1: In the Talons of the Big Bird

One star in and already I remember why I hated this world. First of all, the only place it seems like you can hit this bird is standing on top of a pillar. My main problem is that I tried to hit it on the two pillars closest to you, which are surrounded by quicksand on all sides. Once you get up there, there’s essentially nowhere to go from there, but I didn’t realize that until it was too late (see below). Thankfully, if you go to the other side of the pyramid, there are pillars that are not surrounded by quicksand and thus easier to get the star from, so yeah. Can’t wait to get to the stars inside the pyramid.

Stupid death #32: Quicksand death. One of many, I’m predicting.

Stupid death #33: Landed on the pillar right near the bird, but I slid upon landing and right into the quicksand.

Stupid death #34: Shy Guy hit me with a fireball standing on top of the pillar and I fell off. Grah.

Stupid death #35: Same as #33.

Stupid death #36: …I realized I essentially had nowhere to go from the pillar I had landed on after I had managed to knock the star out of the bird’s claws, so I tried to long jump onto the pyramid, and failed.

2.5/10

Star #2: Shining Atop the Pyramid

Thankfully and mercifully, this one’s not too hard if you cheat and use the Koopa shell to ride all the way up to the top where the star is. Doesn’t mean it’s foolproof (see below), but hey, it works.

Stupid death #37: Almost made it to the star with the Koopa shell and failed, so I had to go the long way around. Got hit by a fireball shot out by one of those black orbs, didn’t realize it could travel up to the next level, and due to Mario’s frantic running, it was right into the quicksand for me.

4/10

Star #3: Inside the Ancient Pyramid

Ahh, the pyramid, the one thing that keeps this world from being completely horrible. While not as well-designed or as fun as the volcano, I still like it. There’s enough here to keep you interested and challenge you, whether it’s that rolling thing or the huge blocks. Not to mention, if you fall into the sand in the center, man, you are tapping A like your life depends on it (and it does) to get back on land.

6.5/10

Star #4: Stand Tall on the Four Pillars

Man, I hate these pillars. Well, the two that are surrounded on all sides by quicksand anyway. Why, why, why? It’s challenging, I suppose, but it’s more frustrating than anything, mostly because I have to use the Wing Cap with its subpar controls (and the fact that you have to triple jump to take off, something you CAN’T DO standing on top of these pillars) to land on them. I think the Koopa Shell works, but it’s inconsistent, so you can’t always tell when the game considers you to have “stood” on the pillar. Oh well, I do like this boss fight though, one of the better ones in the game. It’s not too hard, but at least it’s not super slow, and there are two hands constantly doing something, so it’s nice change of pace.

Stupid death #38: Got caught by the sandstorm, couldn’t get to the pillar, quicksand death…again.

Stupid death #39: Apparently, there are parts of the quicksand that are considered “walls,” so my Koopa shell disappeared.

Stupid death #40: Tried to fly to the top of the pyramid after the top opened, got bad camera angled, and ended up with yet another quicksand death.

Stupid death #41: I hate that when you land with the Wing Cap, you slide, because when you try to land on top of a pillar, it doesn’t go so well.

5/10

Star #5: Free Flying for 8 Red Coins

This is one of those “Why, Nintendo, why?!” stars to me. The four red coins on the ground are easy enough, but now I have to use the Wing Cap to get the other four around the pyramid? Great, because the Wing Cap has such precise and easy controls! Thankfully, having a Wing Cap right next to a cannon makes this a bit easier, because firing out of a cannon helps you maintain the velocity needed to get around the pyramid (however many times you need) and grab the last four red coins. Either way, not very fun, at least not to me.

Stupid death #42: Trying to get the first red coin at the far corner where you start, accidentally went a little too high up, slid right into the quicksand.

Stupid death #43: Tried to long jump to a platform, skidded right off the side into the quicksand.

Stupid death #44: After collecting all 8 Red Coins, I try to use the Wing Cap from the pyramid to fly back to the star, and Mario promptly dives into the quicksand. Great.

Stupid death #45: Trying to triple jump to get the Wing Cap going, misjumped, landed on the side of the pyramid, right into the quicksand I go.

3/10

Star #6: Pyramid Puzzle

You know, it took me a while to remember what this one even was, but when I saw the coins on the sand slide thingy, it thankfully came back to my mind. I’m not sure why this is considered a “puzzle.” All you have to do is get 5 specific coins. Granted, the last three are difficult, but not due to a puzzle. It’s because the camera makes it hard for you to see where you’re supposed to be jumping, which becomes pretty frustrating once you’ve missed the last jump 3-4 times. When the camera angle makes what should be an easy star into a frustrating one, that’s a bad sign.

3.5/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

This one’s not too bad. There are 115-120ish coins floating around here, so you can get it without much trouble, but you’re going to have to eventually go inside the pyramid to get 100. Thankfully, the Pokeys here give blue coins when you kill them, and there are 4-5 of them in this level. There’s also a blue coin switch inside the pyramid that gives you another 15. The rest is just being thorough in searching the level and killing enemies. It’s a decent challenge that (for once) isn’t too frustrating. Oh, and I managed to get all this way, and the bird finally stole my hat. Oh well, managed to get it back.

Stupid death #46: Tried to make the jump onto the narrow platform on the pyramid, jumped too high, slid down the side for yet another quicksand death.

5.5/10

Shifting Sand Land Overall Evaluation

This is one of those, “Man, I’m glad that’s over with” worlds. I had bad memories of this world when I was a kid, and now I remember why. Quicksand deaths abound! The pyramid is the one thing that saves this world from being abysmal, as I said before. The pyramid itself is well designed, and isn’t full of said quicksand deaths. There really isn’t a whole lot to the outside world because…well, there’s too much quicksand. There aren’t really any difficult enemies either. The stars are pretty challenging, I’ll give it that much. I think there was only one of these I didn’t die at least once collecting. Wasn’t really challenging in a satisfying “Man, I feel like I accomplished something by doing that” way though. More frustrating than anything.

3/10

Dire, Dire Docks
Star #1: Board Bowser’s Sub

This one’s not that hard. Just hit the switch and run on the blocks and board the sub before time runs out, and the star’s right there. This is the only star that you HAVE to do before doing the Bowser level since it blocks your way, and then goes back behind it afterwards. Plus, the sub disappears after you beat the Bowser level, so it’s kind of hard to board Bowser’s sub after it disappears! Either way, hard to give this one a high rating,so…

3/10

Star #2: Chests in the Current

This is another one of those stars where I feel like the camera being uncooperative works against you. It’s also difficult to maneuver Mario precisely while he’s swimming and if you’re not directly facing the chest’s lock, it won’t open. This makes it particularly frustrating on the final chest because it’s close to that whirlpool, and the camera doesn’t want to rotate to give to a better angle. Anyway, we’ve already seen stars like this in Jolly Roger Bay, so this one’s really nothing special other than trying to avoid death via whirlpool.

Stupid death #47: It’s important to make sure you don’t stop swimming after you open the final chest because that whirlpool in the middle close to it will still suck you in and kill you. It still waited until after the star hopped out of the chest to register it as a kill though!

4/10

Star #3: Pole-Jumping for Red Coins

Fun Fact: I had to do this twice because I collected all the red coins in the process of getting the 100 coin star, but after I collected those coins near the exit that launches you out of the level and into the moat in front of the castle (…Why does this exit exist?), I couldn’t manage to swim fast enough against its pull, so I got launched out. Fun stuff. Anyway, the idea of lots of pole jumping kind of put me off at first, but it’s not so hard. It’s actually kinda fun. The first time I did this, I actually managed to get all 8 red coins without missing a pole jump and falling into the water, which was rather satisfying, I must admit. Didn’t get so lucky the second time, but oh well! The camera cooperates surprisingly well here, too, which is nice. Probably the best 8 red coin star yet.

7/10

Star #4: Through the Jet Stream

What the? I never realized there were two Mario 64 stars with the same name until just now! Jolly Roger Bay’s 6th star has the same name! How unoriginal! This star is pretty much the same thing as the manta ray one, only easier. You just have to be able to hold still right above the jet stream as the rings float through you five times. Yes, really. That’s all. Oh well, it’s an excuse to bust out METAL MARIO, so whatever. I’ll take it.

4/10

Star #5: The Manta Ray’s Reward

This is one of those stars where either the bad swimming controls or my inability to use the swimming controls effective (perhaps both) makes this star more complicated than it needs to be. The nice thing is that swimming through the rings restores your health so you don’t really have to worry about drowning before you complete it, though apparently if you aren’t at full health when you swim through the ring, it won’t count it, for whatever the reason. Plus, you have to do all five in a row, which should go without saying! Regardless, this is a neat star and I like it. And now I get a message saying that I can take on the final Bowser level! Hurray!

5.5/10

Star #6: Collect the Caps…

I had totally forgotten that getting the 8 red coins was pretty much impossible until the sub is gone and the poles appear. I could’ve sworn I had gotten them all without the poles before, but maybe I’m mistaken. If anyone can tell me how it can be done, please fill me in! Anyway, so I skipped straight to this one because it was in the same room. This one was really neat because you had to use the Metal Cap and the Vanish Cap at the same time in order to collect the star. It’s a shame there weren’t more stars that utilized this dual-cap style because it was really neat to be able to double up on powers. Imagine flying Metal Mario flying around underwater like it was nothing! I mean, seriously, how awesome would that be?

6.5/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

This is one of those “You had better get every single coin in this level because you’re going to need them” stars. I managed to find 101 coins total in this level, and I looked everywhere I could think of, so if there are more, please let me know! None of the coins are in particularly difficult to reach areas, except for the red coins, I suppose, and there is a blue coin switch that you absolutely must use and get all of the blue coins for. I suppose I could give it some points just for thoroughness, but at the same time, it feels more tedious than anything. We’ll go halfway on this one.

5/10

Dire, Dire Docks Overall Evaluation

This level was better than I remember. There’s way too much swimming because there’s only one land area in the entire level, but at the same time, the world itself isn’t THAT big. Another downside is that there are virtually no enemies here. There’s that shark, but you have to try really hard to get hit by that thing. The only thing that can realistically kill you is that stupid whirlpool, so the sense of danger in this level is negligible. I don’t know if it’s really necessary here though. It’s not supposed to be a high tension level, as the name implies. None of the stars are particularly difficult here, but the 8 red coins star is fun, as already stated, and the manta ray one is pretty cool, too. Plus, it’s got that awesome music. Hmmm…I’m not really sure what score to give this one. This will probably be controversial here, but…

7/10

Snowman’s Land
Star #1: Snowman’s Big Head

I wish the camera would be a bit more cooperative on this one, but it’s not too bad. I did manage to finish this one without getting blown away by the snowman because I remembered the penguin’s pattern of slow, fast, stop, back up, slow, fast, which was nice. I did accidentally fall off the edge the first time because I was too close and had to climb all the way back up. Oh, and I forgot about those stupid enemies that disguise themselves as coins until I ran into one! This one’s your typical King of the Mountain star with a decent little twist to it, and it gives a great zoom-out camera view after you get it.

5.5/10

Star #2: Chill with the Bully

This is basically a redux of a Lethal Lava Land star, only with burning hot ice instead of lava, so I decided to do something different to mix it up. I decided I was going to beat the thing just with jumps without ever punching it. I was a little off the first time, as chronicled below, but the second time was a success!

Stupid death #50: Yeah, I managed to get killed by the Bully fight, but it wasn’t because it was hard. I was just trying to challenge myself a bit, and I did die, so I guess it was more challenging than just trying to punch him off!

4.5/10

Star #3: In the Deep Freeze

This one is a nice little puzzle. It’s not too difficult to figure out, but at the very least, you probably won’t figure it out the very first try unless you already know what you’re doing. I’ll give it some bonus points for being a decent change of pace, albeit easy.

4/10

Star #4: Whirl from the Freezing Pond

It kind of took me a minute to remember what I was supposed to do in this one, but when I saw the enemies in the water, I remembered. This one’s pretty straightforward. The camera loves to go directly underneath you when you jump on those things and start whirling so you can’t see where you’re floating, which isn’t cool.

3/10

Star #5: Shell Shreddin’ for Red Coins

Aw yeah, shell shreddin’ it up. As much as I love riding the shell, it’s not that great here. Half of the red coins are lined up in a nice neat row, waiting for you to surf right through them. The only ones you really need the shell for are the two underneath the place where you fight the Ice Bully, and they’re not really that difficult to get without dying. Argh, wasted potential.

4/10

Star #6: Into the Igloo

How in the world can there be so much inside of an igloo I have to crawl to get into? Go figure. Anyway, the igloo’s pretty fun because you have to figure out which way to go, at least until you get the Vanish Cap, and then you can go anywhere. Can you get trapped in an area with no way to get out if the Vanish Cap runs out though? It seems like there are some places you can only access with the Vanish Cap, so I was always quick to make sure I got out of there if I saw the power starting to fade a bit. Either way, cool star.

6.5/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

I tried to get this with the red coin star as usual, but then I realized you had to go into the igloo to be able to get 100 coins, so I had to save it for the end. This one isn’t too tough. There’s 110+ coins, so there’s enough to go around this time. The coins are pretty well spread out, and there are a decent number of enemies that give 3 coins for killing them, so it’s not too bad.

5/10

Snowman’s Land Overall Evaluation

I generally don’t like using this word, but Snowman’s Land felt…uninspired, especially compared to Cool, Cool Mountain, which I love. I really like the giant snowman head in the center of the world, but it only comes into play one time, which is kinda disappointing. There’s not really anything else special about this place, design-wise. The igloo is kinda neat, but it’s pretty small and straightforward, design-wise. No multiple levels, no difficult platforming or puzzles, anything like that. It’s not a BAD world by any stretch of the imagination, just…kinda average and plain.

5/10

Wet-Dry World
Star #1: Shocking Arrow Lifts!

Managed to find the arrow lifts this time! I was expecting some sort of puzzle, but I was pretty disappointed to discover that if you just step from one lift to the next, you’ll easily reach the platform with the star on it. The only real obstacle is the electric amp swirling around, but I got hit by it once and didn’t fall off because the platform had already stopped, so no problem. I think if it hits you while the platform is moving you get suspended in midair while it shocks you and the platform keeps moving, but I may be misremembering that. Either way, could’ve been a good star if there was some sort of trick to be figured out with these arrow lifts, but as such…

3.5/10

Star #2: Top O’ the Town

Ah, Wet-Dry World, I can tell this is going to be an interesting experience. I started this one at the lowest water level on purpose. I can already tell (and I am starting to remember) that this is one of the more dangerous levels. Lots of ways to die and lots of enemies and traps ready and willing to kill you. Anyway, I forgot where those stupid lifts were that they described in the first star, so I just started wandering around and found this one! Anyway, it’s pretty neat trying to get to the very top. It provides a nice challenge with some good jumps, a narrow platform with some of those electric amp things swirling around, and then a rapidly spinning platform right before you get to the star. Oh right, and that stupid chucker guy.

7/10

Star #3: Secrets in the Shallows and Sky

Hurray trigger-pointing star! You have to find five secret trigger points in this world to activate the star. Finding the first four wasn’t too hard because I had casually come across them doing the first two stars for the most part, and they’re all connected to a yellow box or one of those movable metal boxes. Unfortunately, it took me FOREVER to find the fifth one. I checked that box you can push in near the bottom level once, but for some reason, it wouldn’t push in, and I could’ve sworn it did, but maybe I was wrong, so I left it. Eventually came back to it and it pushed in to activate the star. Really, this shouldn’t have been as frustrating as it was, but whatever.

2.5/10

Star #4: Express Elevator—Hurry Up!

The difficult part about this star isn’t beating the elevator down in time and jumping back on before it goes back up. That part’s easy. As soon as the elevator starts going down, jump off and ground pound right before you hit the ground, and you’ll beat the elevator easy. The hard part is getting up there with the water at ground level. You have to rely on those things that launch you if you step on them, or at least I did. I don’t remember if there was another way up. I almost died once because I kept not getting launched far enough, but I eventually made it. Kind of a nice way to put your life into your own hands, really.

5.5/10

Star #5: Go to Town for Red Coins

Hey, look, the cannon is finally useful again! I actually liked the town on the other side. I thought it was a neat place, felt kind of like an old ghost town type of place. It has a cool atmosphere, I guess. Getting the 8 red coins here isn’t too difficult. It’s pretty easy to tell where they are because they’re all hidden behind those big blocks. You get to do lots of wall jumping and good precise jumping, which is nice. Overall, a good star.

6.5/10

Star #6: Quick Race Through Downtown!

You know, I wanted to try this at high water level with the Metal Cap + the Vanish Cap to see if I could do it in time, but then I discovered you can’t open the Vanish Cap box underwater. Oh well, don’t think it would’ve been possible anyway with the time constraints, but it would’ve been a neat challenge! As is, this isn’t as hard as the title seems to indicate! You can make it in plenty of time. Just don’t start trying to wall jump while you still have the Vanish Cap activated like I did because I went right back through the wall just as the time ran out! Whoops! The camera isn’t very cooperative in narrow spaces like this one either, so it made things a bit harder, but not much.

4/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

And while I was running around searching for trigger points, I started amassing coins by the boatload and eventually grabbed this one as well. Getting the 100 coin star is really easy here because coins are plentiful, and they’re everywhere. Plus, there’s a blue coin switch for a free 25 coins, too. The ease of this almost negated the frustration of the last one. Almost.

4.5/10

Wet-Dry World Overall Evaluation

Hmmm…What to say about Wet-Dry World…It’s not a bad world, let’s go ahead and get that part out of the way. It has a very unique and interesting concept about controlling the water levels to get around. Unfortunately, swimming is time-consuming and tedious, so it’s not all that fun. At least they made good use of the concept by making just about all of the stars dependent on the concept instead of just one or two. The concept is good, though the execution is a bit flawed. Besides, two water worlds out of 15 is plenty! No need for a third! Although really, they’re not bad, any of them. I do really like the hidden town though, neat place. Super Mario 64 did a good job with their little worlds within the worlds like that one. Overall, I’ll give this one a…

5.5/10

Tall, Tall Mountain
Star #1: Scale the Mountain

This is another one of those King of the Mountain stars (quite literally, in this case). Just get to the top, and the star’s up there waiting for you. There’s a good bit to this level though. There are some nice long jumps, there’s a log-rolling section, some narrow walkways, etc. That being said, it wasn’t super tough because I managed to do it without dying (although for some reason, I tried to grab the chucker guy and it didn’t register, so he turned around, grabbed me, and ALMOST tossed me off the edge. Whew!). I still liked the design though.

6/10

Star #2: Mystery of the Monkey Cage

Okay, THIS time, I grabbed the monkey at the very top of the mountain instead of the hat-stealing one, so it all went well. It’s not too different overall from the first star because it’s basically climbing to the top of the mountain again. It’s not like catching the monkey is that difficult either. I almost kinda wish they’d leave the star in the cage suspended in front of the waterfall instead of dropping it down to the next level so you’d have to make at least somewhat of a pressure jump, but alas.

4/10

Star #3: Scary ‘Shrooms, Red Coins

Now are both the mushrooms and the red coins scary, or just the mushrooms? I can’t tell! Either way, this one isn’t too bad because the red coins are all confined to two locations. Four of them are on those mushrooms, and four of them are in the area where all the Monty Moles are, with the ant farm like design. The first four are pretty fun because they’re pressure-filled jumps due to judging distance and the fact that some of these mushrooms are pretty tiny (I also found the warp spot by accident). The second four, not so much fun. They’re not so bad, but there was one area where, for some reason, Mario didn’t want to make the jump (I was climbing from the bottom to the top instead of going from top to bottom, which is what I SHOULD have done, but oh well). Oh, and it’s a nice jump to where the star is, too. Man, if you like long jumping, this is your place!

5.5/10

Star #4: Mysterious Mountainside

Okay, so I hopped into that warp thing I remember being on the side of the mountain because I thought it was a warp panel, like in Bob-omb Battlefield. I forgot about the slide here! Hurray! This one’s fun and a bit tougher than the ones before it. The slide gets pretty narrow at points, and there are some good curves. It just feels good to slide on this one.

Stupid death #51: Got killed by a SHY GUY trying to get my hat back from that stupid monkey. The stupid thing rammed into me as soon as I grabbed the monkey, too! Thanks to having no hat, it was an easy job. And yes, I grabbed the monkey because I thought it had something to do with the star. I’m stupid.

Stupid death #52: Accidentally slid off the side of the slide, did a ground pound to make my death quicker and actually landed near the bottom of the slide, but incurred major damage from the fall, and for some reason, Mario naturally slid off the edge before I could regain control!

7.5/10

Star #5: Breathtaking View from Bridge

This one’s pretty simple. You can hit the switch, jump onto the block, and grab the star, no problems. REAL MEN get the star without using the switch. However, because I am not a real man, I used the switch. Also, I love how after like every star in this level, the camera zooms out after you get it. The camera zooming out on this level with Mario behind the waterfall is indeed a breathtaking view. Well played, Nintendo.

3.5/10

Star #6: Blast to the Lonely Mushroom

You’re supposed to use the cannon, based on the title for the star, but man, aiming with the cannon isn’t that easy, so there’s a high risk of death. Plus, REAL MEN LONG JUMP FROM THE ROLLING LOG! And although I squelched on being a real man last time, I did not do so this time! Nailed it first try! What a satisfying jump, too.

6/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Man, this was way harder than it should’ve been. For some reason, I kept dying trying to get the red coins on the mushroom after doing it perfectly for the actual red coin star. I also didn’t realize you could jump off the edge where the slide spits you out at the star, and you’re right back at the very beginning of the level. I kinda assumed it was a bottomless pit right below you, but I guess not! I don’t think you can get 100 coins without using the slide either, so good thing! Oh well.

Stupid death #53: Tried to make a jump to a mushroom, failed.

Stupid death #54: Tried to make a jump to a mushroom and overjumped.

Stupid death #55: Missed getting the red coin on the first mushroom and somehow landed on the edge of the mushroom and slipped off.

Stupid death #56: Near the warp point to the cannon, wasn’t paying attention and slipped off the side of the mountain

Stupid death #57: Same as #54.

Stupid death #58: Trying to get the 100 coins on the slide, for some reason, the controller didn’t cooperate and turn Mario down the right path instead of the dead end, and no matter how much you try, you can’t get back!

Stupid death #59: Ditto.

3/10

Tall, Tall Mountain Overall Evaluation

Nintendo loves repeating adjectives with its mountain stages, huh? Anyway, this is a really fun level. If you’re a fan of long jumps, this one is for you! I really like the atmosphere of this one. The mountain really feels daunting, in a way. There’s a pretty nice difficulty here, too. It just feels good to play this level. None of the stars are too easy, although a few of them feel kinda similar because you have to climb all the way to the top to get them. Plus, it has a slide!

8.5/10

Tiny-Huge Island
Star #1: Pluck the Piranha Flower

Okay, I figured it out this time! By the way, how immensely satisfying is it to punch that Goomba right at the very beginning when you’re huge? Man, that feels great! Anyway, this one’s kind of a mini-boss, and I got burned a bunch of times the first time before I slipped into the water and got eaten. I couldn’t remember if you had to jump on them or you could just punch them. Punching works! There are five in total, and as long as you’re not stupid (as in, running all over the place and making them all pop up and shoot a fireball at you at once), it’s not so bad. Still, the sheer scale makes it feel pretty daunting (like fighting a Colossus, am I right? Or not).

Stupid death #60: Whoops, accidentally fell into the water little, and forgot that there’s that huge fish who devours you if you’re tiny!

4/10

Star #2: The Tip-Top of the Huge Island

Okay, I couldn’t remember if you were supposed to do the first star tiny or huge, but I jumped into the world tiny and went with it! Eventually, I found the second star instead! Anyway, this is another one of those King of the Mountain stars, where you go through an obstacle course of sorts to get to the star. This one’s pretty good. You have to deal with the wind, and you have to deal with those rolling cannonballs, which in those course can be difficult to avoid and can potentially knock you off the edge if you’re not careful. Overall, not too treacherous though!

Stupid death #61: Jumping platforms isn’t quite as easy as it seems when you’re huge!

5/10

Star #3: Rematch with Koopa the Quick

Holy crap, I won on my second try (well, third, technically, but I didn’t finish the second race, see below)! I am SO PUMPED RIGHT NOW. You have no idea how much I used to dread this star as a kid. It was my 120th star, the one I saved for the very end. The number of times Koopa the Quick would pass me on the bridge due to wind resistance, so much heartache as a young child. BUT REVENGE IS MINE HA HA HA! Although man, this wasn’t as tense of a race as I remember! I actually won with a little bit of room to spare instead of him baring down on me! Still, SWEET VICTOLY

Note: I will count the one loss as a “death,” even if you don’t technically lose a life for doing so!

Stupid death #62: Tried to long jump for extra distance from high above, overjumped

8/10

Star #4: Five Itty Bitty Secrets

What the heck? ANOTHER trigger-pointing star? Why? This one didn’t take quite as long as the one in Wet-Dry World, but it was every bit as frustrating, as detailed below. The trigger point locations aren’t that difficult to find. If there’s a hole in the ground or in the wall, that’s probably where it is. Now upon doing this star, I discovered how much of a pain in the tail being giant Mario in this world is. You have no room to maneuver ANYWHERE because you’re so big. One small misstep can and many times will kill you. Also, good luck dodging those fireballs and good luck hitting enemies while you’re big, too. I don’t mind challenges in video games, but this is just bad design. There’s no way around it. Okay, enough ranting.

Stupid death #63: Jumping platforms when you’re huge still isn’t easy!

Stupid death #64: Amazingly, I was hanging off of an edge, and a tiny Goomba ran into me and knocked me down, killing himself in the process! I have never been more ashamed and yet more proud to die such a death in my life!

Stupid death #65: Holy crap, it happened again! Although I ran into him as he ran into me, and SOMEHOW HE KNOCKED ME BACKWARDS OFF OF THE EDGE HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE

Stupid death #66: Got hit by a fire-shooting black ball thing standing right on the edge, Mario ran straight off the side

Stupid death #67: Tried to punch a Goomba, dove instead, whoops

Stupid death #68: Being as huge as I am, it’s easy to lose footing on a narrow platform and slide to your death

2.5/10

Star #5: Wiggler’s Red Coins

Okay, now that I’ve gotten my mini-rant out of my system, I’m calmed down. Really, this one’s pretty good. There all in a relatively small area, but you have to be careful to make precise jumps, including some wall jumps, long jumps, and maybe even a triple jump to get all these red coins. The camera is not your friend here though. Regardless, I got nervous after I got the 7th red coin and the last coin is on a higher ledge that you can’t get to with a normal jump. The ledge I was standing on was kinda narrow, but I decided to risk going for a triple jump, and I nailed it! It was awesome. Every jump here feels tense. It’s really fun.

Stupid death #69: At the wrong angle, it looks like there isn’t a chasm between two of the ledges with red coins on them. But there are, oh, there are. Died with 94 coins, too, to boot.

7/10

Star #6: Make Wiggler Squirm

You know, for some reason, I thought I remembered this Wiggler going into red angry Wiggler mode when you fight him, but I guess I must be thinking of another one. Kinda disappointed, really. He’s harder than just about any Mario 64 non-Bowser boss (which isn’t saying much, but still) because he can be fast and hard to jump on, but he’s not that hard overall. He’s got some A+ dialogue here though. Incredible stuff.

5/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

As long as you’re relatively thorough, this one’s not too tough. If you get all the coins as big Mario and as tiny Mario, you can get into the cave with the red coins with about 90ish coins. You can probably do this without getting any coins as big Mario because there aren’t that many, and there’s a blue coin panel inside the cave with a free 10 coins that probably equals out the coins you can get as big Mario. Overall, not too bad, but nothing really special either, as most 100 coin stars tend to be.

4.5/10

Tiny-Huge Island Overall Evaluation

This is another world like Wet-Dry World, with an interesting concept but flawed execution. I feel like Nintendo was trying to recreate the magic of one of the most loved Mario 3 worlds, but it doesn’t quite match up to that standard. First of all, playing as big Mario just isn’t all that fun. I’ve already ranted about that, so I won’t say any more. Tiny Mario is good though. Watching Goombas no-sell your punches and kicks is pretty amazing. I think the overall design isn’t bad. There are some nice obstacles, nice jumps. Nothing in particularly really stands out about it. There isn’t one central feature like there are in a lot of worlds. There are some good stars here, too, and they all feel pretty different from each other, which is nice. I’m not sure what score I should give this one. I’ll go with…

4.5/10

Tick Tock Clock
Star #1: Roll into the Cage

For the record, when I play this level, I’m just going to jump in without giving any regard to the time on the clock. This may result in more unnecessary deaths than it’s worth, but I figured I’d give it a shot! Anyway, this one’s a pretty good one. You have to work your way up the clock, with rotating blocks, rotating wheels, pendulums, and whatever else trying to hinder your path. It can be really frenetic if you end up with a fast paced clock. Luckily for me, when I got the star, everything was moving slowly, so it wasn’t so bad.

Stupid death #72: Overjumped on the very first jump of the level. Go figure.

Stupid death #73: Got stuck trying to get above the rotating blocks before they rotated and threw me down to my death.

Stupid death #74: Overjumped the rotating block.

5.5/10

Star #2: The Pit and the Pendulums

Did any of you guys read “The Pit and the Pendulum” in high school? Man, what a messed up story. Anyway, it’s amazing how much these stars change depending on what time you enter the clock. It took me a while to even remember where this star was, and I actually ended up near the very top of the clock at one point. Eventually, I started looking around in FPV and found where it was. I was so scared of that stupid launcher dude that I didn’t even look to see if there was anything past him! I kinda lucked out on this one because the pendulums were swinging at the exact same time with the exact same pattern, so it wasn’t too hard to get past them.

Stupid death #75: Slipped off the edge, grabbed the ledge, accidentally hit down, down into the bottomless pit I go.

Stupid death #76: Tried to wall jump onto a ledge, just barely overjumped, slipped and fell down to the level below, hit the ground, lost half my health, and Mario keeps on slipping right off the edge.

Stupid death #77: Just flat out missed a jump and straight down I went.

Stupid death #78: Trying to hurry to collect the blue coins after hitting the switch and ran off the side of the ledge.

4/10

Star #3: Get a Hand

Once again, got lucky with a slow clock on this once. You just have to ride the clock hand around until you get to a little hole in the wall where the star is located. There’s an electric amp circling around that can make life a little more difficult for you, but as long as you’re careful (whoops), you’ll be fine. I think the constant motion of the clock forces a lot of mistakes though because it’s so hectic and it gets you panicked because you feel like, “Man, I better do something NOW!”

Stupid death #79: Grabbed onto the ledge, accidentally hit down to drop and died.

Stupid death #80: Tried to jump to the star and jumped too high, hit the wall, fell to my death.

4/10

Star #4: Stomp on the Thwomp

Holy crap, I somehow managed to get this one without dying, though I’m not sure how! I don’t know how many near-death experiences I had on this one! Several falls from high elevations where I was lucky to land on a platform below! Anyway, the Thwomp is at the very top of the level, and man, is it hectic to get up there if the clock is moving! So many rotating platforms and hard jumps to make. To get this one without dying…It was a good feeling! I almost got glitched though! When I was on top of the Thwomp, I did a backflip when it was at its highest point, not realizing that the ceiling was really low, and Mario got stuck upside down in between the ceiling and the Thwomp until it went down a couple seconds later. Neat little glitch, awesome star!

8/10

Star #5: Timed Jumps on Moving Bars

Heh, I ended up getting this one in the process of going after another one. I was climbing up the clock, and I was right above the area where this star was. I wasn’t sure if it was the right one or not, but I decided to go for it. I long jumped over on top of the cage, and I could see that there was an opening below me to get in. I was able to carefully land on one of the moving bars from above, jump to the next one, jump in, and grab the star! Not too bad, if I do say so myself! I feel like I cheated a bit, but whatever.

Stupid death #81: Was trying to get my footing on the rotating block and it…well, rotated before I could readjust and jump.

5.5/10

Star #6: Stop Time for Red Coins

There comes a time in a man’s life where he acknowledges it just can’t be done. I’d like to say this wasn’t one of those days, but…it was. I tried a handful of times to try to get all the red coins with the platforms rotating (had to be rotating slowly, too). Got up to 6 at one point before dying, and I think I could’ve done it if I hadn’t gotten knocked off the side. Either way, all the time it was taking wasn’t worth it so I decided to just stop time and do it normally. Kinda sucks the fun out of it, but it’s at least doable!

Stupid death #82: I somehow got crushed by a rotating wooden platform and then dropped to my death.

Stupid death #83: Tried to chase the coin after killing a Bob-omb and ran right off the side, not realizing how close I was!

Stupid death #84: Tried jumping from the wooden platform for a red coin, missed, AND fall right off the side!

Stupid death #85: Died with 99 coins, just trying to get 1 red coin from the rotating platform (for some reason, the clock didn’t stop even though I was positive I went in at the right time), and fell to my death.

Stupid death #86: Bounced off of the rotating platform and down to my death with six red coins!

4/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Now this one was an adventure. It feels like there are plenty of coins here, but there aren’t much more than 100. There are lots of coin boxes and a blue coin switch with 35 coins on it. The problem is that there are only two enemies: Those two Bob-ombs at the very beginning, and they only drop one coin each. Twice I got into the high 90s with only the red coins left. Died with 99 coins one time, as chronicled above, and finally managed to get it the second time. Good, solid challenge, this one.

6.5/10

Tick Tock Clock Overall Evaluation

Super Mario 64 doesn’t get any better than this. The level design is top tier. The idea of running around inside of a working (and sometimes not!) clock is really clever and creative. This place has tons and tons of platforming, and it feels like old school Mario at its best here with all the crazy jumps, rotating platforms, and the obstacles. When the clock’s moving, it really makes you nervous because you don’t want to get flipped off when things rotate, and so it makes you prone to error. Nearly all of the stars provide a solid challenge. Just a fantastic world, one of 3-D Mario’s best.

10/10

Rainbow Ride
Star #1: Cruiser Crossing the Rainbow

Not off to a promising start! I kinda goofed at the very beginning twice for no good reason, but after that, it wasn’t too bad until I got messed up big time by a camera angle. The camera got behind the cruiser ship right before the platform you jump onto to get up there, but I couldn’t see to make the jump and I fell. The next time, I rotated the camera clear to the opposite side. But overall, this one was pretty neat. Going around on the magic carpet up to the cruiser ship was nice, and the constant barrage of obstacles was good, too.

Stupid death #87: Got roasted by the flamethrower, managed to get on the spinning platform in the middle, and jumped back onto the magic carpet, but for some reason, I ended up jumping again and fell off.

Stupid death #88: Went slightly left off of that little platform you have to jump over at the beginning and…the rest is history.

Stupid death #89: Got camera angled near the cruiser ship, fell down, landed on a platform near a flying carpet and somehow overjumped it.

6/10

Star #2: The Big House in the Sky

Another magic carpet ride star! I don’t think this one’s as hard as the first one, but it’s definitely a lot longer. The only really difficult parts are trying to get over those glass boxes that occasionally appear on the course. It’s pretty neat going through the house, around it, through it again, and then up to the top though. Very relaxing ride, if not for all those hazards!

6/10

Star #3: Coins Amassed in a Maze

I like the maze, but it’s not all that tough. You just have to be good at wall jumping! I activated the blue coin switch, but for some reason, I couldn’t consistently wall jump for the life of me and only ended up getting one blue coin! Bah. How many are there? I’m half assuming I have to get them all to get the 100 coin star. Anyway, the maze isn’t so bad. There’s really nothing special about it, which is kinda disappointing, really.

3.5/10

Star #4: Swingin’ in the Breeze

This one was pretty cool. I immediately turned around and long jumped at the beginning, and twice nearly fell to my death by landed on platforms below me, so it worked out! Those wide-arced swings always give me the impression that I’m going to slide off at a high angle, but Mario stays surefooted. There’s a good bit of platforming here, too, so it’s pretty fun.

5.5/10

Star #5: Tricky Triangles!

Getting to where these triangles were was tougher than the triangles themselves. It’s a pretty nice bit of platforming to get there, though it retreads over the 4th star’s territory a good bit in that regard. Once you hit that switch, you gotta be quick because you don’t have a lot of time before the triangles flip back over. Oh, and make sure you start at a good camera angle. That one hurt me.

Stupid death #90: Long jumped behind me at the very beginning, was not so fortunate this time.

Stupid death #91: Had to wait for the flamethrower on those platforms that fall if you stand on them too long, and couldn’t make a good jump.

Stupid death #92: Pyramids flipped over, threw me off the side.

4.5/10

Star #6: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Ah, so the cannon’s on the ship, is it? That figures. Just aim inside the rainbow ring right above the pole, and you’ll make it just fine! These writeups are short because I’m ready to get this over with and beat Bowser!

Stupid death #93: Apparently, if you drop off of the pole near the red carpet, you hit a slanted block that drops you straight to your death!

4/10

Star #7: 100 Coin Star

You pretty much have to get all the Blue Coins from the panel to get this one, or it’s just not happening. I finally managed to do so, grabbed all the red coins, and then you can get enough coins from the rest of the areas to get 100 coins.

Stupid death #94: Accidentally overjumped the carpet.

Stupid death #95: Accidentally underjumped the carpet.

Stupid death #96: Trying to hit a Shy Guy, jumped into him, got knocked off the side.

Stupid death #97: Tried to jump as far as I could from the top of the pole, didn’t jump far enough.

Stupid death #98: Got stuck in the house, didn’t know where to go. Accidentally ended up in the fireplace, and that leads to a really quick death!

5/10

Rainbow Ride Overall Evaluation

I’ve always had a soft spot for this world, and I don’t really know why. It just screams “Adventure!” to me, riding the magic carpet in the clouds and the rainbows. It just has a nice atmosphere to it. Kinda Skies of Arcadia-ish! It can be a rather frustrating experience though. It’s pretty easy to die here, especially with all the obstacles and traps. Riding the magic carpet isn’t for everyone, since it’s slow and you have no control over where you’re going. I enjoyed it though. Overall, I’d give this world a solid…

7.5/10

Castle Secret Stars
Star #1: Wing Cap and 8 Red Coins

Man, I always hated stars that involved using the Wing Cap because flying is such a pain to do (and I figured that by Galaxy it’d be a better experience, but not so much). I’m probably just bad at it, but if you can’t get the 8 Red Coins the first time through before the Wing Cap runs out, you’re starting over. I’ve never been able to get enough elevation to reach any of the high Red Coins if I try to get the Wing Cap in the middle of the area. Again, maybe I’m just bad at it. I died twice trying to do this, but at least you don’t lose lives for this one. Hmmm…I suppose I’ll count the 15 Castle Stars as their own “world” and rank them as a whole at the end. As for this one, it gets…

4/10

Star #2: Princess Peach’s Secret Slide

Oh man, I love slide stars. They’re so much fun. This one’s very simple. You can go really fast most of the time without much worry because some areas have rails, and the areas that don’t are pretty safe and don’t feature tight turns. Finished this one in 21.8 seconds, so I better go again to get the fast enough time to capture the second one!

5.5/10

Star #3: Princess Peach’s Secret Slide Speed Run

I managed to get this one on my 3rd try overall. My 2nd try was like 21.1 seconds or something, argh. The third time I decided to go face first on my belly, and got it in 20.9 seconds! Yeehaw!

5.5/10

Star #4: 8 Red Coins in the Fish Tank

This one’s really simple. There’s no surprise about where the coins are located, and there are enough coins to keep you alive should you run low on air. That being said, the water music for Mario 64 is fantastic. I love listening to it. So soothing and relaxing. It was the high point of this star.

3/10

Star #5: Vanish Cap and 8 Red Coins

Well, I need the Vanish Cap before I can move on, so let’s get that taken care of! I remembered where the 4 Red Coins were at the very beginning as you’re sliding down, so I didn’t miss any of them, which was nice. Overall, this one isn’t very difficult, but there’s a nice bit of platforming and precision timing on this one, so I liked it.

Stupid death #16: Trying to jump on the rotating platforms and missed the jump.

Stupid death #17: Forgot that those rotating platforms flipped over when they reached the top.

6/10

Star #6: Catch the Bunny Rabbit

This one’s more annoying than it is difficult. Camera angles kinda work against you whenever the rabbit makes a turn. The best solution is to try to run the rabbit into a corner (either right in front of the Shifting Sand Land Wall or the wall where the Toad is) and grab him as he runs back at you. It took me a few runs around to nab the thing, so I’ll give it credit for that.

3.5/10

Star #7: Metal Cap and 8 Red Coins

Aw yeah, Metal Cap, this thing is awesome. I love the music that plays when you get this thing, too. I just feel like some hardcore dude walking around made of metal. That being said, getting the 8 red coins is very easy because they’re all in a very small area. There are 4 red coins on the surface near the green switch, and there are 4 red coins in the water directly around the green switch. The only issue is making sure you get the red coins underwater before the current sweeps you away, but that shouldn’t happen. But still…Metal Cap, son!

6/10

Star #8: Thanks, Toad

As soon as I jumped into the Hazy Maze Cave pool, I saw the Toad in the corner, and I remembered that the dude gives you a star if you talk to him. Well, I always enjoy a freebie! It almost doesn’t even count to rate this one, but…

1/10

Star #9: Catch the Bunny Rabbit…Again

This is the same as the first one. It’s in the same location, it has the same patterns, and I still have a hard time catching it. Whatever.

3.5/10

Star #12: Thanks Again, Toad!

Same Toad time, same Toad channel as before!

1/10

Star #13: Thanks Again Toad, the Sequel!

We know how this goes by now!

1/10

Star #14: 8 Red Coins Among the Clouds and Rainbows

Man, this one’s pretty tough. Not sure if it’s because I’m bad at controlling the Wing Cap or the level design, but this one took a while. Thank goodness for the two cannons in this level, or I’d never be able to do it! The only really hard ones to get are the two coins on the very top cloud and the one hanging underneath it at the bottom of the pole. Trying to aim to get those is pretty tough, and I’m always so paranoid about the Wing Cap expiring that I try to replenish it as often as possible. Also, if you die here, you get thrown into the moat outside the castle, meaning you have to go ALL the way back up to try again. Who thought this was a good idea?

Stupid death #70: Didn’t give myself enough room to triple jump for flight!

Stupid death #71: Tried to ground pound too soon and missed the platform!

6/10

Bianco Hills
Shine #1: Road to the Big Windmill

You know, even though I realize it’s pretty pointless sometimes, I still go out of my way to clean up sludge everywhere. I guess you kinda have to be thorough because sometimes you find some neat stuff if you clean everything. Usually just coins though. I’m amazed at how removing sludge causes trees to sprout up out of nowhere though. This is some miraculous sludge or a miraculous waterpack, either one. Anyway, this is YET ANOTHER sludge piranha (the third one so far). I’m already tired of these things. Found two blue coins, at least. Also, there are 100 coin Shines in these worlds, right? I can’t remember for sure.

3/10

Shine #2: Down with Petey Piranha!

Ah, here is where Nintendo’s inexplicable love affair with Petey Piranha begins. It’s a ridiculously easy fight though. It’s just more practice using FLUDD. He opens his mouth, you shoot water in it until he fills up and his belly button becomes an outie, and then you stomp on him. Rinse, repeat three times. Getting up there was a bit of a challenge. I almost got stuck on one of those long vines with the thorns on them and thought I was going to get glitched to death, but I escaped! This level is a decent intro to using the FLUDD to hover. Not too bad.

3.5/10

Shine #3: The Hillside Cave Secret

The first FLUDD-less segment! In general, these were the best parts of the game because they felt like classic Mario. Despite the fact that I somehow died three times doing this one, it’s not that hard. It’s pretty short, too. Some very basic platforming, jumping on moving platforms. Some move back and forth, some move up and down, some move faster than others, so it’s kinda nice. Then you’ve got a couple of slowly rotating Shine-shaped platforms, and there you have it. Despite its simplicity, I enjoyed it.

Stupid death #99: Tried jumping without seeing where the moving block was. Bad idea.

Stupid death #100: Overjumped a block.

Stupid death #101: Somehow jumped sideways instead of straight forward.

4/10

Shine #4: Red Coins of Windmill Village

Okay, I am very irritated with this game right now because I seriously spent 30-45 minutes trying to collect 100 coins, only to get stuck at 97 and literally could not find any more coins. Then I died by jumping off of an edge with water below me, but apparently, it’s out of the boundaries of the world, so I died. Great. Also, why don't red coins count toward your overall total? That's just stupid. Anyway, on to the red coins, which actually weren’t too bad. They’re set up so that you can collect them in a set progression if you just keep going in the right direction after each coin. It makes it pretty easy, but there’s a lot of jumps from those wires, and you get to use the hover nozzle quite a bit, which isn’t too bad. Overall, pretty decent Shine.

Stupid death #102: Apparently, they don’t make it obvious where “out of bounds” is because it looked like a place I could jump into the water, but apparently, it’s not!

4.5/10

Shine #5: Petey Piranha Strikes Back

Petey’s back with a vengeance, Vader style, at least by the sound of the title! By the way, the place where Petey is sleeping is the place where I jumped off and died last time! Go figure. Anyway, Petey is harder this time. The camera doesn’t really help because I can’t ever get it to show me where he is while he’s floating in the air. I just had to go by his shadow and eventually hit him. He also has a tornado attack, and he’ll occasionally try to slap you if you get too close, too! But the way to defeat him is the same. Decent fight for the first world though.

4.5/10

Shine #6: The Secret of the Dirty Lake

More FLUDD-lessness! Here’s where most of your Sunshine deaths come into play! This one was a decent spike in difficulty from the last one. Really, only the last part with the alternating flipping blue and red platforms is particularly difficult. There’s a block that spins sideways and back-and-forth while you ride on it, so you have to stay on top, and it’s easy to panic at first. You don’t even need to jump to stay on it. The last part is pretty good because, although they go in a specific pattern, it’s still tough because you have to avoid being on a platform that’s about to flip over. I really liked this one. What does this thing have to do with the dirty lake anyway though?

Stupid death #103: Jumped into the sludge water, and couldn’t get out.

Stupid death #104: Overcompensated on the spinning block and fell to my death.

Stupid death #105: Spun around in the wrong direction on the spinning block and fell off.

Stupid death #106: I keep overadjusting on that spinning block!

Stupid death #107: Tried to jump onto the platform, realized it was too far away, and couldn’t get back.

Stupid death #108: Got in too big of a hurry and jumped too soon.

Stupid death #109: Once again, too big of a hurry and jumped too soon.

Stupid death #110: I keep misjudging the distance on that last jump.

Stupid death #111: Tried to jump, but fell off the platform before I did, whoops.

Stupid death #112: Same as above.

6/10

Shine #7: Shadow Mario on the Loose

In this one, you just have to chase after Shadow Mario and spray him until he falls down. He’s very polite, too. If you fall too far behind, he’ll just wait for you to catch up, and he doesn’t attack you either! He doesn’t do anything too tricky here, except for he did wall jump onto one of the buildings, and thanks to the camera, I lost him for a bit, but once again, very polite man!

3/10

Shine #8: The Red Coins of the Lake

Once again, collected 99 coins and could not for the life of me find ONE MORE COIN. Why are you doing this to me, Nintendo? I don’t get it. And once again, why don’t red coins count toward your total anymore? Argh. Anyway, this one’s a bit better than the last because you have to keep on the bouncy tightrope and go from place to place collecting all the red coins. It’s a bit more annoying when you fall though because it can be a pain to get back up there.

5/10

Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

I consulted my Mario Sunshine strategy guide (which I still have after all these years), and it said the best one to collect 100 coins on was #3, so that’s where I went. From now on, I think I’m just going to consult the guide for this one to save myself a lot of wasted time and frustration. Regardless, I don’t think I’m going to enjoy doing these because they take way too long. It seems like there’s barely enough coins to go around, so you have to go EVERYWHERE, collect EVERY coin, defeat EVERY enemy, etc. Maybe that’s just the case in this one, and I hope so, because it was annoying, especially the third time around!

2.5/10

Shine #10: 8 Red Coins in the Hillside Cave

Argh, I hate timed missions in games! I always panic, as you can see below! And this one wasn’t even that bad! I only failed to do it in time once. I do like the frantic pace here, and the feeling of “Oh crap, am I gonna make it?” when you’re hovering to those spinning Shine platforms out to the sides. Still, timed missions, man.

Stupid death #113: Tried to jump without switching to the hover pack, whoops.

Stupid death #114: Fell in between two blocks, not realizing there was a gap there.

Stupid death #115: Slipped off the edge after collecting a red coin.

Stupid death #116: Thought I could jump from the rotating Shine platforms to the middle, couldn’t.

Stupid death #117: Barely missed hovering to the spinning Shine platform.

Failed to make it in time once.

5.5/10

Shine #11: 8 Red Coins of the Dirty Lake

I actually expected this one to be harder, but I only died three times this time. They give you a little bit more time for this one, which is nice, although you spend most of that extra time on that spinning block. I was glad to learn that you CAN hover from the first spinning block all the way to the next platform as soon as you get on, which saved a bit of time. Having the hover pack is a nice help for collecting the red coins on the flipping platforms, because you can just use your hover pack to float above the platform while it flips and then fall right back on it. I didn’t like this one as much as the first one though, but it was still good.

Stupid death #118: Grabbed onto the side of a platform while it was flipping over because I got too far out trying to grab a coin.

Stupid death #119: Slipped off the side of the spinning block waiting for a red coin.

Ran out of time once.

5/10

Bianco Hills Overall Evaluation

Hmmm…What should I say about this one? I’m still kinda irritated at the moment, so I may not rate this one fairly, but here goes. For a first world, it’s pretty good. It does a good job of introducing you to the basics. You get two decent boss fights against Petey Piranha and two decent FLUDD-less levels. The environment itself feels uninteresting to me. There’s just a whole lot of nothing. There’s a small village, a big lake, and a big windmill. I’m not a huge fan of the Piantas either, except for the chuckers. It feels like it takes forever to get anywhere. For the most part, playing this one felt like a chore. Hopefully, this is not a recurring pattern for this game.

4/10

Ricco Harbor
Shine #1: Gooper Blooper Breaks Out

Man, I love the music in this place. I’m glad this is one of the songs they included in Brawl. Anyway, getting to the boss isn’t too bad. You get to do a lot of fence climbing, which is kinda cool, but not much more than that. The boss isn’t too bad either. You just keep pulling all his arms off, and then you pull his nose until it snaps back and hits him in the face. Then you get to do it all over again, for some reason, even though he doesn’t change strategies or anything. Oh, he pukes out some ink to get in the way, but that’s nothing. If you shoot him in the face long enough, he’ll slam all his arms down right next to you, making your job much easier!

3.5/10

Shine #2: Blooper Surfing Safari

Okay, it’s lame that this guy throws you out of the level if you don’t finish in a certain amount of time (would’ve been nice if he had told me what the time was). I took it easy the first time through, not realizing I had the time limit and was promptly thrown out. The second time, I put it up to full speed and made it in a little over 40 seconds. Even at full speed, the obstacles aren’t that tough to avoid. I slowed down once, maybe twice. Water surfing levels are okay, I guess. Not a huge fan of them, usually because the steering isn’t that great.

Stupid death #120: Ran straight into the first cone I saw.

4/10

Shine #3: The Caged Shine Sprite

Once again, I must stress that it is way too easy to fall off of the scaffolding and the narrow walkways, and it takes way too long to get back up. Feels like an artificial sense of difficulty when you punish players like that. That being said, this one was fun. There was a lot of good platforming and use of the hover pack. You had to ride on a hook a few times, and it never feels right trying to jump onto it, for some reason. I guess because it’s so wide. Once you get to the top, you get to use a bunch of trampolines to keep going higher until you can fall into the cage. Falling from way up here sucks, especially because they’ve got that annoying little wind thing that occasionally tries to attack you, and you can’t kill it. You can kinda cheat this one if you grab the rocket pack because there’s an area directly below the cage where you can use the rocket pack to shoot through a swingable part of the fence. But hey, that’s no fun, right?

6/10

Shine #4: The Secret of Ricco Tower

Hey, I recognize this FLUDD-less level from Mario Galaxy 2 (or vice-versa, I guess I should say)! I knew they included one of these in Galaxy 2, but I didn’t know which one it was. As such, this one was pretty easy for me because I’d done it quite a few times in the last several months. This one’s just a bunch of slowly rotating long blocks, and you have to stay on top as it rotates or fall to your doom, obviously. There are pegs on each side of the block that can get in your way, too. Plus, the jump from block to block can be tricky, especially since you need to make sure you land on the proper side. One time I lucked out because, as I started to slide, I jumped to try to make Mario hop back and I landed just as the block was considered rotated enough for me to stand on it. Overall, pretty fun, though not too complicated. Also, when a Shine title includes the word "Secret," you can usually bet on it being a FLUDD-less level!

Stupid death #120: Jumped onto the wrong area of the rotating block.

Stupid death #121: Ran into one of the pegs sticking out of the rotating block, and it threw me off.

Stupid death #122: Same as #120.

6.5/10

Shine #5: Gooper Blooper Returns

This is literally the exact same fight as the first one, except this time, I’m on a round helipad above the water, which means you could potentially fall off into the water and have to get back up there. If you’re going to make me fight the same boss all over again, at least mix it up a little next time, Nintendo.

3/10

Shine #6: Red Coins on the Water

Just gonna go ahead and say I didn’t like this one. The Blooper doesn’t control worth anything if you try to turn around because you missed a coin. The camera literally will not let you rotate it. If you try, it will swing back to what it was before. Also, if you run into something at a low speed (so that it won’t kill you), the camera starts having a seizure or something. Also, good luck getting back up on the dock where the Shine is after you collect the coins. Jump too soon and you could end up getting stuck right in front of the pier, not able to jump high enough to land on the dock. And thanks to the Blooper having no ability to make a sharp turn, it’s a pretty annoying process to get yourself into position to make another jump. There’s also a chance that you’ll land on another Blooper and get shot right back out to sea (happened to me twice). Oh, and collecting the red coins themselves isn’t too hard because there’s a path of gold coins that go around the level, with red coins occasionally thrown in there. Just don’t miss one.

Stupid death #123: Ran into a wall because I couldn’t turn sharply enough on the Blooper.

Stupid death #124: These Bloopers don’t control really well, do they?

Stupid death #125: No, they don’t. They don’t respond very well if you’ve just finished a jump, especially.

Stupid death #126: After collecting all 8 red coins, I could not jump onto the port where the Shine was, so I went around and went ashore, thinking I could get off there. The Gooper slid into the wall on shore and I died. Somehow.

2.5/10

Shine #7: Shadow Mario Revisited

This one really isn’t much different from the first one, although Shadow Mario does have some mad jumping skills. It’d be a lot tougher if he didn’t wait for you to catch up if you lose track of him. I don’t really know what to say about this one. I was pretty impressed by the route I had to use to keep up with him, but at the same time, it’s not that challenging because you have all day to catch up to him. Oh well. These could be a lot better than they are, but they’re not bad, at least so far.

4/10

Shine #8: Yoshi’s Fruit Adventure

Okay, after finishing that fourth Shine, I took out Shadow Mario with the Yoshi egg, and since Yoshi is now available to me in every world, I decided I’d go ahead and finish off Ricco Harbor. I have several issues with this Shine. First, why in the world is the stupid fruit thing randomized? I don’t like having to jump back and forth several times to get the one I need. Second, why is the one I need the only one Mario can’t pick up? You just have to kick it over there and hope you don’t accidentally launch the thing into the stratosphere like I did. Third, why the heck does Yoshi melt when he hits water? Fourth, why does whether the platforms go up and down or side to side depend on what fruit Yoshi has eaten? That doesn’t seem intuitive at all. So yeah, I didn’t really like this one. I hate how falling ends up costing me so much time.

3/10

Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

This one wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the first, but Sunshine’s levels seem to have this vibe that gives you the idea that there are plenty of coins to go around, and you get to 85-90 coins, and you start to wonder, “Okay, where are some more coins?” And then it becomes annoying. Most of the coins are on the scaffolding and the walkways, which is convenient. There are a bunch in the underground tunnels, too. You can get the rocket pack here and use them to grab some coins in the water, which is eventually what I had to do. My main problem with the scaffolding area is that it’s way too easy to fall off, and it takes way too long to get back up there when you fall. So yeah, this one took a long time, too.

5/10

Shine #10: Blooper Surfing Time Trial Redux

Ha, not as hard as I thought, although I did finish the first time with a time of 40.1 when the time to beat is 40 seconds! There are a couple of key spots where you can jump over a wall to cut off a couple of seconds, which makes all the difference. I think I finished with like 37 seconds, too. Not bad.

Stupid death #127: Jumping on the Bloopers around a corner, usually not a good idea.

4.5/10

Shine #11: Red Coins of Ricco Tower

Another one that was easier than I expected it to be! FLUDD makes this place a joke. Those rotating blocks are no problem with the hover pack. I would’ve beaten it the first time if not for an accidental button press before I was ready. I also managed to lose quite a bit of time in one part waiting for those slowly rotating lug nut shaped things that go back and forth. But yeah, this one was fun, and I aced it with like 15-20 seconds left. Go me.

Stupid death #128: Accidentally tapped the jump button before I was ready, couldn’t make it over to the next block.

5.5/10

Ricco Harbor Overall Evaluation

First of all, I love the music in this level. It’s fantastic. This world is pretty good. The main problem I have with it is that it’s got way too much water and way too many Shines that involve you going across platforms high above the water that take way too long to get back up to when you fall (and I did, many times). There’s a lot of good platforming here to be enjoyed though. It’s got a good FLUDD-less level, too. However, there are a lot of annoying parts, too, which I’ve hit on enough so far. But still, I’d say I like it more than I don’t, so I’ll give it a…

5.5/10

Gelato Beach
Shine #1: Dune Bud Sand Castle Secret

Oh wow, an easy FLUDD-less level? This one is pretty disappointing. Basically, most of the blocks in this level are made of sand, so they start disintegrating as soon as you step on them. This isn’t really a problem though, since there aren’t any difficult jumps to make or any obstacles to slow you down. There are even a few normal blocks where you can just stand for a while if you feel like it. Plus, the sand blocks eventually reform anyway. The Shine is higher up in sort of a sand castle thing, but even if you climb up a sand block, you can get to the next one easily before the block disintegrates, so yeah, just really easy all around.

3.5/10

'''Shine #2: Mirror Madness! Tilt, Slam, Bam!'''

Man, what a title. This is one of those Shines I specifically remember hating when I first played this game, but it wasn’t so bad this time. I still hate those Cataquacks though. Anyway, you have to spray the Cataquacks to one end of the mirror and then ground pound the opposite end to launch them off. There are three mirrors in total, one with one Cataquack, one with two, and one with three. This one can be reasonably difficult because you have to avoid getting hit by the other Cataquacks while you’re spraying, and I almost ran out of water doing the mirror with three on it. Sometimes it seems like you have to be very accurate when it comes to ground pounding though. If you’re off by even a little bit, you won’t launch them. Still, this one was pretty good.

5/10

'''Shine #3: Wiggler Ahoy! Full Steam Ahead!'''

Man, this world and its exclamatory statements! Anyway, this one throws you right into the midst of the action. You don’t have to go find the Wiggler or do anything to agitate him. As soon as you enter the world, it’s rampaging all over the place. It’s not the brightest thing in the world though. You have to use the dune bud things to flip it over, but you don’t have to wait until it’s right underneath you to blow them up. It’ll run right into them regardless since it’s on a set path, and it’ll still flip him over. Then you have to apply the ground pound to the designated area (Seriously, you can’t ground pound it anywhere. You have to ground pound where the arrow points), and repeat it three times. The third time is a bit tougher because he slides for a long distance into the water, so you have less time to get there, and you don’t jump as high in the water, so it can be kinda hard to do it in time. It took me a few tries to get the third hit in. Not too bad of a boss fight here.

5.5/10

Shine #4: The Sand Bird is Born

The goal is to collect 7 red coins and then survive the ride on the bird until it reaches where the last red coin is and where the Shine appears after you collect it. Getting the red coins is the easy part. All of the coins are in plain view along the outside of the bird. The only problem (as you can see below) is that the bird at one point flips over onto its side while it’s flying. The side of the bird is pretty narrow, and it’s difficult to know when it’s actually okay to jump over onto it without falling off. It’s not hard to stay on when you get on, but it’s just hard to get on. Not hard to get back on top of the bird either since there’s plenty of room. Either way, decent enough challenge for that one part.

Stupid death #129: Died trying to grab a blue coin on the cloud. The cloud went out from under the bird, and I couldn’t get back up.

Stupid death #130: Oh, apparently, the bird flips over onto its side at some point.

Stupid death #131: Apparently, hitting the cloud on the side can knock you off the bird.

Stupid death #132: Keep falling off when the bird flips over.

Stupid death #133: I risk my life for these blue coins, I tell ya!

Stupid death #134: Don’t run in front of a cloud. It WILL push you off!

Stupid death #135: Seriously having a hard time getting onto its side when it flips.

4/10

Shine #5: Il Piantissimo’s Sand Sprint

Haha, this one was actually pretty funny. I lost the race the first time because I didn’t know the proper route (should’ve scouted it out first), and Mario doesn’t wall jump properly if you’re right up against the wall when you jump. Also, if you run into this guy from behind, he knocks you down. He pushes you out of the way if you’re in front of him, too! He’s not a nice racer like Shadow Mario! Anyway, the second time, I got a lead on him up top, but for some reason, my camera wasn’t being cooperative so Mario was kind of dragging along the wall, and the dude passed me. Well, we were almost at the finish line, so out of desperation, I jumped and dove, and I went past him at the last second and won. It was pretty epic, and so I will give it a higher score than it probably deserves!

7/10

Shine #6: Red Coins in the Coral Reef

This red coin Shine was pretty easy as well. There’s this fish out there that’ll do some major damage to you if you get caught by it, but it’s pretty slow. It goes around the reef in a specific pattern, too, so it’s pretty easy to stay out of sight, too. Most of the red coins are easy to find, though it took me a little while to find the last one. There are schools of little red fish that swim around, so it’s easy to mistake them for coins. A couple of schools of those fish actually carry a red coin around, too, so it’s effective camouflage as well, I suppose! Although if you manage to scare the fish away, the red coin just kind of drifts around on its own, and it will actually go underneath the sand if you don’t get it quick enough, so you’ll just have to wait for it to drift back to the fish, which it will do eventually if you’re not chasing it. Also, Mario’s diving doesn’t always mesh well with the rocks and the varying levels, so it kinda glitches a bit in some places where two levels meet.

3.5/10

'''Shine #7: It’s Shadow Mario! After Him!'''

Man, more of the exclamatory remarks! Anyway, Episode 7 seems to be the dedicated Shadow Mario level. I actually managed to keep up with him the whole time this time, which was nice. He likes to jump a lot to keep your aim off. There were a couple times when I thought he was pretty clever. He would jump down on one level, and as you were jumping down, he’d jump back up. That was pretty neat. Anyway, same as always with these.

4/10

Shine #8: The Watermelon Festival

Okay, this one’s not fun. You have to roll a watermelon to the place where the judges are waiting. The only problem is not just any watermelon will do. There’s one very close by, but it’s not good enough. There’s one a little farther away, but it’s not good enough either. You have to get the one at the very top of the hill and push it down. Oh, if it hits anything too hard, it explodes. If a Cataquack launches it, it explodes. And don’t let it fall in the water either. Pain in the tail.

2.5/10

Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Another 100 Coin Shine, another pain in the tail. Seriously, wouldn’t it hurt them to put in a few more coins to make this not so arduous? The watermelons came in handy this time though because you can get a lot of coins out of them. I was kinda hoping you could get an infinite supply of coins out of smashing them, but no such luck. I looked everywhere I could to get 100 coins, and I had 99 for the longest time. I squirted a Cataquack that was coming at me and jumped on it, and it just so happened that it was like the only one I had yet to jump on and get the coin from. Man, that saved me a lot (more) frustration from this one. Still, argh.

3/10

Shine #10: Red Coins Inside the Sand Castle

Well, this one’s a bit more of a challenge, but not much. My only two deaths were just me barely overjumping. Although when I got the last red coin, I didn’t know Mario was still going forward (because the game automatically cuts to the Shine) so he started going off of the edge. I just barely managed to use the hover pack to grab the ledge. If I had fallen down there, I would’ve been a very unhappy camper. Anyway, you only get a minute to do this, which makes it a bit more hectic, but not much.

Stupid death #136: Accidentally slipped off of a sand block after getting a red coin.

Stupid death #137: Did it again. What the heck?

5.5/10

Shine #11: The Shine Hidden in the Sand

This feels like one of those you just find by chance. It’s not really intuitive. You kind of get the idea that there’s something strange about the place when you spray the dune bud and it creates a staircase, but you may not think to start spraying the wall. There are some Cataquacks around, and you only have a short time to reveal the Shine drawing before the stairs disappear, but it’s still pretty easy.

3/10

Gelato Beach Overall Evaluation

I liked this one pretty well. It had its ups and downs, like every world in Sunshine seems to have. It had a solid boss fight and a couple of other interesting ones. I enjoyed the race. The dude you race against is probably the most interesting NPC I’ve encountered the entire game, although that’s not saying much. He’s a weird dude in a good way. The design is nothing special, just your typical beach level, except for the mirrors and the big nest with the sand bird egg on it. This seems just about average to me, so I’ll give it…

5/10

Pinna Park
Shine #1: Mecha-Bowser Appears!

The cutscene right before the fight begins might be the only really good cutscene in the game. Shadow Mario stands over the water, the water parts with Shadow Mario suspended in midair, and then the Mecha-Bowser slowly rises onto the screen and then towers above you. It’s really awesome. Then the cutscene right after the fight might be the most facepalming moment in the series, heck, maybe in all of gaming. So, so bad. But the fight in between those two is really good! This was my fondest memory of playing Sunshine right here. If you ever wondered what Mario would be like as an on-rails shooter, this is it! The main problem with this one is the camera. Thanks to being on a roller coaster, you’re constantly looping, changing directions, etc. So trying to keep your camera adjusted can be a bit of a pain, but it’s not too bad. Also, you can’t spray water while you’re holding a missile, so if you want to get rid of a Bullet Bill coming right at you, you have to shoot off the missile first. But this fight is really tense. As I said, there’s a pretty regular stream of Bullet Bills you have to fight off the whole time, and there’s a narrow window of when you can actually hit Mecha-Bowser with a missile (unless you’re really good, but I’m not). It’s just a blast. This is one of those parts of the game that just sticks with you for years to come (and this one did for me), so while you may be surprised by this, I am going to give this one...

10/10!

Shine #2: The Beach Cannon’s Secret

This one was pretty fun, too. To begin with, you have to reach the cannon as the dude shoots wave after wave of Bullet Bills at you. For some reason, these things can be made to explode by spraying them with water, but whatever. Then when you get to where he is, he starts throwing Bob-ombs at you, which you can spray to get them to hold still, and you have to hit him with three of them to open the way to…a FLUDD-less level! This was a good one. The trick in this one is a bunch of disappearing and reappearing platforms. At the very beginning, usually the platforms reappear almost immediately after disappearing, so even if you get stuck on one, if you jump right before it disappears, it’ll probably reappear in time for you to land on it. Still, it can be pretty tense. Then you have to go up a level using some weird trampoline things that almost killed me once because you seem to have only bare minimum control over where these things launch you. Here’s where things get trickier. Now you have to run across a set of disappearing platforms that disappear one right after another, and they’re all pretty long blocks. You pretty much have to start running as soon as they appear to be able to make it. If you can anticipate the exact timing (which I failed to do once, see below), you can make it a little easier on yourself. Another really good one.

7.5/10

Shine #3: Red Coins of the Pirate Ships

Hmmm…I’m not sure what to make of this one. Has anyone actually ridden on pirates ships like these in an amusement park before? Great fun! But anyway, they talk about red coins being on the pirate ships, but only like two of them are! The rest of them are on grated walkways that you can climb on. There are also some of those electrified Koopas, but you can knock them off if you’re on the other side of the grating either with a ground pound from above or by kicking the grating from below, so they’re not really a problem. Trying to hop across the pirate ships can be a bit of a nuisance because they rise up high enough for you to slide off, so you gotta move quickly.

5/10

Shine #4: The Wilted Sunflowers

This one was pretty easy. There are a bunch of sunflowers around the beach that are wilting away (who knew) because of these things that look like Yoshi eggs, but not everything is as it seems! If you spray them long enough, these Koopa-like things will pop up out of the ground, and since Koopa Troopas are among nature’s most intelligent creatures, they will attempt to crush you by jumping, flipping over in midair, and trying to land on you with their shell. You know, because ending up on your back is what every turtle-thing tries to do. Anyway, if they do it in the grass, they’ll flip back over, but if they land in the sand, they’ll get stuck (took me a while to realize this). Then you can ground pound them and be done with it. Not bad.

4.5/10

Shine #5: The Runaway Ferris Wheel

Haha, I did this one the really cheap way, although I wasn’t sure exactly what to do. If you go all the way to the top of the green grating where the Shine appeared after collecting all the red coins, you can hover all the way across to the top close to where the giant electric Koopa is and somehow the ridiculously high speed ferris wheel won’t clip you (or maybe I just got lucky). Knocking the thing off is no problem. I think I got lucky getting up to where the Shine is, too. I was able to side somersault on top of the bar of one of the ferris wheel cars and rode it up to the top without slipping off and got the Shine. Not sure how this one is supposed to be done, but it works! I’ll give it bonus points because I cheated the system!

4.5/10

Shine #6: The Yoshi-Go-Round’s Secret

I almost thought I was going to get this one on my first try, but yeah, the camera isn’t the best in the last part. The first part is pretty easy. There are a bunch of slowly spinning blocks, but as long as you keep jumping, you shouldn’t fall off. On the second part, there are a bunch of different colored spotted blocks that rotate around an area. You have to get from block to block as they pass by each other to get to the other side. I liked this part. It required precision timing and jumping. The last part is basically climbing up a bunch of blocks to get to the top where the Shine is. A few of them move, and you have to ride them to get to the next part. Overall, pretty average.

Stupid death #139: Bad camera angle makes it hard to see where you’re jumping.

Stupid death #140: Couldn’t quite make the jump to the block.

Stupid death #141: Same as above, didn’t see the block was getting farther away until it was too late.

Stupid death #142: Apparently, the place where the blocks pass under isn’t always high enough!

5/10

Shine #7: Shadow Mario in the Park

These are all pretty much the same. It seemed like it took more hits to take him out this time though. It wasn’t too tough to keep up with him because the park’s pretty wide open, and he doesn’t branch off from the central hub too much.

3.5/10

Shine #8: Roller Coaster Balloons

Whoo, more on-rails shooting! This time, you have to pop 20 Bowser Jr. balloons before the roller coaster completes three laps. It seems easy, but it took me down to the wire to get this done. I have to be doing something wrong with aiming though because sometimes I just missed completely even though it seemed like I was right on target. Also, the fact that you don’t have complete control over where you can shoot is kind of annoying. Mario can only aim so high or so low, so it’s kind of annoying when you pass a balloon that would be an easy hit if you could just aim a little lower. I was getting close to the end and only had one balloon left. I figured there was no way I was gonna get it because it was on the other side of the roller coaster. I could still see it though, so I just fired one, and I somehow managed to hit it! Nice way to end it.

6/10

Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Finally, a 100 coin Shine that doesn’t take forever. Thanks to that cannon in Episode 2 that fires out an endless barrage of Bullet Bills, this one is cake. Each Bullet Bill drops at least two coins. If you hit a golden Bullet Bill, it drops six. It’s a little tedious and repetitive, but way better than the ones I’ve done up to this point.

5/10

Shine #10: Red Coins in the Beach Cannon

Now this one can get pretty hectic with the disappearing blocks. Having FLUDD helps out a bit, but I was still running around and jumping around like crazy trying to get the red coins at the beginning. I got a little overconfident knowing I had the hover pack and I died once, but oh well! It’s a nice little challenge here. The last two are at the top with the sequence of disappearing long blocks. It sucks when you’re running short on time and you got there just barely after the first block disappeared! No chance for me!

Stupid death #143: Somehow slid off the side of the block after collecting the first red coin.

Stupid death #144: Somehow fell through the block before it reappeared.

Ran out of time once. because Mario wouldn’t double jump to save his life.

7/10

Shine #11: Red Coins in the Yoshi-Go-Round

This one can be a bit frustrating because you can’t tell where all the red coins are, so I didn’t know how many were in each section. There are only two in the first part, but I was never sure because I couldn’t see how many were in the second part. Also, when time is running out and you have to wait for those rotating blocks, it’s kind of frustrating. By the time you get to the second part, you’re in a big hurry. The red coins once you finally get here aren’t so hard to find. The last one is at the very top of the block that rises high into the air, but you have to side somersault and then use the hover pack to get the necessary elevation to get all the way up. That one was well placed.

Stupid death #145: Landed on the edge of a block, fell off.

Stupid death #146: Mario grabbed the edge and for some reason didn’t hold on.

Stupid death #147: Apparently, Mario doesn’t hover faster than the block moves.

Stupid death #148: Same as #146.

Ran out of time once.

6/10

Pinna Park Overall Evaluation

This one was a blast. Lots of fun to be had here. Most of the Shines are good ones. The roller coaster ones and the FLUDD levels were all good here. Nothing was overly frustrating about this world, for once! I just love the amusement park design. It has a good atmosphere. It really does feel like an amusement park, except for the lack of ridiculously long lines. Just some crazy good fun here. It’s not too big and doesn’t feel like getting around takes forever, which is good because the other worlds so far have had that kind of feeling. Overall, I’ll give this one a solid…

8/10

Sirena Beach
  '''Shine #1: The Manta Storm '''

Man, this one was fun. The boss starts off as one big manta ray shadow, but every time you spray it, it divides. Of course, as you spray it more, they become smaller, faster, and more numerous. It makes it harder for you to hit them. Plus, they all leave behind traces of that electrified goop, which isn’t good for your health. When you get them all down to the smallest form possible, they start coming after you. Using that spin jump while you spray is a lifesaver here. You can take out several at once using that thing. I also came close to dying a few times, but once again, coins are everywhere, so it helped me out. This was a great boss fight, great feeling of tension the whole time through. Another one of Sunshine’s gems.

9/10

Shine #2: The Hotel Lobby's Secret

This was one of those that I thought I was going to get on the very first try, but after that, I just kept getting a bunch of stupid deaths. This one really isn’t very hard, but I died a bunch anyway. Bah. Anyway, when you first go in, you have to spray some pink Boos to turn them into platforms and hop them all the way up to the top where there’s a Boo statue with a blue vortex in its mouth. All you have to do is touch it, and you get it. I barely touched it, and as Mario was falling back down to the floor, it cut to the FLUDD-less level. There are a bunch of these little squeaker enemies around (I call them that because they squeak when you jump on them, and I don’t know what they’re really called). There’s one point where you have to jump on one that floats across a gap in order to reach the next platform, which was pretty neat. There are a bunch of destructible blocks you have to break to get through here as well. Then there’s a string of sand blocks that you have to run across, and you eventually get to the rolling cog. This thing’s tricky because if you stand on the wrong part, you’ll just slide to your death. Once it reaches the end, you have to get past a couple stacks of sand blocks, and there’s the Shine. I feel conflicted on what to give this one because this is one of those where I feel really stupid for dying so much, and I really think it was all my fault instead of the stage design actually being good, because this one wasn’t all that. Hmmmm…

Stupid death #149: Slid down the rolling cog and off the side, for some reason.

Stupid death #150: I hate it when your wall jumps aren’t straight and instead send you veering off to the side so you miss the wall entirely.

Stupid death #151: Hit one of those stupid squeaker things at the very beginning and got knocked off the platform.

Stupid death #152: For some reason, the rolling cog wouldn’t let me jump up and off of it.

Stupid death #153: Didn’t jump off the sand block, just fell down.

Stupid death #154: For some reason, instead of landing on the rolling cog, Mario slid underneath it.

Stupid death #155: Same as #153.

Stupid death #156: Landed on the edge of the sand block, tried to jump again to get more to the center, overcompensated.

4.5/10

Shine #3: Mysterious Hotel Delfino

This one is weird. You’re supposed to figure out all the tricks to get into these secret rooms all on your own, and some of them seem…counterintuitive. Like there’s a leak on the ceiling in the bathroom on the first floor. If you jump toward it, you end up in…the bathtub in a room on the second floor? What? To be fair, the guests in the hotel usually end up giving you hints relating to what you have to do next, so it’s not all bad, but seriously, how does that work? I also had no idea that Yoshi could eat those sleeping Boos. I kept trying to spray them with his juice to no avail, and then I decided to try it to eat one of the little Boos because it got in my way, and it worked, so I figured I’d see if it worked on the big ones. Go figure. Eventually, you can sneak into the pool room from above and grab the Shine. What a roundabout way to do things, too.

4/10

Shine #4: The Secret of Casino Delfino

Add this one to the list of tedious Shines. Just getting into the FLUDD-less level takes way too long. First of all, there are two giant slot machines that are water powered (how do they expect to make a profit with this?), and you have to get them both to read triple 7’s. One of them is easy because you can do them one at a time until you get the 7’s. The second one, it spins all three numbers when you spray it, so you just have to wait until lady luck hits. But that’s not all! Now there’s a puzzle with ? Blocks on one side and a Shine on the other side. You have to turn over all the ? Blocks and complete the puzzle with the Shine to open the door. It’s very difficult to aim at just one block with your sprayer, so it becomes irritating quickly. Once you do that, you FINALLY get to enter the FLUDD-less level. This one’s not very long. There are a bunch of rotating spinning blocks at the beginning that go around the entire platform in a pattern. If you can’t get around them in time, they’ll push you off the side. After that, you have to ride a spinning block to the next part. This one’s been done in other levels before, so it was no problem. Then you have jump across a series of platforms that come in and out of the wall, which isn’t so bad because they’re constantly moving. They never pause when they go in the wall; they just go back and forth. I got lucky one time because I underjumped one of them, but I was able to wall jump off the side and back onto the one I just jumped off of. Finally, you have to ride another spinning block to the Shine. Not too bad. Short but sweet.

Stupid death #157: Missed the jump around the blocks.

5.5/10

Shine #5: King Boo Down Below

This one was pretty good. It took me a little bit to figure out what you were supposed to do. I figured the chili peppers were the key, but the first couple times I threw them, nothing happened (I think I was jumping before I threw it so that made it go too high), so I just started chucking everything. Eventually, I hit the chili pepper on the tongue and he started spitting firing everywhere. Then I hit him with another fruit to register a hit. Occasionally, King Boo throws out some tough tricks at you. One time, he threw out a round of squeakers that were set on fire and running super fast. I couldn’t manage to douse them in time, so I just had to run around forever until King Boo decided enough was enough and brought the slot machine back out. I almost died on that one. He also brought out a round of Cataquacks and Bob-ombs for good measure. Anyway, I enjoyed the atmosphere of the huge roulette (reminded me of Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas), and the fight was pretty good.

6.5/10

Shine #6: Scrubbing Sirena Beach

Whew, another tense race against the clock. The electrified goop is back, and you have three minutes to clean off Sirena Beach. It feels like you just barely have enough time. Thankfully, there are barrels full of water that you can throw into large areas of goop to clean things up quickly. Plus, I just learned that Mario can still do a backflip by holding down R and hitting A, and on top of that, the water pack shoots out a nice big shot of water, which is pretty helpful here. The spin jump spray is somewhat effective, though it won’t get every spot. It gave me credit for finishing before I had gotten rid of all the goop, too, for some reason, which was weird. Maybe you just have to clean it off of the hotel and the beach itself isn’t that important. Great environmental lesson there.

6/10

Shine #7: Shadow Mario Checks In

This Shadow Mario Shine is a little better than the others. Trying to keep up with him across three floors is a bit of a challenge. Plus, there are Boos along the way who will take the form of Shadow Mario to throw you off the trail. They’re pretty easy to detect though because they’re a different color. Either way, a nice change of pace from the norm.

4.5/10

Shine #8: Red Coins in the Hotel

They give you five minutes to find all of the red coins here, and it seems like too much time. However, I did manage to run out of time once because I forgot how to get to all the hidden rooms. Eventually, I did figure it out, and all was well. Basically, you just have to go everywhere you went for the third Shine, and you’ll find all of the red coins. It can get pretty hectic if you’re trying to remember how to get to a certain room though!

Ran out of time once.

5/10

Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

I decided to go ahead and get this one out of the way! You can get the 100 Coin Shine right away, as long as you’re willing to be thorough and spray everywhere, and I mean everywhere. There are a bunch of coins in the treetops and a handful around a couple of huts. But for the rest, you’re just going to have to spray like there’s no tomorrow. There are bunches and bunches of coins hidden in the ground. I ended up making several trips around the whole area before I got 100 coins, but seriously, they’re everywhere. It’s a tedious process, but overall, not bad.

5/10

Shine #10: The Lobby's Secret Red Coins

Man, I don’t know what it is about this level that gets me so frustrated and causes me to die so many stupid deaths. I should’ve had this one on the first try AGAIN, but I missed a red coin and was at a point of no return and couldn’t go back to get it. I find myself hating this level irrationally because I know it shouldn’t have taken this many tries either time, and yet it did. Somehow, I’m getting worse at video games. Maybe age is starting to kick in or something. The only tricky red coin (the one I missed the first couple of times) is pretty well hidden underneath some blocks, and you have to time your jump and hovering pretty well to get to it. The rest are on sand blocks, and with the hover pack, it shouldn’t have been hard. And yet it was. Bah.

Stupid death #158: For some reason, I stopped hovering after collecting the red coin even though I wasn’t over any platform.

Stupid death #159: For some reason, I couldn’t get Mario to hover right and I fell to my death.

Stupid death #160: Slid off of the sand block, couldn’t get back.

Stupid death #161: Hit my head on a block overhead trying to jump to the side and went down to my death.

Stupid death #162: I hate that everything pans away from Mario immediately after you get the last red coin because I couldn’t control him from sliding off the edge when everything came back because I had no idea he was going off the edge.

Stupid death #163: Slid off of a sand block to my death.

Ran out of time twice.

3.5/10

Shine #11: The Casino's Red Coins

Okay, I’m really ticked off at this game right now. The amount of times these stupid moving blocks hindered me and got in my way and pushed me off to stupid deaths was ridiculous. You only have a minute to do this, but it’s enough time as long as you can actually get the second red coin right in the middle of all the moving blocks. The rest are pretty straightforward. You just have to jump high to get them. I’ll review this world in a minute when I’m not so angry at this world.

Stupid death #164: Misjudged the distance to the spinning block.

Stupid death #165: Slid off of the sliding block.

Stupid death #165: Slid off of the spinning block.

Stupid death #166: Block pushed me off the side.

Stupid death #167: Stupid hover pack doesn’t want to spin around very fast, especially trying to collect a red coin on the spinning block path.

Stupid death #168: Couldn’t get back on the sliding block because the hover pack doesn’t control well when you try to change directions.

Stupid death #169: Got squashed between two blocks.

Stupid death #170: Couldn’t get around the moving blocks somehow.

Stupid death #171: Moving block pushed me down somehow when I was trying to get around it.

Ran out of time once.

2.5/10

Sirena Beach Overall Evaluation

Okay, now that I’ve calmed down, let’s try this. I really liked this one overall. Most of the Shines are solid and enjoyable. You get one great boss fight and another one that’s pretty good. As you can tell, the FLUDD-less levels were probably the least enjoyable part of this world for me, which is a surprise. Really, the levels in this world aren’t hard, and they don’t have fantastic design. I just suck, apparently, so take it for what you will. The design of the beach itself is beautiful. I just love the way the beach looks with the sunset and everything (Plus, it looks like a GameCube controller from up above!). The hotel itself isn’t very appealing, design-wise. Nothing special. Navigating up and down between floors is fun though. There are a few overly tedious parts in this world, but nothing deal-breaking.

7.5/10

Noki Bay
Shine #1: Uncork the Waterfall

I like the music here a lot. This one was pretty good. This is basically your King of the Mountain Shine. You have to work your way to the very top of the bay, where the annoying dude in the cannon who shoots different things at you awaits. There’s a lot of good platforming and stuff as you make your way up. If you spray off the various designs on the wall, they create platforms for you, which I thought was a nice touch. Taking out the mole man isn’t very hard as usual, but still, a nice start for this world.

6.5/10

Shine #2: The Boss of Tricky Ruins

I liked the first part of this one. I liked the concept of opening up a path and then having to wall jump and navigate your way through it before time runs out and the path closes off. That part was cool. The part that wasn’t cool was that I had to fight that stupid Blooper boss AGAIN. Why am I fighting him for the third time in the second different world? Not to mention, the strategy is exactly the same. No new tactics, nothing. Come on now, Nintendo!

5/10

Shine #3: Red Coins in a Bottle

This one was all right. Somehow, Mario is able to shrink himself down small enough to fit into a milk bottle, where he must collect 8 red coins before running out of air, although he has a special helmet to maintain his oxygen longer. You can use the water pack to swim through the water, but Mario seems to move too quickly and without much precision, so I ended up having to swirl around a few times trying to grab a few of the coins. It’s not too bad overall though, and there are enough coins to make sure you don’t have to worry about running out of air.

4/10

Shine #4: Eely-Mouth's Dentist

Super Mario Dentistry, you say? It’s strange how you can have a pretense so preposterous and still manage to make it somewhat enjoyable. The idea of cleaning off a giant eel’s teeth is ridiculous, but the fact that you have to do it in a short amount of time before your oxygen runs out makes it a somewhat tense matter! Unfortunately, the lack of precision aiming prolongs this battle longer than it should. It’s not hard to clean off a tooth once you get in position to spray it, but it’s getting into position, especially considering the darn thing moves around so much. Overall, not bad, but let’s never do anything like this again, okay?

4.5/10

Shine #5: Il Piantissimo's Surf Swim

The rematch with this dude is pretty simple, mostly because the majority of it is swimming. You have one major advantage that this guy does not: The water pack. If you set it to hover mode, you can easily beat this guy as it gives you a nice speed boost through the water. I finished the race in about 27 seconds, and I was still waiting for him for another 5-10 seconds. This is not quite the tense race it was before! Well, I’m sure if I didn’t use the hover pack, it’d be a lot more difficult, but whatever!

3.5/10

Shine #6: The Shell's Secret

Aw yeah, finally beat one of the FLUDD-less levels on the first try! To get up to the shell, you have to walk along a lot of the tightropes, which is kind of boring, and it’s annoying if you fall, but not bad. This FLUDD-less level features lots of wall jumping and spinning platforms, which is good. There are some long planks that spin around pretty quickly, and you have to time your jump well to get to the platform. You also have to make some pretty precise wall jumps and side somersaults. For the most part, you’re climbing upward, so one mistake with a jump could lead to disastrous consequences. There are also a few wooden rotating blocks with the pegs in them, and one of them moves really fast, so it’s a nice thrill ride pretty much throughout. Maybe my favorite FLUDD-less level so far.

7.5/10

Shine #7: Hold it, Shadow Mario!

This title gives me an image of Mario as Phoenix Wright trying to corner Shadow Mario in court. Anyway, it’s really tough keeping up with Shadow Mario in this one. He loves wall jumping and climbing up the mountain, so you’ve got to get your shots in when you can. It doesn’t seem like it takes as much to take him down this time though. If he gets to the top of the mountain, he will literally jump off all the way down to the water. That’s pretty insane.

5/10

Shine #8: The Red Coin Fish

Another underwater red coin Shine with the bad hover pack controls, huh? This one wouldn’t be quite so bad if the stupid fish didn’t scatter if you got directly in front of it. Plus, it always hangs up near the top, so if you want to get some coins for air, you have to take a long trip all the way down and a long trip all the way back up. On top of that, the fewer coins that are left, the harder it is to spot the thing and grab the coins. It took me several attempts to get the last red coin. Didn’t really like this one.

3/10

Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

This one is one of the better 100 Coin Shines in Sunshine. You can get 50 really easily at the beginning by following the line of coins that goes around the lake. Then if you go up to the ruins where the coins reach land, you can get another 20 through a secret passage there. There aren’t too many more around, but you can get to a rocket pack if you’re good enough, and that’ll get you several coins. There’s also a yellow coin switch at the top of the mountain that throws a bunch of coins into the lake below, so that makes life a bit easier, too.

5.5/10

Shine #10: The Golden Bird

Heh, I kinda came upon this one by accident. I was trying to get the 100 Coin Shine, actually, and I found a secret passage in the ruins areas, and it eventually shot me all the way to the top. Well, there was this golden bird up there, and the fact that it was gold kind of gave me the idea that there may be something special about it. I sprayed it a few times, and it eventually coughed up a Shine sprite. Simple enough, eh?

3.5/10

Shine #11: Red Coins Inside the Shell

Bah, I almost had this one on the first try, too! I just missed one red coin my first time through that I thankfully located the second time. Either way, this is more platforming and wall jumping goodness, like the first time. All of the red coins are high up in the air, so you either have to wall jump or side somersault, and then use the hover pack to reach them. It makes a nice twist, but it can be frustrating how much time you can waste trying to get one coin because you can’t control the hover pack well enough to grab it. Plus, the camera doesn’t always cooperate, but it’s not too bad.

Ran out of time once.

7/10

Noki Bay Overall Evaluation

One thing I can say for sure with only one world left: The last three worlds in Sunshine have totally trumped the first three. Noki Bay in particular is probably the best designed world yet. It’s beautiful with very ambient music that sets the mood perfectly. The ancient ruin vibe you get from this place is fantastic. I love it. It’s a blast to explore the place, too. Lots of good platforming. There aren’t a lot of NPCs around (which in Sunshine’s case is a good thing because most of the NPCs in this game are idiots and have nothing really to contribute), but the old fisherman dude is pretty cool. The one complaint I would have about this world are the Shines that involve underwater red coin collecting because the controls are pretty bad. Other than that, the Shines are all pretty good, including one of the best FLUDD-less levels yet. Although Pinna Park had my favorite Shine so far, Noki Bay just has all the intangibles to put it as the best world in Sunshine so far.

8.5/10

Pianta Village
Shine #1: Chain Chomplets Unchained

It took me a while to figure out what I was supposed to do. I knew to douse off the Chain Chomplets and grab them by the tail, but I didn’t know what to do after that. Then I went to the spring to replenish my water and talked to the Pianta there, and he repeatedly talked about how great the spring was for cooling down that it beat into my head that I was supposed to shoot them into there. Once that part was figured out, it wasn’t too hard. It’s difficult to get them to go where you want them to go, but it’s easy to chase them down, douse them, and try again, so whatever.

4/10

Shine #2: Il Piantissimo's Crazy Climb

Ah, the third (and presumably final) race against this dude, who is clearly wearing a Pianta costume, but I have no idea what he really is. This race isn’t too hard, although I did lose the first time. The problem was that I tried to follow his route instead of going another way. I used the spray and slide technique, which goes much faster than just running, but I accidentally bumped into him because I couldn’t get around him. So I had a hard time catching up because Mario takes a couple seconds to recover from that. But really, spray and slide dominates this race.

Stupid death #172: After winning the race, I tried to climb up the tree trunk to grab the blue coin, but apparently, if you fall off the edge there, it’s a bottomless pit. Whoops.

Lost the race once.

5/10

Shine #3: The Goopy Inferno

Ah yes, I remember this one well from my first Sunshine playthrough, mostly because of how ridiculous it is. First of all, there are multiple shafts that you can go down, and only one of them is right. If you pick the wrong one, you will get stuck with no way back, and your only option is to jump off, die, and start over. Oh right, I forgot to mention that Shadow Mario steals FLUDD right at the very beginning, so I think this is probably the only Shine in a main world where you don’t have access to FLUDD. Anyway, you have to go underground and navigate to where the mayor is. You have to use the gates that you can hang from to go from place to place, with a few enemies here and there to worry about. Also, Mario goes “OH!” every time you climb across the gate, so that gets annoying really quickly. “OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH,” and so on. You get the idea. I do love how this one ends though. You get to the Mayor, where your FLUDD is conveniently sitting on a platform below him, and spray him off. He gives you a Shine and acts like you’ve saved the day when the entire town is STILL COVERED IN FLAMING GOOP! I love happy endings.

Stupid death #173: Didn’t jump off of the gate before it fell off, whoops.

Stupid death #174: Jumped off of the gate, tried to go forward, Mario automatically grabs the gate, just as it falls off.

Stupid death #175: Killed by the fire goop because I got trapped in an area I couldn’t get out of.

Stupid death #176: Couldn’t make a jump to the next mushroom.

Stupid death #177: Mario seriously glitched and would not move, so one of those stupid spiders hit me and knocked me off.

4/10

Shine #4: Chain Chomp's Bath

Man, another annoying Shine involving a red-hot Chain Chomp. This time, the thing is huge. You have to spray it off to cool it down so you can drag it by the chain to where a hot tub (why we’re using this to cool off the Chain Chomp, I have no idea) is waiting. Unfortunately, every so often, the Chain Chomp refuses to let you drag it anymore, gets red hot again, and starts bouncing away. Good luck trying to spray the thing in a hurry, especially if you’re near a corner. Fortunately, there’s an easy trick because the thing runs around the entire village and passes right by where the hot tub is, so if you can douse him down right then, it’s an easy job to get him in there. I just wish I had realized that sooner!

4/10

Shine #5: Secret of the Village Underside

My word, how in the world did this level make it into the final game? Who thought this one was a good idea? First of all, I died a few times because I saw the stream of coins at the very beginning and jumped down there, unaware that I needed Yoshi first. Funny thing happened one time I did get Yoshi. You can’t see very well when you bounce off of one of those green bouncy mushrooms, so I missed the jump. However, I eventually reached the bottom of the bottomless pit. I could run around and everything. Of course, there was no way to die and no way to escape, so I had to exit the area. Anyway, the Chuckster FLUDD-less level…I think the many ways that I died during this one speak for themselves. Designing this level should be a fire-able offense. Not even kidding. It’s terrible. The worst part is that if you talk to one at even a slightly bad angle, you’re dead. Too bad. You have a slight bit of control while you’re in the air, but thanks to the camera angles, you can’t really tell until it’s too late. Seriously, worst Shine in the game, maybe in all of 3-D Mario. This one Shine is almost enough to make me vote for Halo 3 now. I hope you’re happy, Nintendo.

Stupid death #178: Tried to jump underneath the fence and grab it, didn’t work.

Stupid death #179: Hit the wrong button and dropped from the gate instead of kicking it.

Stupid death #180: Apparently, Yoshi doesn’t flutter too well after you bounce off of a Mushroom.

Stupid death #181: The Chuckster Pianta threw me way farther than I expected!

Stupid death #182: Talked to a Chuckster at the wrong angle.

Stupid death #183: Did it again.

Stupid death #184: I really wish the angle you approach these guys from didn’t matter.

Stupid death #185: Man, these Chucksters chuck you really high sometimes, right over the platform and to my death.

Stupid death #186: Seriously, these angles man.

Stupid death #187: For once, I didn’t get thrown far enough!

Stupid death #188: For twice.

Stupid death #189: Angles, angles, angles.

Stupid death #190: See above.

Stupid death #191: It’s bad when you know you talked to one at a wrong angle, and you can’t cancel out of it.

Stupid death #192: Lousy angles.

Stupid death #193: Need to remember not to push the analog stick while in the air.

Stupid death #194: Didn’t get thrown far enough…again.

1/10

Shine #6: Piantas in Need

This one’s pretty simple. You just have to rescue ten Piantas from the fiery goop within three minutes. None of them are in difficult-to-find locations. You have to make sure you wash them off before it counts, too. I was able to finish with about 45 seconds left. The best part is that all but two of the Piantas give you a blue coin for rescuing them. Awesome stuff.

5/10

Shine #7: Shadow Mario Runs Wild

Shadow Mario brings a new twist to this one. As he runs, he leaves behind a trail of that fiery goop behind. While it can make it difficult to follow him because it damages you if you touch it, as long as you keep spraying pretty much nonstop, it won’t be a problem. Plus, it makes it impossible to lose him because you always have a trail to follow.

3.5/10

Shine #8: Fluff Festival Coin Hunt

Man, this one took way too long because I could not find the last red coin for the life of me (the one behind the tree in the top left corner of the stage near the beehive). The rest of it’s not so bad. You have to climb all the way to the top of that huge tree to get one of them, but you also get the rocket pack in this episode, so that makes it a bit easier. There’s also one underneath the village, but it’s not so bad either. You also have to ride one of those fluff things all the way out to a cloud over the abyss to grab the Shine, too, which made me kind of nervous, but it turned out okay.

Stupid death #203: Overestimated the distance I could hover from one mushroom to the next.

5/10

Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Well, my last 100 Coin Shine, and the game made sure it was long and painful. Sunshine’s levels always seem to give you the impression that there are plenty of coins, but when you need about 10 more, they become seemingly impossible to find. The key to getting coins in this one (if you do it during Episode 1) is ground pounding everything. Almost every box you ground pound yields a coin. You can ground pound on top of several mushrooms for a bunch of coins. You can ground pound the bottom of the empty hot tub for a bunch of coins. You can ground pound the nose of the tree that’s shaped like a Pianta right behind it for a bunch of coins. The problem is that, unless you’re pretty much in the middle of the area, it’s not going to give up the coins, so sometimes you have to pound several times (like I did in the hot tub area) to get the coins to appear.

4/10

Shine #10: Spray the Sun

Funny story about this one. On one of the other Shines at night, I saw those platforms and decided to see if I could get all the way up to the top. I managed to get all the way up there with just the hover pack. There was no rocket pack, no clouds, no swing, anything. It was pretty cool. Of course, because it was night time, I couldn’t get the Shine, but I talked to one Pianta who mentioned something about the Mayor’s wife having a secret stash and spraying the moon from the top of the gold mushroom, which got me a blue coin. Then when I talked to her again in this episode, she mentioned something about the Mayor’s stash at the top of the tree and spraying the sun, so I knew that was what I had to do. Anyway, I enjoyed getting all the way up to the top of the tree. Felt like a good accomplishment.

5.5/10

Shine #11: The Village Underside's Red Coins

Well, this one wasn’t quite as bad as the first time through, for whatever the reason, probably because I didn’t have to waste time and lives figuring out when and where and how to talk to these guys this time. I still hated having to rely on these stupid Chucksters, but at least I didn’t have to rely on that last one that you have to use to get to the original Shine. The annoying thing was having to wait for the Chucksters to get into the right place. One time when I ran out of time, one of the Chucksters that paces back and forth seriously stood in place for 5-10 seconds before turning around and going back to where I needed him to go. I knew I wasn’t going to make it in time then. I’m glad it wasn’t as bad as the first time, and I’m sure glad I don’t have to do that one anymore.

Stupid death #204: Got thrown at a bad angle.

Stupid death #205: Missed the tightrope trying to hover to it.

Stupid death #206: Got thrown at a bad angle again.

Ran out of time twice.

3.5/10

Pianta Village Overall Evaluation

I’m not sure what to say about this one. This world had several annoying and frustrating Shines, of which I have spoken at length. None of them are particularly outstanding. I do like the design of this place. I like how there’s a day version and a night version. I love the look of the village at night. I dunno why, I just do. I just can’t give this one a high score though. It doesn’t deserve it. It’s probably the worst one overall, and I’m going to rank it as such accordingly.

4/10

Delfino Isle Shines
Shine #1: The Sludge Piranha at the Airport

I had no problems getting used to Mario 64’s control scheme again, but I can already tell this will take some getting used to! Anyway, this first Shine is, like most 3-D Mario games, essentially a tutorial. You just have to shoot the sludge until the piranha appears, and then shoot it three times in the mouth once it opens, and voila! My very first Shine! And I normally don’t complain about plot or voice acting, especially in a Mario game that’s heavy on neither, but man…this is worse than I remember. Anyway, easy Shine. Let’s move on. 3/10

Shine #2: Red Coins at the Airstrip

I feel like I got pretty lucky on this one because there are some parts to this one that have the potential to be tricky. The good thing is that they give you two minutes to collect them all, which is more than enough time. You have to use the Turbo Pack to get them all. If you follow the stream of coins, they will usually lead you to the red coins. I got lucky and grabbed the red coins that are above the boats you have to jump to get each time. I only had to stop boosting to go back to get a coin once, which was nice. The Turbo Pack is fun.

5.5/10

Delfino Plaza Shines
Shine #1: My First Blue Coin Shine

Not much to say about these, though I guess I could talk about the blue coins I collected a bit in Bianco Hills. There are some places that have two big red X’s, and if you spray off one, the blue coin will pop out at the other one, and you have to get it before it disappears (coins disappear way too quickly in this game, by the way). There is one area where the camera absolutely will not cooperate with you. There is like only one place you can stand and actually see; otherwise the camera goes behind the wall. But somehow I managed to do it, so I felt proud of myself! Anyway, these blue coin Shines will get the default rating that the Toad Stars in Mario 64 got.

1/10

Shine #2: My Second Blue Coin Shine

I’m actually doing pretty good at collecting blue coins so far! Collecting blue coins in Bianco Hills was probably one of the more interesting tasks in that world. They were pretty well located in such a way that you had to work to get them, it felt like. You felt good getting one. I didn’t keep track of how many I collected, and I’m not sure how many each world has, so I’ll probably be doing a lot of retreading toward the end to get all the blue coins. But for now, that’s two!

1/10

Shine #3: Clean the Bell Tower

I was kinda goofin’ around in the plaza for a bit and I managed to get on top of a building near the bell tower. I decided to see if I could hover to it, and I made it! Once I cleaned it off, the Shine slips below into a closed off area. You have to use those underground paths (which I totally forgot about until this) to get to it. Overall, not too shabby, but nothing special.

3.5/10

Shine #4: My Third Blue Coin Shine

Figured I’d go ahead and do this while I was right by the boat shop! I feel like I’ve been doing a decent job getting Blue Coins so far. I got 23 in Bianco Hills and 16 in Ricco Harbor. Anyway, moving on!

1/10

Shine #5: My Fourth Blue Coin Shine

Aw yeah, I’ve been collecting enough to get a 2-for-1 special! Go me! For now, I enjoy collecting Blue Coins! I know this will change later, but let me enjoy it while I can!

1/10

Shine #6: My Fifth Blue Coin Shine

Well, I had some blue coins just burning a hole in my pocket, so I figured I’d pick up a couple! I’ve managed to collect 20+ coins in each of the first three worlds so far, which is good, because that means I’ll have less than ten to go back and get later on. The ones in Gelato Beach weren’t too bad. Got to use the rocket pack and the turbo pack on a few of them, and you had to do some diving to get a few. I don’t like swimming in Sunshine though. B is to dive down, A is to swim up, but there’s nothing to maintain your level or anything, so swimming after something can be a bit of a pain, especially if it’s moving. Oh well.

1/10

Shine #7: My Sixth Blue Coin Shine

And with that, we now have 40 Shines, which puts us 1/3 of the way through Sunshine! Huzzah! And my favorite world from my first Sunshine playthrough is coming up, too, so good times ahead for all!

1/10

Shine #8: My Seventh Blue Coin Shine

Well, I figured while I was here, I’d go ahead and pick up another one of these!

1/10

Shine #9: Clean Off the Shine Gate

Well, I just finished getting the rocket pack from Shadow Mario right near the gate, so I figured I’d get this one while I was here! You have to be able to use the rocket pack to get there. Just like cleaning off the bell tower, just spray the giant Shine until the gunk is gone. The Shine goes way up into the air. You have to jump off shortly before the rocket pack goes off so you can get up above the gate. Then you gotta rocket pack from the top of the gate to reach the Shine. Using the rocket pack is fun, albeit often horribly imprecise thanks to how fast Mario takes off, making it hard for you to get a good camera angle for a little bit.

4/10

Shine #10: My Eighth Blue Coin Shine

Now that I’m finished with Pinna Park, I decided to cash in my blue coins. I only got about half of the ones in Pinna Park so far, so I’ll have a bit more catching up to do with that one later, but for now, we’re good!

1/10

Shine #11: More Bell Tower Cleaning

This one’s pretty much the same as the first one. Just a lot of spraying. You do need the rocket nozzle to be able to reach the Shine after you clean it though, because it goes way up into the air above the tower.

3.5/10

Shine #12: Just Barge On In!

There’s a Shine near the first bell tower inside of a building that you can’t get into on your own. However, if you use your good friend the turbo pack, you can blast right through the door and grab the Shine! Easy, huh?

3/10

Shine #13: Rocket Powered Butt Stomp

In preparation for your epic (*cough cough*) final boss battle, you can use your rocket pack to shoot up to the top of the lighthouse, where a weird block sits. Stand on top of that, use the rocket pack to blast high in the air, and at the apex of the jump, butt stomp like there’s no tomorrow. You’re lucky the lighthouse is still standing after that one! Use the rocket power one more time to get high in the air and grab the Shine.

3.5/10

Shine #14: The Long Slide Home

When I first saw this one, I thought it was going to be hard! Usually sliding levels result in lots of deaths for me, but I got it first try! I even did it without using the hover pack because I had the rocket pack equipped instead. The slide isn’t very long. There are a lot of holes in the slide where you can fall into and drop to your death, but the slide itself is wide enough to where you don’t have to worry about slipping off the side. Plus, it’s pretty much a straight shot down, so no sharp turns. There are a couple of places where I had to jump to avoid falling to my death, but other than that, it was pretty easy.

4.5/10

Shine #15: My Ninth Blue Coin Shine

Well, I managed to pick up a few blue coins on my journey throughout the plaza, so I figured I’d purchase another one of these. And with that, we are halfway through with Sunshine! Huzzah!

1/10

Shine #16: My Tenth Blue Coin Shine

Well, I decided to go ahead and cash in my blue coins for a couple of Shines while I was at it. I only got 14 blue coins at Sirena Beach, so I still have more than half to go there. Oh well.

1/10

Shine #17: My Eleventh Blue Coin Shine

I’m almost halfway there on Blue Coin Shines! Huzzah!

1/10

Shine #18: My Twelfth Blue Coin Shine

Well, I needed to get some more Shines to get my star count back up above my total death count! This isn’t looking good! I do have 17 blue coins in Pianta Village so far, so that’s a good start.

1/10

Shine #19: My Thirteenth Blue Coin Shine

And we have now collected more than half of the Blue Coin Shines! Huzzah!

1/10

Shine #20: 100 Coin Shine

Whether you do it at the airstrip or in Delfino Plaza, it counts toward the same Shine. It’s ridiculously easy to do it at the airstrip though. There are coins everywhere, especially in the water. You also get the turbo pack to make your trek through the water much easier. It’s nice to have a 100 Coin Shine that’s a piece of cake for a change.

4.5/10

Shine #21: Time to Play Pachinko!

I figured this one would be a good one to do for my 100th Shine! At least I earned it. This one is awful though. The controls are complete crap. It basically forces you to go where it wants you to go, and you have little control over where you want to go. Even if you try to wall jump all the way up the launcher part, the game will still act like you jumped on the launcher and you’ll go flying toward the middle of the thing. Also, good luck jumping from one nail to another because one bad jump usually means you’re going to fall and die. I did learn a little trick though. You can wall jump from the back wall of the machine to the glass and control where you want to go a little better that way because you can actually move laterally that way. Even with the hover pack, the game for some reason does not want you to move laterally.

Stupid death #207: Hit an object rocket boosting into the air and fell to my doom.

Stupid death #208: Missed the slot with the red coin.

Stupid death #209: Apparently, if you start sliding, there’s no jumping to recover.

Stupid death #210: And you really can’t control where you go very well either.

Stupid death #211: Yeah, if you miss where you’re trying to go, it’s pretty much auto-death.

Stupid death #212: Let go of the hoverpack too soon.

Stupid death #213: This one literally will not let you go where you want to go.

Stupid death #214: Seriously, it won’t.

Stupid death #215: This is just getting ridiculous with this one not letting me go where I want and throwing me to my death.

Stupid death #216: Apparently, the game wouldn’t let me use my hover pack in the air even though I hadn’t used it yet.

Stupid death #217: Why won’t you let me go where I want to go?

Stupid death #218: For some reason, this game acts like I’ve just hit something when I jump sometimes, so Mario just falls straight down to the bottom, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

3/10

Shine #22: Shine Hidden in the Sand

This one’s easy. There’s a Shine emblem hidden in the sand, and you just have to spray it off, and the Shine appears on an island out in the sea. Use the rocket pack to launch up to it when you get close, and voila!

2/10

Shine #23: The Mario Toss

There’s a Chuckster who is willing to toss Mario for the low, low price of one coin. Talk to him at the right angle, and he’ll toss you through a window where a Shine awaits. Got it first try, too, thankfully, and even if you miss, there is no bottomless pit waiting for you! Whew.

3/10

Shine #24: Box Breaking, Round One

I grouped both of these together because they’re the same Shine with different patterns. There’s an open door in the plaza near the Shine Gate where a guy will give you 30 seconds to break all the boxes. In the first round, there’s only one level of boxes. If you do it at the right spot, you can break two or even three boxes at once. 30 seconds is plenty of time, too. I messed up a few times and still finished with like 5 seconds left.

3.5/10

Shine #25: Box Breaking, Round Two

The second round features four stacks of boxes, two of the stacks with four boxes and the other two with three boxes. This one’s just as easy. Just butt stomp as soon as you jump, and you’ll breeze through this one.

3.5/10

Shine #26: The Golden Bird on the Island

If you head out to one of the islands at sea, there’s a golden bird flying around. Just like the one at Noki Bay, spray it a few times, and the Shine sprite will appear on another island, which is high and narrow. Use the rocket pack to get there. Easy one.

2/10

Shine #27: Turbo Boosters Full Speed Ahead!

This is another one of those I was kinda surprised I did the first try, but it’s really not that hard. You have to use the turbo pack pretty much the entire time because if you let go on a platform, you’re not going to have enough room to boost and jump because Mario runs forward as the thing charges. But it’s pretty much a straight shot. Line up in the middle, hit the turbo pack, and go. Jump right before you get to the ledge each time, and you should be fine. Oh yeah, and make sure you let go right when you get the ledge with the Shine on it, because you don’t want to fly right off.

4.5/10

Shine #28: Red Coins in the Field

There’s a pipe way out in the top left corner of the map, and it leads to a field with tall grass and red coins hidden in it. There are a couple of coins on platforms raised above the ground. About half of them can be gotten from the handful of enemies in the place, which is easy. There’s also a red bird that flies around, and like the golden bird, if you spray it enough, it’ll drop a red coin. It took me a while to find the last one. There’s a piece of ground that’ll break if you ground pound it. The problem is that it’s difficult to see because the grass is so high, but if you step on it, you’ll hear a difference. Be careful grabbing this one though because if you go too far, you’ll run right off of the edge and down to your death. Thankfully, this one being my last coin may have prevented that.

5/10

Shine #29: Red Coins on the Lily Pad

I actually managed to make it to the island with Yoshi on my first try this time! And yes, the controls for the lily pads suck. I never know which way the lily pad is going, even when I try to pay attention to the currents, so it seems like no matter which way I spray, it doesn’t go where I want it to. I eventually got lucky and grabbed the first six. I jumped to get the seventh, but I missed, so I went to the ledge, landed it on, jumped back out, got the coin, and got back to the ledge. Man, it’s pretty tense trying to make sure you land on that narrow ledge. I tiptoed to the end to make sure I didn’t fall off, too. I’d have hated to have died after getting all 7 red coins on the stream!

Stupid death #219: Fell off the lily pad trying to get a coin.

Stupid death #220: It’s hard to keep up with the lily pad when you jump.

Stupid death #221: Seriously, why do they make it so you can’t keep up with the lily pad when you jump but put in a red coin you have to jump to get?

Stupid death #222: Apparently, the lily pad disintegrates at the end.

Stupid death #223: Got 7 of the coins, tried to go back and get one, couldn’t get back to the ledge in time.

Stupid death #224: The lily pad bumped into the wall and Mario somehow ended up on the ledge and not on the lily pad. Tried to jump to get a coin, realized I hadn’t switched to the hover pack.

2.5/10

Shine #30: My Fourteenth Blue Coin Shine

Well, I’ve managed to find every Blue Coin in Bianco Hills except for one, and I cannot for the life of me figure out which one it is. I have to be doing something wrong somewhere. I just don’t know what, but I’m almost positive I’ve collected all the ones the guide says. I don’t get it. Fortunately, they’re all available during Episode 8, so at least I don’t have to go episode hopping like I will in other worlds.

1/10

Shine #31: My Fifteenth Blue Coin Shine

Oh man, less than 10 to go now! Unfortunately, I did suffer a death during all of my blue coin collecting. There’s a blue coin on the hill where Petey Piranha is resting the second time you fight him, and you can ride a couple of clouds out to it and spray the ground for a blue coin. Unfortunately, I missed the cloud on the way back, so I died. Whoops. Oh, and I’ve managed to collect all the blue coins in Delfino Plaza, including those four where you have to collect fruit for those Piantas and get them into the basket. What a pain.

1/10

Shine #32: My Sixteenth Blue Coin Shine

Good news, everyone! I have collected all of the Blue Coins in Ricco Harbor! That’s one less worry off of my mind!

1/10

Shine #33: My Seventeenth Blue Coin Shine

Okay, all but one blue coin found in Gelato Beach. The worst part is trying to figure out which one you missed, even with a strategy guide. Plus, I can only handle so much blue coin grinding at once, so I’m gonna take a break now. Whew, almost done, at least.

1/10

Shine #34: My Eighteenth Blue Coin Shine

Whew, all Blue Coins collected in Pinna Park. Only…55 Blue Coins left? Craaaaaaaaap.

1/10

Shine #35: My Nineteenth Blue Coin Shine

Once again, I have managed to find all but one Blue Coin in an area. 29 out of 30 Blue Coins collected at Sirena Beach, with no clue which one I’m missing. Oh well. I’ll torture myself later and move on to Noki Bay for now.

1/10

Shine #36: My Twentieth Blue Coin Shine

Oh man, you can feel the end drawing near. Only 40 more Blue Coins to collect. I can do this…I think.

1/10

Shine #37: My Twenty-First Blue Coin Shine

You have GOT to be kidding me. Yet another world where I have 29 Blue Coins, with no idea which one I’m missing. How does this keep happening? Oh well, only 22 more Blue Coins left, and 9 of them are in Corona Mountain, so close now.

1/10

Shine #38: My Twenty-Second Blue Coin Shine

Whew, got all 30 Blue Coins in Pianta Village, thankfully. Now to try to get the 9 Blue Coins I need in Corona Mountain, and then find the three stragglers I wasn’t able to find in the other worlds. Almost there!

1/10

Shine #39: My Twenty-Third Blue Coin Shine

Okay, I got all the Blue Coins in Corona Mountain. Unfortunately, I died a few times, so my total stupid death count will exceed my total star/shine count at the end of this game. By the way, who thought it was a good idea to make you restart the entire level over again if you die? I mean, I know it’s a short level, but you should be able to start at the midway point right before you get on that stupid boat if you make it that far. I’m amazed I actually managed to steer that thing halfway decently, too. I almost thought about fighting Bowser again, but I’m not THAT much of a masochist. Now to get those last three Blue Coins…

Stupid death #241: For some reason, Mario decided not to jump and I fell to my death in the lava. Oh well.

Stupid death #242: Barely nicked one of the stalagmites trying to steer the boat.

Stupid death #243: Oh good, my hoverpack didn’t extinguish the flame on the platform before I landed.

1/10

Shine #40: My Last Blue Coin Shine

Did I really collect 240 of these stupid things? My word, Nintendo, would it really have been so difficult to create three more worlds so we didn’t have to do this crap? If you’re going to make me collect a bunch of things, make it less tedious and make it feel like an accomplishment when I get them all. Well, time to move on to the good stuff!

1/10

Gateway Galaxy
Star #1: Grand Star Rescue

Mario Galaxy gets off to a nice start with this one. Sure, you have to do all the tedious “Here’s how the game works” tutorials, chasing the bunnies and whatever, but once you actually get rolling, it just feels good. The soundtrack really makes the atmosphere in this game. The first one is simple enough. You have to find a couple of keys to rescue Lumas so you can reach the next area. When you get to where the Grand Star is, you have to flip all the switches from yellow to blue to shut down the machine. Pretty basic fare to open up the game.

3/10

Good Egg Galaxy
Star #1: Dino Piranha

Man, some more great music. The Good Egg Galaxy does a good job of breaking you into the game. Plenty of star bits to collect, lots of launch stars to send you flying everywhere. Man, just flying through the air feels good, just a grand sense of adventure when you take off through the air like that. The boss is pretty simple. Just keep spinning into his tail and knock it into his head a few times. He never gets too fast that you can’t just run right around behind him and hit the tail.

4/10

Star #2: A Snack of Cosmic Proportions

Whoo, more free-flying and exploring. People say Mario Galaxy is linear, but it never really feels like it. I like how your paths branch out and you get to explore new areas with each star. This one introduces us to the Hungry Lumas and the pull stars. This is also the first time we get to have a 2-D segment with the gravity arrow things. Those are usually pretty neat, although it was basic here. Good times had by all.

4/10

Star #3: King Kaliente’s Battle Fleet

This one is another fun one. You get to mess around launching coconuts and stuff, and it’s pretty satisfying when you land a direct hit. King Kaliente is a decent boss. He’s not really hard at all, but once again, it’s just satisfying knocking a coconut right back into his face, especially when you have to do three in a row with the last hit to win.

4.5/10

Honeyhive Galaxy
Star #1: Bee Mario Takes Flight

Oh boy, time to introduce Bee Mario. I’m not sure what Nintendo was thinking with this one. Overall, the gameplay elements with it aren’t that bad, but Mario wearing a bee suit is just kind of embarrassing, really. Then to add insult to injury, getting to the star involves pleasuring the queen bee. Come on now. Oh well, at least we get to meet THE TOAD BRIGADE, SUCKAS!

3/10

Star #2: Trouble on the Tower

This one’s pretty good. There’s a decent bit of platforming with some basic use of the wall jump. Nothing difficult, of course. The game’s still breakin’ you in at this point.

3.5/10

Star #3: Big Bad Bugaboom

There’s not a whole lot to this one other than the boss fight. There are those Mandibug things everywhere now, but they’re not so tough to deal with. The boss isn’t that hard, although getting the timing for the butt stomp dive bomb can be tricky. Of course, actually landing it and driving that big bug into the ground is a satisfying feeling.

4/10

Bonus Galaxies
Loopdeeloop Galaxy: Surfing 101

Ah, our first “bonus” Galaxy, if you will. I’m not exactly sure how I should grade this in the grand scheme of things since there’s only one star to get. Should I include it in the listing with all the other worlds or what? I suppose it can’t hurt. Anyway, this one is pretty basic, just an introduction to ray surfing. There’s no real sense of urgency or difficulty in this one. While there’s a temptation to speed run and blaze through the thing, there’s really no need for it since you get the star as long as you finish (Well, I’m assuming you do. Even if you have to beat the “best time,” it’s ridiculously easy to do so, even if you’re taking your time). It’s not too bad overall.

4/10

Flipswitch Galaxy: Painting the Planet Yellow

This one took a little more effort to complete than it should have because I went the wrong way to start and had to do a little backtracking. Oh well, I like the concept of this galaxy. It’s a nice little puzzle to try to get you to flip all the switches from blue to yellow. Nothing too hard, but fun nonetheless.

4/10 

'''Sweet Sweet Galaxy: Rocky Road '''

This is the first Hungry Luma Galaxy in the Observatory, and it’s a good one. I like the overall design of this one. The platforms are constantly moving, and there are holes in the platforms with various shapes, so it can be kinda tricky. You get a nice sense of satisfaction being able to maneuver this thing, which is what you want from games like this. Overall, a fun galaxy.

Stupid death #229: I was ALMOST at the end when I somehow underjumped the last platform and fell to my death. Mario didn’t even grab the side, which I thought was weird.

Stupid death #230: I guess I got in too big of a hurry after I died last time and I jumped right into a hole.

Stupid death #231: And then I did it again immediately afterward. What the heck?

6/10

Boss Levels with Rankings
Castle Secret Star #10: Bowser in the Dark World: 8 Red Coins

I love Bowser levels in Mario 64. They’re a brilliant exhibition of platforming, the most difficult you’ve faced up to that point in the game, more often than not. This one’s not too bad in terms of difficulty, but it’s a lot of fun. There are some precise jumps that’ll mess you up if you mistime them, but again, nothing major. Lots of moving platforms. Of course, the Bowser fight itself is a total joke, but whatever.

As far as the 8 red coins are concerned, they’re pretty well placed, and you have to use your camera angles well to spot some of them because they’re not completely obvious, which is nice. Funny story: I had gotten 7 of the red coins, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember where the last one was. I thought I had used my camera angles and looked everywhere. I was standing up near the top and decided to use FPV to look down and see if I had missed any close to the beginning, and sure enough, I had missed the very first one on the first platform! D’oh! So I took a long jump leap all the way back down. Unfortunately, that led to my second stupid death on this level (see below).

Stupid death #14: I was getting the red coin next to the platforms that move up and down based on which end you’re standing, and I miscalculated my jump to get back onto it!

Stupid death #15: Was trying to get the red coin right at the very beginning, and apparently turned too widely and fell right off the narrow platform.

7/10

Bowser in the Dark World Overall Evaluation

I’m not really sure how to rank boss levels. I’d rate them on a different criteria from worlds or individual stars. I’ll just give them their own category. I’ve already spoken about this one at length.

7.5/10 

Castle Secret Star #11: Bowser in the Fire Sea: 8 Red Coins

I’ll save my ranting about the level for a little bit later, but collecting the 8 red coins here wasn’t too bad. The only really tricky one is the one right below the elevator that takes you up to the next level. I actually missed that one the first time through, but I died shortly afterwards and caught it the second time, so I guess I should be thankful I died! The toughest part about this star is actually getting to it after you get all the red coins because they put it at the top of an area with two very narrow walkways. Hurray, crawling gets to be useful again! Overall, this was a pretty good one.

Stupid death #48: Fell into the lava and hit my head on an overhead platform, sending myself quickly back down into the lava and to my death.

Stupid death #49: Right after I collected the Power Star, I was trying to long jump back to where I came from and for some reason veered off to the left behind the wall and into the lava, from which it was pretty difficult to get back to where I was before! At least I managed to get the star first!

6.5/10 

Bowser in the Fire Sea Overall Evaluation

I was honestly surprised at how much easier this level was than Bowser in the Dark World. The only major danger here is the fact that there’s lava everywhere, and even then, you only have to worry about it in a few places. I died after collecting the 8 Red Coin star, so I was able to run straight through this level without having to worry about them, and I was amazed at how quickly I breezed through it. It’s not hard at all. It is fun just to fly through a level like this though. No major platforming sections, which was disappointing. I was surprised that the Bowser fight was tougher than I remember though. You can’t just run around and grab him like you could in the first one, and he warps! You just have to bait him into charging at you and get him while he’s recovering. However, the fact that I can’t aim (especially with sweaty palms!) means I had to do that several times before I actually scored a hit! Overall, I’ll have to rate this one lower than the Dark World though, so…

6/10 

Castle Secret Star #15: Bowser in the Sky and 8 Red Coins

Haha, trying to do this with the added pressure of beating the game while dying less than 100 times total made this one really tense! I was being super careful trying not to make a mistake, and I nearly had a heart attack when I thought I almost messed up! I wish Mario would make sharper turns when he turns around instead of taking such a wide angle! Some of the red coins here are pretty well hidden, too, but I was being really thorough, spinning the camera around as much as I could whenever I got to a place where I could stop and survey everything. I also kinda vaguely remembered the general locations of some of these, so it helped. Man, what a sense of relief when I managed to get the star without dying! The pressure of the situation probably adds to the overall score of this star and this world, but hey, final worlds SHOULD be like this!

7.5/10 

Bowser in the Sky Overall Evaluation

Man, I love this place. I really do. It’s so well designed, and the atmosphere is very fitting for a final boss level. You’re constantly making your way up in this world, and you almost get a feeling of adventure and conquest as you progress. There are some good platforming segments. It’s all just really well done. The final Bowser fight gets real once the pieces start falling off and form a star. And of course, I still can’t aim, so it took me four or five throws to finally hit the bomb. Bowser actually has a pretty big hitbox, too, so if you get pretty close, it’ll still register. This isn’t my favorite boss level in 3-D Mario, but it’s up there.

9/10

Delfino Plaza Shine #18: Corona Mountain

Yes, this Shine is technically considered part of Delfino Plaza’s subset of Shines. Anyway, the first part of this level was giving me trouble for a while until I realized I could use the hover pack to douse the fire platforms. Why that thought didn’t occur to me sooner, I don’t know. I was trying to douse the fire platforms from afar while standing on a spike platform, and it didn’t always turn out well. Once I figured it out, it wasn’t any trouble at all. The boat across the lava, on the other hand…I don’t know if there’s a right way to control it, but it wasn’t working for me. I’m not sure which way I’m supposed to spray to make it turn left or right because it seemed like it happened either way. I did learn to spray forward to push the boat backward if I was getting in trouble, and that made things a bit easier. Oh, and I didn’t collect the blue coins around the final platform. I will save that one for later. I’ve already stated my thoughts about the final boss. It’s really ridiculous. You seriously don’t have to pay a lick of attention to Bowser or Bowser Jr. the entire fight as long as you keep running from one rocket pack butt stomp point to the next. They can’t keep up with you. The biggest danger is trying to make sure you get back to the main platform before the rocket pack butt stomp platform breaks off. Seriously, the acid bath splashing around after you break off the rocket pack point poses more danger than Bowser or Bowser Jr. Nintendo really dropped the ball with this one. The first part before the boat is really good, but the rest, blah. Not sure what to give this one. Also, I suppose I need to rate the boss level and the Shine separately, although I’ll give them the same score.

Stupid death #195: Apparently, the spike platforms are an insta-kill if you get stuck on them.

Stupid death #196: So are the fire platforms.

Stupid death #197: Who thought controlling a boat with FLUDD was a good idea?

Stupid death #198: Seriously, who thought this was a good idea?

Stupid death #199: For some reason, switched to the regular sprayer out of the hover pack in midair because I missed spraying a fire platform.

Stupid death #200: Yeah, make sure you switch to the hover pack after using the sprayer.

Stupid death #201: Argh, didn’t douse off a fire platform in time.

Stupid death #202: Hating this boat part still. 4/10

'Bowser Jr.’s Robot Reactor Star #1: Megaleg’s Moon'

This one isn’t really a level. You have one area where you have to lead a Bullet Bill to shatter a glass dome hiding a launch star, which is basically just practice for the upcoming boss fight. I do like the boss fight though. Just the sense of scale makes it feel pretty epic, having to climb all the way up to the top while avoiding Bullet Bills. It’s nothing hard, but it’s fun. Then you have to lead the Bullet Bills to shatter the gate where the Grand Star is hidden, leading to Megaleg putting up a fence around the glass dome. Then you have to lead more Bullet Bills to create an opening in the fence and then to destroy the glass dome. I gotta give it credit for a pretty simple yet clever design here.

5/10  '''

Bowser’s Star Reactor Star #1: The Fiery Stronghold'''

Thank you, Nintendo, for bringing back well designed boss levels (Not to mention, having more than just one of them). The only real problem with this level is that it’s really short. There are really only three sections to this level. You have the opening part where you’re basically running a path that slowly winds around with a few rotating fireball poles in the way. Then you have a 2-D sidescrolling segment with the gravity arrows. While it’s nice, there’s not much to it. You only have arrows that point up or down, nothing left or right. You do have to be careful of the rotating fireball poles because if you mistime your jump or get hit by one, you’ll probably fall into another gravity area and fall to your death. It’s usually not too hard to avoid though. Then you have the final section, where Bowser throws meteors at you and gradually destroys the floor as you run to the platform where he is. There’s a sense of panic that makes you think you don’t have time to stop and get the mushroom that doubles your life bar from 3 to 6, but it’s not really a problem.

But man, I love the Bowser fights in this game. The atmosphere is fantastic, with some awesome music to set the mood. It really feels like the fate of the galaxy is on the line when you fight him. He’s not that hard this time around. He doesn’t move very fast or throw a lot of attacks at you, and he doesn’t go all that fast once you hit him, except for the very last hit. But still, nailing that very last hit is pretty satisfying. Although Nintendo has given us some dud Bowser fights, when they get it right, they get it right. And it only gets better from here!

5/10

Rankings 

[9/10]

Bowser in the Sky (Super Mario 64)

[7.5/10]

Bowser in the Dark World (Super Mario 64)

[6/10]

Bowser in the Fire Sea (Super Mario 64)

[5/10]

Bowser's Star Reactor (Super Mario Galaxy)

Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor (Super Mario Galaxy)

[4/10]

Corona Mountain (Super Mario Sunshine)

Game Reviews
Super Mario 64 Final Thoughts

What can be said about this game that hasn’t already been said? Well, let’s start here. I still think Mario 3, Mario World, and both Mario Galaxies are better, but I can see why people would prefer this one. If you look for a great overall experience in your games, Mario 64 doesn’t get much better than that. This game is all about the experience, in my opinion. There are very few individual stars that I would consider “great” in this game, but in general, I rated each world higher than I rated its highest star, with a few exceptions. Mario 64 is all about how the worlds come together as a whole, not so much about each individual star, and most of the time, they do come together. You have a couple of clunkers (Shifting Sand Land being the most notable), but in general, Mario 64 has great worlds. It feels good just to run around and do stuff.

I kinda wish Mario 64 had branched out more on some of its stars like Mario Galaxy did. In most stars in most worlds, you retread the same ground most of the time. For some people that’s fine, of course. I’m not saying it’s bad. That’s just not my personal preference. Mario Galaxy focuses more on making each individual star its own experience, and that’s what I personally prefer, although some people don’t like that because it seems more streamlined and linear. There’s less exploration involved because Galaxy’s worlds are smaller and more straightforward (although it didn’t really feel that way to me because you were constantly going to new places with each star, even if the paths were straightforward, but to each his own). I think that’s why I ended up loving Mario 64’s little worlds within the world because it was somewhere new and separate from the rest, somewhere I hadn’t already been before. It kept things fresh and avoided getting too repetitive.

Super Mario Sunshine Final Thoughts

Okay, where do you start with this game? Well, let’s start with the good stuff. Of course, the highlight of the game was the FLUDD-less secret levels. For the most part (Pianta Village’s secret Shine being the exception, naturally), they were well designed and provided a solid challenge. If you love classic platforming, these levels hit the spot. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough of them. It almost made it feel like a tease at times, like Nintendo KNEW this was what you really wanted, but they decided to give you something else instead.

The main worlds were, for the most part, pretty good. Pinna Park, Sirena Beach, and Noki Bay in particular were worlds that were worthy of the Mario name. You could have a blast in those places at times. One of the things I really liked was how the world seemed to change with each episode. I liked seeing how things changed from episode to episode. It kept things from getting stale, and it gave each episode its own unique feel, for the most part. On the downside, a lot of the worlds felt too big. Yeah, it’s nice having a lot to do and a lot of places to go, but man, sometimes it felt like it took forever to get anything done. It seemed like a lot of areas punished you for messing up, too. You could be trying to get something on a high ledge, but one misstep sends you way back down, and it’s not a quick trek to get back up there. It just made things frustrating.

To be honest, FLUDD really wasn’t that bad (aside from the ridiculously annoying voice acting). It was pretty easy to get used to, and the different packs were pretty fun to use. Nothing beats a rocket-powered butt stomp, I tell you what. I wish they could’ve had more than three though. It did add a sense of strategy to some of the levels because you had to figure out which power-up would be most effective in a certain situation.

Now for some of the bad stuff. First of all, the story is downright embarrassing. Not in the “Nintendo’s stories are never anything special or deep” sense, but in the “Please don’t let anyone walk in the room while this cutscene is on” sense. I’m not even referring to all the environmentalist stuff and “Let’s get everything green and clean!” theme. All this crap about Peach being Bowser Jr.’s mom (and her almost seeming to believe it) is unbelievably dumb, not to mention BOWSER IN A BATHTUB for a final boss.

I could probably sum up all my complaints with Super Mario Sunshine in one big one: This game just feels uninspired at times, almost like Nintendo didn’t care to try to do their best with this one. While I did praise the game for trying to give each episode in a world a unique feel, there were several times when some of the episodes felt like a rehash of a previous episode (How many times do I have to beat Gooper Blooper in one game? Not to mention, it’s the exact same strategy to beat him every time). You could almost always bet that each secret FLUDD-less level would have you collecting 8 red coins as a hidden Shine (which was fine, really, since the platforming was still good and it added a bit of a twist to it). There were way too many red coin Shines. You only need one per world, really. You could also bet on fighting whatever boss was in each world at least twice. Plus, there’s the fact that 24 of the Shines are earned through collecting blue coins. Collecting blue coins isn’t fun. It’s tedious and annoying to have to collect 240 of these things, especially when I think about how Nintendo could’ve just made three more worlds instead. The last boss level feels really, really lazy. There’s hardly anything to it: A little bit of platforming with spiked and fire platforms, steering that stupid boat, and then rocket boosting through the clouds up to the final boss. Compared to some of the brilliant boss levels we see in Mario 64 and Mario Galaxy (not to mention the 2-D Mario games), this is just shameful. Plus, worst final boss ever. Goes without saying.

The soundtrack is pretty underwhelming, too. The only really memorable track from this game is the Delfino Plaza theme, and it’s not really all that good. The Noki Bay theme is probably the best song in the game, but it doesn’t really stand out that much. Once again, compared to what we’re used to from the Mario series (in particular Mario Galaxy, which might have the highest ratio of good songs to bad songs in any game period), you can’t help but feel a little disappointed.

The controls and the camera in this game could be pretty wonky at times. For example, sometimes you would go into a room, and the camera would stay on the outside of the room so you wouldn’t be able to see anything. It feels like it works against you quite a bit. As for controls, let me just say I have never felt such a sense of “This game just will not let me do what I want to do” as I did when I was doing the Pachinko Shine. Plus, whoever thought FLUDD should be used to steer and move things should be fired.

Overall, Super Mario Sunshine really isn’t a bad game. You can play it and have plenty of fun at times. Yet in the end, I can’t help but feel a little unfulfilled, perhaps because the standard set by the Mario series is so high. There’s no real sense of satisfaction at having completed this game for the first time ever here. Nothing in this game really grabs you or compels you. In fact, I can say with 99.9% certainty that I will never touch this game again.

And that’s a shame.

Star/Shine Rankings as of Super Mario Sunshine
[10/10]

Pinna Park Shine #1: Mecha-Bowser Appears!

[9/10]

Sirena Beach Shine #1: The Manta Storm

[8.5/10]

Lethal Lava Land Star #5: Hot-Foot-It Into the Volcano

[8/10]

Tick Tock Clock Star #4: Stomp on the Thwomp

Tiny-Huge Island Star #3: Rematch with Koopa the Quick

[7.5/10]

Castle Secret Star #15: Bowser in the Sky and 8 Red Coins

Cool, Cool Mountain Star #3: Big Penguin Race

Noki Bay Shine #6: The Shell’s Secret

Tall, Tall Mountain Star #4: Mysterious Mountainside

Pinna Park Shine #2: The Beach Cannon’s Secret

[7/10]

Dire, Dire Docks Star #3: Pole-Jumping for Red Coins

Castle Secret Star #10: Bowser in the Dark World and 8 Red Coins

Pinna Park Shine #10: Red Coins in the Beach Cannon

Noki Bay Shine #11: Red Coins Inside the Shell

Tiny-Huge Island Star #5: Wiggler’s Red Coins

Lethal Lava Land Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Wet-Dry World Star #2: Top O’ the Town

Gelato Beach Shine #5: Il Piantissimo’s Sand Sprint

[6.5/10]

Cool, Cool Mountain Star #1: Slip Slidin’ Away

Shifting Sand Land Star #3: Inside the Ancient Pyramid

Castle Secret Star #11: Bowser in the Fire Sea and 8 Red Coins

Tick Tock Clock Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Sirena Beach Shine #5: King Boo Down Below

Dire, Dire Docks Star #6: Collect the Caps…

Wet-Dry World Star #5: Go to Town for Red Coins

Ricco Harbor Shine #4: The Secret of Ricco Tower

Noki Bay Shine #1: Uncork the Waterfall

Snowman’s Land Star #6: Into the Igloo

Hazy Maze Cave Star #7: 100 Coin Star

[6/10]

Castle Secret Star #5: Vanish Cap and 8 Red Coins

Castle Secret Star #7: Metal Cap and 8 Red Coins

Tall, Tall Mountain Star #1: Scale the Mountain

Pinna Park Shine #11: Red Coins in the Yoshi-Go-Round

Lethal Lava Land Star #6: Elevator Tour in the Volcano

Bianco Hills Shine #6: The Secret of the Dirty Lake

Tall, Tall Mountain Star #6: Blast to the Lonely Mushroom

Sirena Beach Shine #6: Scrubbing Sirena Beach

Rainbow Ride Star #1: Cruiser Crossing the Rainbow

Rainbow Ride Star #2: The Big House in the Sky

Ricco Harbor Shine #3: The Caged Shine Sprite

Pinna Park Shine #8: Roller Coaster Balloons

Castle Secret Star #14: 8 Red Coins Among the Clouds and Rainbows

[5.5/10]

Castle Secret Star #3: Princess Peach’s Secret Slide Speed Run

Castle Secret Star #2: Princess Peach’s Secret Slide

Hazy Maze Cave Star #3: Metal-Head Mario Can Move!

Tall, Tall Mountain Star #3: Scary ‘Shrooms, Red Coins

Tick Tock Clock Star #1: Roll into the Cage

Rainbow Ride Star #4: Swingin’ in the Breeze

Bianco Hills Shine #10: 8 Red Coins in the Hillside Cave

Ricco Harbor Shine #11: Red Coins of Ricco Tower

Pianta Village Shine #10: Spray the Sun

Dire, Dire Docks Star #5: The Manta Ray’s Reward

Lethal Lava Land Star #2: Bully the Bullies

Gelato Beach Shine #10: Red Coins Inside the Sand Castle

Noki Bay Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Sirena Beach Shine #4: The Secret of Casino Delfino

Delfino Airstrip Shine #2: Red Coins at the Airstrip

Shifting Sand Land Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Big Boo’s Haunt Star #6: Eye to Eye in the Secret Room

Tick Tock Clock Star #5: Timed Jumps on Moving Bars

Wet-Dry World Star #4: Express Elevator—Hurry Up!

Jolly Roger Bay Star #2: Can the Eel Come Out to Play?

Snowman’s Land Star #1: Snowman’s Big Head

Gelato Beach Shine #3: Wiggler Ahoy! Full Steam Ahead!

[5/10]

Cool, Cool Mountain Star #5: Snowman’s Lost His Head

Hazy Maze Cave Star #4: Navigating the Toxic Maze

Hazy Maze Cave Star #5: A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit

Lethal Lava Land Star #4: Red-Hot Log Rolling

Pinna Park Shine #6: The Yoshi-Go-Round’s Secret

Pianta Village Shine #2: Il Piantissimo’s Crazy Climb

Delfino Plaza Shine #28: Red Coins in the Field

Tiny-Huge Island Star #6: Make Wiggler Squirm

Pinna Park Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Sirena Beach Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Ricco Harbor Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Dire, Dire Docks Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Whomp’s Fortress Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Pianta Village Shine #8: Fluff Festival Coin Hunt

Whomp’s Fortress Star #5: Fall onto the Caged Island

Gelato Beach Shine #2: Mirror Madness! Tilt, Slam, Bam!

Sirena Beach Shine #8: Red Coins in the Hotel

Pinna Park Shine #3: Red Coins of the Pirate Ships

Shifting Sand Land Star #4: Stand Tall on the Four Pillars

Bianco Hills Shine #8: The Red Coins of the Lake

Big Boo’s Haunt Star #4: Seek the 8 Red Coins

Pianta Village Shine #6: Piantas in Need

Noki Bay Shine #2: The Boss of Tricky Ruins

Snowman’s Land Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Tiny-Huge Island Star #2: The Tip-Top of the Huge Island

Jolly Roger Bay Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Bianco Hills Shine #11: 8 Red Coins of the Dirty Lake

Rainbow Ride Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Noki Bay Shine #7: Hold it, Shadow Mario!

[4.5/10]

Big Boo’s Haunt Star #5: Big Boo’s Balcony

Cool, Cool Mountain Star #4: Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins

Delfino Plaza Shine #27: Turbo Boosters Full Speed Ahead!

Snowman’s Land Star #2: Chill with the Bully

Bianco Hills Shine #5: Petey Piranha Strikes Back

Pinna Park Shine #5: The Runaway Ferris Wheel

Cool, Cool Mountain Star #2: Li’l Penguin Lost

Big Boo’s Haunt Star #2: Ride Big Boo’s Merry-Go-Round

Pinna Park Shine #4: The Wilted Sunflowers

Rainbow Ride Star #5: Tricky Triangles!

Delfino Plaza Shine #14: The Long Slide Home

Sirena Beach Shine #2: The Hotel Lobby’s Secret

Ricco Harbor Shine #10: Blooper Surfing Time Trial Redux

Bianco Hills Shine #4: Red Coins of Windmill Village

Sirena Beach Shine #7: Shadow Mario Checks In

Delfino Plaza Shine #21: 100 Coin Shine

Cool, Cool Mountain Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Wet-Dry World Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Tiny-Huge Island Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Bob-omb Battlefield Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Noki Bay Shine #4: Eely-Mouth’s Dentist

[4/10]

Snowman’s Land Star #5: Shell Shreddin’ for Red Coins

Tick Tock Clock Star #2: The Pit and the Pendulums

Bob-omb Battlefield Star #2: Footrace with Koopa the Quick

Tiny-Huge Island Star #1: Pluck the Piranha Flower

Whomp’s Fortress Star #1: Chip Off Whomp’s Block

Big Boo’s Haunt Star #1: Go On a Ghost Hunt

Delfino Plaza Shine #18: Corona Mountain

Pianta Village Shine #1: Chain Chomplets Unchained

Castle Secret Star #1: Wing Cap and 8 Red Coins

Dire, Dire Docks Star #4: Through the Jet Stream

Jolly Roger Bay Star #6: Through the Jet Stream

Wet-Dry World Star #6: Quick Race Through Downtown!

Shifting Sand Land Star #2: Shining Atop the Pyramid

Ricco Harbor Shine #2: Blooper Surfing Safari

Rainbow Ride Star #6: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Lethal Lava Land Star #1: Boil the Big Bully

Tall, Tall Mountain Star #2: Mystery of the Monkey Cage

Tick Tock Clock Star #3: Get a Hand

Bianco Hills Shine #3: The Hillside Cave Secret

Bob-omb Battlefield Star #5: Mario Wings to the Sky

Big Boo’s Haunt Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Snowman’s Land Star #3: In the Deep Freeze

Sirena Beach Shine #3: Mysterious Hotel Delfino

Pianta Village Shine #4: Chain Chomp’s Bath

Noki Bay Shine #3: Red Coins in a Bottle

Gelato Beach Shine #4: The Sand Bird is Born

Tick Tock Clock Star #6: Stop Time for Red Coins

Pianta Village Shine #3: The Goopy Inferno

Dire, Dire Docks Star #2: Chests in the Current

Pianta Village Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Gelato Beach Shine #7: It’s Shadow Mario! After Him!

Jolly Roger Bay Star #3: Treasure of the Ocean Cave

Ricco Harbor Shine #7: Shadow Mario Revisited

Delfino Plaza Shine #9: Clean Off the Shine Gate

Bob-omb Battlefield Star #6: Behind Chain Chomp’s Gate

[3.5/10]

Jolly Roger Bay Star #1: Plunder in the Sunken Ship

Bob-omb Battlefield Star #1: Big Bob-omb on the Summit

Cool, Cool Mountain Star #6: Wall Kicks Will Work

Tall, Tall Mountain Star #5: Breathtaking View from Bridge

Hazy Maze Cave Star #6: Watch for Rolling Rocks

Big Boo’s Haunt Star #3: Secret of the Haunted Books

Hazy Maze Cave Star #2: Elevate for 8 Red Coins

Gelato Beach Shine #1: Dune Bud Sand Castle Secret

Wet-Dry World Star #1: Shocking Arrow Lifts!

Shifting Sand Land Star #6: Pyramid Puzzle

Noki Bay Shine #5: Il Piantissimo’s Surf Swim

Bianco Hills Shine #2: Down with Petey Piranha!

Ricco Harbor Shine #1: Gooper Blooper Breaks Out

Rainbow Ride Star #3: Coins Amassed in a Maze

Whomp’s Fortress Star #4: Red Coins on the Floating Isle

Delfino Plaza Shine #13: Rocket Powered Butt Stomp

Pinna Park Shine #7: Shadow Mario in the Park

Noki Bay Shine #10: The Golden Bird

Delfino Plaza Shine #24: Box Breaking, Round One

Delfino Plaza Shine #25: Box Breaking, Round Two

Gelato Beach Shine #6: Red Coins in the Coral Reef

Pianta Village Shine #7: Shadow Mario Runs Wild

Delfino Plaza Shine #3: Clean the Bell Tower

Delfino Plaza Shine #11: More Bell Tower Cleaning

Sirena Beach Shine #10: The Lobby’s Secret Red Coins

Castle Secret Star #6: Catch the Bunny Rabbit

Castle Secret Star #9: Catch the Bunny Rabbit…Again

Pianta Village Shine #11: The Village Underside’s Red Coins

[3/10]

Whomp’s Fortress Star #2: To the Top of the Fortress

Castle Secret Star #4: 8 Red Coins in the Fish Tank

Bob-omb Battlefield Star #4: Find the 8 Red Coins

Jolly Roger Bay Star #4: Red Coins on the Ship Afloat

Hazy Maze Cave Star #1: Swimming Beast in the Cavern

Gelato Beach Shine #11: The Shine Hidden in the Sand

Dire, Dire Docks Star #1: Board Bowser’s Sub

Tall, Tall Mountain Star #7: 100 Coin Star

Snowman’s Land Star #4: Whirl from the Freezing Pond

Lethal Lava Land Star #3: 8-Coin Puzzle with 15 Pieces

Noki Bay Shine #8: The Red Coin Fish

Gelato Beach Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Ricco Harbor Shine #8: Yoshi’s Fruit Adventure

Shifting Sand Land Star #5: Free Flying for 8 Red Coins

Bianco Hills Shine #1: Road to the Big Windmill

Bianco Hills Shine #7: Shadow Mario on the Loose

Delfino Plaza Shine #21: It’s Time to Play Pachinko!

Ricco Harbor Shine #5: Gooper Blooper Returns

Delfino Plaza Shine #23: The Mario Toss

Delfino Plaza Shine #12: Just Barge On In!

Delfino Airstrip Shine #1: The Sludge Piranha at the Airport

[2.5/10]

Wet-Dry World Star #3: Secrets in the Shallows and Sky

Whomp’s Fortress Star #3: Shoot into the Wild Blue

Jolly Roger Bay Star #5: Blast to the Stone Pillar

Bianco Hills Shine #9: 100 Coin Shine

Gelato Beach Shine #8: The Watermelon Festival

Shifting Sand Land Star #1: In the Talons of the Big Bird

Sirena Beach Shine #11: The Casino’s Red Coins

Tiny-Huge Island Star #4: Five Itty Bitty Secrets

Delfino Plaza Shine #29: Red Coins on the Lily Pad

Ricco Harbor Shine #6: Red Coins on the Water

[2/10]

Bob-omb Battlefield Star #3: Shoot to the Island in the Sky

Delfino Plaza Shine #26: The Golden Bird on the Island

Delfino Plaza Shine #22: Shine Hidden in the Sand

[1/10]

Delfino Plaza Shine #1: My First Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #2: My Second Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #4: My Third Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #5: My Fourth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #6: My Fifth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #7: My Sixth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #8: My Seventh Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #10: My Eighth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #15: My Ninth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #16: My Tenth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #17: My Eleventh Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #19: My Twelfth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #20: My Thirteenth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #30: My Fourteenth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #31: My Fifteenth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #32: My Sixteenth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #33: My Seventeenth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #34: My Eighteenth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #35: My Nineteenth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #36: My Twentieth Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #37: My Twenty-First Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #38: My Twenty-Second Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #39: My Twenty-Third Blue Coin Shine

Delfino Plaza Shine #40: My Last Blue Coin Shine

Castle Secret Star #8: Thanks, Toad!

Castle Secret Star #12: Thanks Again, Toad!

Castle Secret Star #13: Thanks Again, Toad: The Sequel!

Pianta Village Shine #5: Secret of the Village Underside

World Rankings
[10/10]

Tick Tock Clock (Super Mario 64)

[9/10]

Lethal Lava Land (Super Mario 64)

[8.5/10]

Tall, Tall Mountain (Super Mario 64)

Noki Bay (Super Mario Sunshine)

[8/10]

Pinna Park (Super Mario Sunshine)

[7.5/10]

Cool, Cool Mountain (Super Mario 64)

Sirena Beach (Super Mario Sunshine)

Rainbow Ride (Super Mario 64)

Hazy Maze Cave (Super Mario 64)

[6.5/10]

Dire, Dire Docks (Super Mario 64)

[6/10]

Big Boo’s Haunt (Super Mario 64)

Jolly Roger Bay (Super Mario 64)

Sweet Sweet Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)

[5.5/10]

Wet-Dry World (Super Mario 64)

Bob-omb Battlefield (Super Mario 64)

Whomp’s Fortress (Super Mario 64)

Ricco Harbor (Super Mario Sunshine)

[5/10]

Snowman’s Land (Super Mario 64)

Gelato Beach (Super Mario Sunshine)

[4.5/10]

Tiny-Huge Island (Super Mario 64)

[4/10]

Bianco Hills (Super Mario Sunshine)

Pianta Village (Super Mario Sunshine)

Flipswitch Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)

Loopdeeloop Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)

[3.5/10]

Rolling Green Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)

[3/10]

Shifting Sand Land (Super Mario 64)

[2.5/10]

Sling Pod Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)

Death Count
Bob-omb's Battlefield: 0! Whomp's Fortress: 3 Jolly Roger Bay: 0! Cool, Cool Mountain: 8 Big Boo's Haunt: 0! Hazy Maze Cave: 8 Lethal Lava Land: 6 Shifting Sand Land: 15 Dire, Dire Docks: 1 Snowman's Land: 1 Wet-Dry World: 0! Tall, Tall Mountain: 9 Tiny-Huge Island: 11 Tick Tock Clock: 15 Rainbow Ride: 12 Bowser in the Dark World: 2 Bowser in the Fire Sea: 2 Bowser in the Sky: 0! Castle Secret Stars: 6

Delfino Plaza: 18 Bianco Hills: 24 Ricco Harbor: 9 Gelato Beach: 10 Pinna Park: 13 Sirena Beach: 28 Noki Bay: 1 Pianta Village: 30 Corona Mountain: 11

Good Egg Galaxy (so far): 0! Honeyhive Galaxy (so far): 0! Loopdeeloop Galaxy: 0! Flipswitch Galaxy: 0! Bowser Jr.’s Robot Reactor: 0! Sweet Sweet Galaxy: 3

Space Junk Galaxy (so far): 1

Sling Pod Galaxy: 5

Rolling Green Galaxy: 0!

Battlerock Galaxy (so far): 1

Hurry-Scurry Galaxy: 0!

Bowser’s Star Reactor: 0!

Super Mario 64 total: 99 Super Mario Sunshine total: 144 Super Mario Galaxy (so far): 10