It’s always interesting looking back at games and interviews. For instance, it wasn’t long ago that we reported on an old interview unearthed to show the obstacles Hideo Kojima had to bring out Metal Gear. But now another interview from Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has been uncovered to showcase that Super Mario Sunshine bothered him over just how difficult it was for some players.
Shmuplations brought out another old interview that featured Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, who was a producer for the Super Mario Sunshine game installment. Players would find that this game might have been too complex initially if they were not used to playing modern games. During the interview, Miyamoto noted that he wanted Mario to always be something simple for players to jump into. Whether you were a senior citizen or a small child, the famed developer wanted Mario to be that one game anyone could easily pick up and play.
I want Mario to be a game that all audiences can enjoy. Something that Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, even little children can easily pick up and play, and right away understand what’s fun about it. However, I think Mario Sunshine turned out to be difficult for the average user. It’s something I very much regret. I want someone who hasn’t played a game in 10+ years to play our game, but I think such a person wouldn’t know what’s going on in Mario Sunshine.
And this doesn’t apply to Mario only—I think it’s a situation that video games in general are facing. Other famous franchises, if you take a player who’s been away from games for a decade, and sit them down in front of something new… they’re going be like, “huh? what’s going on?” Mario is supposed to be an easy-to-understand game. Even if it’s confusing at first, after playing for a day, you should be able to understand what today’s games are all about. In that sense Mario is probably the best vehicle out there today for re-acquainting players with modern gaming. If you can stick with it for 3 days and not give up, I think you’ll be able to re-integrate into today’s gaming culture. – Shigeru Miyamoto
Super Mario Sunshine didn’t deliver on that front. Miyamoto felt the game was too difficult for the average user, and he regrets that. But he did go on to say that if a player could stick with it for a few days, then it should click. In fact, at the time, he felt this was the best vehicle to get players re-acquainted with modern gaming.
We’ve since seen quite a few installments based on the Mario franchise. Of course, with all this sudden talk of Super Mario Sunshine, I’m sure some fans will have the urge to revisit Isle Delfino.
Unfortunately, the game was only released on the Nintendo GameCube. If you happened to have picked up a copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, you will find the game in that collection alongside Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy.
