Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine is an open-ended platformer, very similar to Super Mario 64, except on a tropical island and with a talking water pump. This game also marks the first appearance of Bowser Jr.

The story is about a shadowy doppelganger (whom the citizens of Isle Delfino think is Mario, despite it very clearly being a different person) getting him in trouble with the local authorities. Sounds familiar... As such, he has to clean up the mess that was left behind.

After 18 years without a rerelease, a slightly updated version was released on the Nintendo Switch as part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection on September 18th, 2020. The game was eventually added to Nintendo GameCube - Nintendo Classics on August 12, 2026.

Prototype Info Prerelease Info Notes Bugs

Version Differences#

Version DifferencesApparently, they could never agree on a consistent logo.

Resources#

Unused ObjectsRemember that weird monster from Spaceworld 2001? Yeah, that's in here. Unused or Early GraphicsCheck out some unused, early, and even hidden graphics. Unused AudioThis is a pretty common trend with 3D Mario games. Unused Pollution MapsWatch your step, things get a bit messy! Unused Text"!!!ERROR!!! Message could not be loaded.", the Mystery of the Delfino Express, among other things. Unused CodeA multiplayer mode was planned?!

Features#

Unused AnimationsToadsworth was actually quite agile. Unused RailsUnused cubes and lines! Unseen Object FeaturesWho would have guessed II Piantissimo is The Running Man? Unused or Unseen Map GeometryDid an intern work on some of these stages?

Oddities#

Prerender DifferencesNo one ever said they had to be consistent. Internal Name OdditiesNintendo went a little too far with their inside jokes... Oddities and OversightsNot even FLUDD can clean up this mess.

Test Map#

To do: Analyse the European changes in detail Door oddity

Watch on YouTubeSuper Mario Sunshine contains a test map, named test11, which can be accessed in the US and European versions with the listed Action Replay codes. The textures it uses are the same as test maps from various other games, including The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. It contains various objects and terrain, including the unused soccer objects and the Hinokuri enemy. The files also contain an early sky model, though it is not used in the scene. Strangely an ineffective layer of the unused quicksand goop is present fairly high above the terrain which only appears as bubbles when Mario is nearby. The test map was removed in the Japanese version and some of the unused objects featured in the map were removed or replaced in the European version.

Test room

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FYUM-N4P3-QJUPC

HF27-CKA7-1DDRU
20HJ-60TP-QDC1E
1FW6-Y8R2-7KMEK
30TN-X6Q4-2VVEZ

3261-Y1UY-4UWVW
CHD1-CK1Z-YBGC8
J4DE-TDN1-3T1F2
P4X4-3FGG-UQ91U

Early Town Height Map#

The test map also has a height map file, and the shape of the terrain matches up with the early version of Delfino Plaza seen in the first trailer for the game.

Removed Maps#

Test Maps#

According to stageArc.bin, there were a grand total of 20 test maps in the game, divided into two categories: Scale Maps named scale0 through scale9, and Test Maps named test10 through test19. Of them, only test11 remains, though not in the Japanese version. It was added back in later by the localization team, as evidenced by the copies of every piece of translated dialogue in the game present in the files.

Secret Stages#

Additionally, various secret stages were removed:

• dolpic_ex5
• dolpic_ex6
• dolpic_ex7
• bia_ex0
• pinna_ex0
• pinna_ex1
• pinna_ex2
• pinna_ex3
• pinna_ex4
• pinna_ex5
• mare_ex1
• monte_ex1
• coro_ex3

Cutscenes#

These may have been cutscenes for Pinna Park.

• pinnaDemo0
• pinnaDemo1
• pinnaDemo2

Debug Cubes#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: AR code to display these manually. Were the cubes purposely enabled in the SM3DAS ROM? Try the GCM on a real gamecube. Also, its possible these are not necessarily "debug cubes".

In the secret stages, there are grey debug cubes which represent the paths for various moving platforms. These cubes are normally completely invisible, but are shown when the game is played in some older versions of the Dolphin emulator, as shown to the right.

Presumably due to imperfect graphics emulation, these cubes were visible in the initial release of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars port. This was fixed with the Ver. 1.1.0 update released on November 16, 2020.

Ciao!#

Watch on YouTubeThere is supposed to be a 1/8 chance of Mario saying "ciao" when the Nintendo logo appears on the title screen instead of the coin sound. However, this sound can never occur as the game's random number generator seed is never randomized upon loading the game, resulting in the same outcome with the coin sound every time.

Mario.MAP#

Please elaborate. Having more detail is always a good thing. Specifically: What features are listed in this file that aren't used?

Download MARIO.MAP Linker Address Map File: MarioMAP.7z (1.12MB) (info)

There's a leftover linker address map file leftover in the main directory of every version of the game, except the North American version (which is located in the Korean release instead), which shows most addresses functionality, as well as some extras with features that never made it into the final game. The map is used for the internal exception handler.

Sequence List#

Download mSound.asn File: SMS-mSound.asn.zip (62.6 KB) (info)

Please elaborate. Having more detail is always a good thing.

AudioRes\mSound.asn is an unused file that contains data about sequences, including names for them.

Unseen 3 Digit Life Counter#

The maximum number of lives a player can achieve in the game is 99. However, in the layout files, the layout shows a 3 digit number of lives, but only 2 are shown. The game is only told to show 3 digits if the lives counter is greater than 99, but the lives counter never goes over 99, thus making this never seen. But this might just be a case of reused code from other counters.

Unseeable Shine Spawns#

Watch on YouTubeAll of the levels have a copy of the 100 coin Shine even if there's not enough coins in that episode to trigger it. However, some maps have unique spawns for scenarios that are impossible without the use of cheating.

Unused Shadow Mario Shine Spawns#

Watch on YouTubeWhen the player defeats Shadow Mario in the seventh episode of any stage, the Shine Sprite will spawn directly where he falls. However, the actual shine is stored elsewhere in the map before it is called for by the game- it's likely these were the original intended spawns. These spawn locations can be accessed by replacing the used Shadow Mario Shine spawn functionality appearShineFromKageMario with NPC Shine spawn functionality appearShineFromNPC.