Super Mario Sunshine Is Coming to Switch 2. It's Time to Embrace This Truly Weird Game

August 1, 2026 - 09:04

Nintendo just confirmed that Super Mario Sunshine will be joining the Switch 2 library, and honestly, it's about time. For years, this GameCube classic has been the odd one out in the Mario family, often dismissed as the messy middle child between the beloved Super Mario 64 and the polished Galaxy games. But now that it's getting a proper re-release, it's worth asking: why did we ever treat this strange, sun-baked adventure like a black sheep?

Sunshine is not a clean game. It's not a tight, perfectly tuned platformer like its siblings. Instead, it's a tropical fever dream where Mario carries a water-powered jetpack, cleans up graffiti, and slides across slippery plaza tiles that feel like ice. The controls are loose, the camera fights you at the worst moments, and the level design often feels less like a test of skill and more like a test of patience. And yet, that's exactly why it works.

In a world where every modern game is polished to a mirror shine, Sunshine's jagged edges are a relief. The voice acting is hilariously stilted. The story is nonsense about a sun-shaped monster and a fake Mario. The secret levels are brutally hard, sometimes to the point of frustration. But there's a genuine charm in its weirdness. The island of Isle Delfino feels alive in a way that later Mario worlds don't, with its bustling town, creepy hotel, and a theme park that's both delightful and slightly sinister.

The Switch 2 version will likely smooth out some of the technical hiccups, but the core game remains gloriously imperfect. If you skipped it back in 2002 because it wasn't "real" Mario, give it another shot. This is the game that dared to be different, and it's aged into something truly special. Embrace the funk. You won't regret it.