"What I did like about Mario Sunshine, though, were those sections where they took that asinine water pistol away and left you to navigate a set of colorful platforms floating in the middle of a bleak, empty void... I remember saying at the time 'If they made a Mario game that was just this kind of shit then I'd be all over it'... Mario Galaxy is pretty much that."
Thinking back to those sections of Sunshine, I remember thinking of them as the most direct interpretation of 2D Mario gameplay in a 3D space to date. 3D Land/World seem even more like true 3D interpretations of 2D Mario gameplay -- pure platforming, less properly timing throwing the boss into a mine, judging your trajectory when you fire yourself out of a cannon, trying to get this stupid eel to come out of its goddamn hole, etc. That stuff is fun (usually), but don't tell me that's "true" 3D Mario while this is not.
You may define "3D Mario" as a phrase however you like. If you think that means time limits are not allowed, or that the end goal absolutely cannot be a flagpole unless there is a star at the top, fine. But this is a true Mario game in a 3D space, as it is meant to be.
