#5: Super Mario Sunshine
I think this is the most underrated game on my list. I consider Sunshine to be a masterpiece, but sadly not very many people agree with me. I'm not completely sure but I think Super Mario Sunshine was the first Gamecube game I played. I just love this tropical island setting. The soundtrack is full of character and very memorable, everything looks gorgeous. The NPCs are hilarious, I always loved messing with them. Very often I wouldn't just go straight for the shine but instead I would just mess around in the levels. The story is more interesting than in most Mario games with a plot that doesn't start with Peach getting kidnapped. The different places on Isle Delfino are ver different from each other and fun to explore. The blue coins add and incentive to do that. There are some really unique shines like the roller coaster baloon one or the one where you save that mayor. The gameplay is incredibly fun to me with fludd. The fluddless levels used to be extra hard but after playing through the game over a dozen times the entire game is pretty easy to me but not less fun.
Last year when during the Mario Direct Super Mario 64 was shown I got excited because I hoped for Sunshine too and when it showed up too I went crazy from excitement. It was a dream come true. Playing Super Mario Sunshine in HD in handheld still feels sureal. I hadn't played Sunshine in years and replaying after so much time was so awesome, so refreshing. I was reliving my childhood.
Together with Wind Waker and Twilight Princess Super Mario Sunshine is one of the most important childhood experiences for me. Sunshine is my favorite platformer and my favorite Mario game.
