Super Mario Eclipse - a fanmade sequel to Mario Sunshine (Rom Hack)

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gamerweeb1

gamerweeb1

kiwifarms.net
Joined
Mar 26, 2023
I don’t know if posts about ROM hacks are allowed here, but anyway…


Super Mario Sunshine was one of the first games I played as a child, and I have a lot of nostalgia for it. I’ve always wanted more Sunshine content, and finally that is happening.

Super Mario 64 has a massive modding scene. I’ve been playing Mario 64 mods for years, and there a lot of great ROM hacks I recommend trying out. (Examples include: Mario Star Road, Super Mario 74, Last Impact, Decades Later, and Mario 64: Ocarina of Time). For a long time, I wished that Mario Sunshine could have ambitious mods on that scale, but it didn’t… until now.

I’ve been following the development of Super Mario Eclipse for more than 3 years, and it is finally COMPLETE. This is a massive mod that features:

- 240 Shine Sprites to collect (DOUBLE the original game’s count)
- Over 400 Blue Coins to find
- Dozens of levels (including returning levels from the original game, plus many new levels)
- Semi-open world exploration (you no longer get kicked out of a level when you collect a Shine)
- 3 playable characters with different abilities
- new abilities and movement options
- new and remixed bosses
- a soundtrack with original music

This mod can be easily played on Dolphin Emulator on PC. It can also apparently be played on REAL hardware (Gamecube, Wii, or Wii U) although I don’t know the details of how that works.

Is there anyone else here who will try this mod?
 
Oh dang, didn't know there was a modding scene for Sunshine. This looks super impressive, I'll have to give it a spin sometime. Hopefully the floodgates will open for Sunshine modding…I've always wanted to see some of the earlier scrapped concepts brought back, like how the Plaza and stages were more inter-connected via a tram system instead of the portals
 
Super Mario sunshine. Long before the popular YouTube jumpscare video, this was the Mario game that terrified autistic children for some reason.
Migraine Box said:
Oh dang, didn't know there was a modding scene for Sunshine. This looks super impressive, I'll have to give it a spin sometime.
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It’s extra impressive. Considering the GameCube has the most unique hardware of all the consoles at the time. Yet GameCube fans brought up online play for the console. GameCube has a cult status along with the original Xbox.
 
I've made the iso and started the game, got through the tutorial and now I seem to be playing basic sunshine, is this how it's meant to be?

Whats different? I started Bianca Hills and the level looks the same.

Also according the discord the game needs a fix that is coming later today...got a game breaker somewhere apparently.
 
PaulBearer said:
I've made the iso and started the game, got through the tutorial and now I seem to be playing basic sunshine, is this how it's meant to be?

Whats different? I started Bianca Hills and the level looks the same.

Also according the discord the game needs a fix that is coming later today...got a game breaker somewhere apparently.
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So I've started playing the hack myself and it seems like this is how it works:

The game has 240 shine sprites. It seems like all of the 120 shine sprites from the original game are in there, and are MOSTLY unchanged. But then the other 120 shine sprites are brand new and are in the new levels. Some of the new levels are directly connected to areas from the original game, and can be found by exploring new sections of the old levels.
 
gamerweeb1 said:
So I've started playing the hack myself and it seems like this is how it works:

The game has 240 shine sprites. It seems like all of the 120 shine sprites from the original game are in there, and are MOSTLY unchanged. But then the other 120 shine sprites are brand new and are in the new levels. Some of the new levels are directly connected to areas from the original game, and can be found by exploring new sections of the old levels.
Click to expand...
Do the old areas have new content?
 
If the gamecube used actual dvds and had a inbuilt dvd player would it have been a bigger success?
 
Chaos Theorist said:
If the gamecube used actual dvds and had a inbuilt dvd player would it have been a bigger success?
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The PS2 just had a huge advantage in getting to the market much earlier than the other two and in being a cheap DVD player right as DVDs were taking off. I suspect that the GameCube may have had more success if it could function as a cheap DVD player out of the box (recall that the original Xbox required you to buy that remote, which essentially was a purchase of a license to play DVDs and that it sold only slightly better than the GameCube). It also didn't help that there was a trend towards edginess at the time that the Xbox's marketing leaned heavily into, which, I think, is why its third-party sales were much better than the GameCube's despite their similar console sales.
 
I've been playing around with the hack tonight and I think it's kind of charming so far. I like the addition of the long jump, they did a good job making the levels interconnected and making it make sense. I've only done a few of the new sprites and one of them was surprisingly challenging at first, and not in a BS kind of way. One NPC said I was the guy on the wanted poster and threw me back to the previous level, which I thought was cute.

I haven't seen anything that has caused me to dislike it yet. It's still early on, so maybe there is some BS hiding later in the game. I was surprised at first when it just played like regular Sunshine when first getting to the island, but you get used to how it's laid out pretty quick.
 
Merton J. Dingle said:
The PS2 just had a huge advantage in getting to the market much earlier than the other two and in being a cheap DVD player right as DVDs were taking off. I suspect that the GameCube may have had more success if it could function as a cheap DVD player out of the box (recall that the original Xbox required you to buy that remote, which essentially was a purchase of a license to play DVDs and that it sold only slightly better than the GameCube). It also didn't help that there was a trend towards edginess at the time that the Xbox's marketing leaned heavily into, which, I think, is why its third-party sales were much better than the GameCube's despite their similar console sales.
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I think people overestimate the impact that being a DVD player had on the PS2’s sales, although it definitely helped.

The PS1 dominated its generation, selling 100 million. N64 sold only 33 million and Sega Saturn sold a terrible 9 million. Sony had all the momentum at the start of the generation and third-parties were confident in the PS2.
 
gamerweeb1 said:
I think people overestimate the impact that being a DVD player had on the PS2’s sales, although it definitely helped.

The PS1 dominated its generation, selling 100 million. N64 sold only 33 million and Sega Saturn sold a terrible 9 million. Sony had all the momentum at the start of the generation and third-parties were confident in the PS2.
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That's probably true. Brand recognition and the early start were likely of equal if not greater importance.
 
So I have now gotten 60 Shines in this hack, and I have to say…

This hack is AMAZING. Seriously, if you like Sunshine, you will absolutely appreciate this mod. The new levels in this hack are almost on par with the quality of official Nintendo levels, and they have really creative themes. There’s one level that is a shady hotel run by the criminal mafia. There’s a new water level with pirate Piantas firing cannonballs at exploding mines. There’s a boss fight where you battle an EVIL Shine Sprite. The level of creativity is insane.
 
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