Super Mario Sunshine Joined 2020 3D All-Stars After 2002 Debut With F.L.U.D.D.

Q: Does Nintendo's new emulated release permanently solve the artificial scarcity created by the controversial 3D All-Stars collection?

Not permanently. Nintendo’s new Switch 2 release of Super Mario Sunshine through the GameCube – Nintendo Classics library does ease the scarcity created by Super Mario 3D All-Stars, because it restores an official modern way to play the game after that compilation was delisted in 2021. For Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers, Sunshine is no longer trapped behind secondhand copies of a discontinued product. But it does not fully or permanently solve the problem. Access is tied to an active subscription and to Switch 2 hardware, rather than a standard standalone purchase. If Nintendo changes the service, removes the title, or a player lets the subscription lapse, access disappears. That is very different from buying and owning 3D All-Stars outright, whether digitally before delisting or on cartridge. It also does not replace the exact value proposition of 3D All-Stars. The 2020 collection bundled three major Mario games and gave Sunshine a 1080p, 16:9 presentation. The new version is the original GameCube release via emulation, with conveniences like save states and upscaled output, but it is still framed as preservation of the 2002 experience rather than a remaster. So the practical answer is that Nintendo has reduced artificial scarcity around Sunshine itself, but not eliminated it. The game is more available than it was, yet still sits inside a controlled, reversible subscription ecosystem rather than a permanent, broadly purchasable release.

3 articles · Updated · games.gg · Aug 10

Nintendo brought Super Mario Sunshine into the 2020 Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection, extending the reach of the 2002 GameCube entry to a new generation.
F.L.U.D.D. defines that game: the water-powered device lets Mario clean Isle Delfino and switch between Hover, Rocket, Turbo and standard Squirt nozzles to solve platforming challenges.
Eight main stages revolve around recovering Shine Sprites, while some levels remove F.L.U.D.D. entirely for tougher pure-platforming sequences.
Isle Delfino’s Italian-inspired setting and first appearances by Bowser Jr., Toadsworth and Petey Piranha helped give the game a distinct identity within 3D Mario.
That identity underpins Sunshine’s legacy: initially divisive for demanding controls, it later built a devoted following as the series’ most mechanically distinct 3D entry.