Super Mario Sunshine: Year 7

Past couple days I've been squeezing in some time with Super Mario Sunshine yet again- the game came out 7 years ago, and I've had the habit of picking it up every summer and completing a good chunk of it, then letting it sit on the shelf till it's time for my next virtual summer vacation.

This particular session was spawned from discovering new things about the game (and that's one of the reasons I love the game so much- you're always finding a new secret about it, even after almost fully completing it) such as the water belly slide trick (spray water in the ground in front of you, then hop onto it on your belly and you'll keep on sliding- up till now I'd merely been doing repeated belly hops to travel about) and the front courtyard of Sirenno Beach being shaped like a Gamecube controller face. There's also an awesome easter egg/glitch that launches the camera up into the air before skydiving down back to Mario, with a view of the entire island in the process.

I beat the game last year, but since then have been slowly working to get the last of the Shines (because, really, a Mario game isn't truly beaten until you've collected all the stars/shines/etc). I'm at 96/120 currently- the only ones left are a few Secret Shines (red coin challenges in void zones, mostly) and the ones purchased with blue coins at this point, so I'm in the final stretch now. Bianco Hills and most of Delfino Plaza is taken care of now.

It's been quite amazing how this game has held up and kept giving over the years, it's been a fantastic experience I'll be sad to see end.

Sure, there's Super Mario Galaxy to tackle after this, but while that's an excellent game in many different ways, the smaller mini-level/planetoid challenge design to the game limits the exploration and level relationship aspects that I've quite enjoyed in SMS- I loved exploring the limits of every level, seeing if I could get over another hill, or grab a better view of one of the other levels viewable in the distance.

I have a feeling SMS & SMG will be fighting it out for Top 3D Mario game the same way SMB3 & SMW have for decades in the 2D realm.