A childhood summer favorite of mine. Love the tropical atmosphere and the overall "weirdness" of this game, reflected in the non-traditional enemies and level designs. It also has, in my opinion, the best movement in a 3D Mario title, with incredibly responsive and fluid controls, made only even more fun with FLUDD.

The pinnacle of Smash, representing nearly two decades of refinement with its polished presentation and gameplay, in addition to boasting the largest, and what I believe to be the most balanced cast of characters Smash has seen yet. On the other hand, despite marginal improvements, the online experience unfortunately remains shaky, suffering frequent stability issues under the the current P2P implementation.

If you are able and willing to look past the dated gunplay, vehicular physics oddities, and some very frustrating missions, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the level of immersion this nearly 20-year-old game offers. The day/night cycle, weather effects, satirical radio stations (and their genuinely hilarious ads), and the sheer scale of the world all combined to form an experience like no other at the time, pioneering multiple aspects of the modern open-world action genre.