very flawed game in structure, but like... when you have a game that feels THIS good to play, i can forgive it. sometimes i just boot up mario sunshine just to run around for a bit because its that much fun to me. and to be honest, i find fludd to be really cool a lot of the time. i think a lot of the ideas they had with fludd were really fun and inventive, and the hover doesnt feel overbearingly handholdy. the game was very clearly designed around having it, and it doesnt make the game feel any easier. which is an important thing to mention, because this game is HAAARD. sunshine will kick your ass harder than any other 3D mario in my opinion, especially with those blue coins. and like i said previously, the structure issues with this game mean that you cant just skip a level if youre having issues with it. you gotta beat the 7th level in EVERY area, no questions asked. (unless we're talking about GBS) going back to positives, though, MAN is this game atmospheric. i feel like videogames peaked when they looked the way mario sunshine did, its my benchmark for if a game looks "good" to me. and with areas like noki bay, sirena beach, and pianta village, the relaxing atmosphere of this game REALLY come out. and the world just feels so lived in, you can see every area dotted with houses and buildings and little bits of detail that were not necessary, but are absolutely a great addition. SMS is a flawed game, yes, but i still love it for what it is. i just wish someone could like, make a rom hack of this game to fix the progression issues, and itd be an easy 5/5 for me.