History YMMV / SuperMarioSunshine

** Mario being framed for a crime he didn't commit by a CriminalDoppelganger with "Shadow" in his name? And said "Shadow" guy is involved with the main villain? Just a year ago [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 this happened]] to his fellow rival mascot.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: ''Sunshine'' is one of the best looking games ever released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, and Nintendo fired all cylinders on the polished, fluidly animated, and beautifully lit CGI and lush tropical environments--its graphics are so ambitious and look so good, it can still easily hold its own against contemporary video games. It says a lot that a video game from '''2002''' is still regarded as having some of the best water effects in the medium, rivaling even later ''Mario'' games. The HD remaster for the Switch perfectly upscaled the game to 1080p in docked mode, which really helps the graphics pop too.

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: FLUDD will frequently interrupt you to give extremely obvious advice. The best example is when you're fighting Gooper Blooper, when he'll tell you what to do even if you're already doing that very thing.

** [[TheWoobie Princess Peach]]. She was the first to notice Shadow Mario running amok in Isle Delfino in a plane advertisement, and again at Delfino Airstrip, and knows for a fact that Mario is innocent. But the Piantas don't see it that way, and immediately overrule her when she tries to object on her hero's behalf, '''despite''' her being royalty. To make matters worse, just when it feels like we're going to have a grand Mario adventure ''without'' her getting kidnapped, the first thing Shadow Mario does when he finally reveals himself kidnaps her. What's worse is that, once you get enough Shine Sprites, she is held captive for the rest of the game, even when you start the game again after defeating Bowser for the final time. And that's not even getting into the fiasco surrounding the infamous cutscene with Bowser Jr...

** Peach hesitating to answer Jr's assertion that she's his mother caused most gamers to believe that this is proof that the Princess is stupid[[note]]The complaint is along the lines of the idea that since she knows she's not his mother, there was really "no reason" for her to ponder this fact for any amount of time, and that she should've immediately tried to correct Jr, or at least shouldn't have said "I'm your mama?" as if it were remotely plausible[[/note]] and is no good for anything other than [[DamselInDistress being kidnapped]]. This is despite Bowser telling him she isn't his mother and Jr. admits that he ''knew'' that she wasn't his mother even when he asked, as well as the fact that Peach displays general competence in other games at the very least (and is usually better characterized in the spin-off games, notably in the ''Mario'' [=RPGs=]). To a lesser extent, the implication that Peach considered it ''plausible'' that Junior was her son gets brought up quite often, given its implications.

** Peach hesitating to answer Jr's assertion that she's his mother caused most gamers to believe that this is proof that the Princess is stupid[[note]]The complaint is along the lines of the idea that since she knows she's not his mother, there was really "no reason" for her to ponder this fact for any amount of time, and that she should've immediately tried to correct Jr, or at least shouldn't have said "I'm your mama?" as if it were remotely plausible[[/note]] that's no good for anything other than [[DamselInDistress being kidnapped]]. This is despite Bowser telling him she isn't his mother and Jr. admits that he ''knew'' that she wasn't his mother even when he asked, as well as the fact that Peach displays general competence in other games at the very least (and is usually better characterized in the spin-off games, notably in the ''Mario'' [=RPGs=]). To a lesser extent, the implication that Peach considered it ''plausible'' that Junior was her son gets brought up quite often, given its implications.

** While ''Sunshine'' itself tends to get mixed reception from a lot of fans, one thing people can agree on is that the soundtrack kicks ass. Particular mention goes to the "Secret Course" theme, which is an a capella version of the classic ''Super Mario Bros'' overworld theme that always manages to entertain despite it being played in some of the most NintendoHard portions of the game, "Noki Depths" (the theme that plays during Noki Bay's eighth mission), which is often considered to be one of the best and most relaxing underwater themes since [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry "Aquatic Ambience"]], and Bowser's battle theme, which to many players makes the [[AntiClimaxBoss rather anticlimactic]] final battle feel kinda worth it.

** The Piantas also suffer from this due to their lack of hesitation in arresting Mario on suspicion of dirtying Isle Delfino, going so far as to overrule Peach's objection despite her being royalty. Even if the Piantas overall aren't a terrible species, this one act was enough to sour a lot of people's perception of them.

*** ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' offers a [[TakeAThirdOption third]], more likely option. The game reveals that [[spoiler:King Boo escaped due to E. Gadd accidentally selling his portrait at a garage sale]], implying that the fiascos Gadd caused in both that game and ''Sunshine'' are due to him being an AbsentMindedProfessor and a ScatterbrainedSenior, rather than anything malicious.

*** ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon offers a [[TakeAThirdOption third]], more likely option. The game reveals that [[spoiler:King Boo escaped due to E. Gadd accidentally selling his portrait at a garage sale]], implying that the fiascos Gadd caused in both that game and ''Sunshine'' are due to him being an AbsentMindedProfessor and a ScatterbrainedSenior, rather than anything malicious.