If you're reading this thread, and would be interested in giving sunshine a chance, the only reason (although it's still a damn good reason) why plenty of people like playing sunshine, is because of the controls.
Here's an explanation of most of what i can think of you can do with mario, which may be usefull, either for someone who wants to try/replay the game, or for someone who likes the game but wasn't aware of something mentioned here.
Feel free to only take from here what catches your atention the most, and ignore the rest.
Using the dive on the ground:
You do it by pressing the "b" button, then, as soon as mario touches the ground, you press "a" to do the better of the two folloups (the other one is done by pressing "b"). Self explanatory.
In sunshine, mario doesn't need to be in a "running state" to do a dive (like he does in 64). However, when doing a dive/dive jump/slide, you will jump further/go faster is you hold forward on the analog stick.
Using the dive on wet surfaces to slide:
If you spray water on the ground, in front of you, and dive into it, mario will begin to slide. Then, to speed up, hold forward on the analog stick.
This is the fastest ground movement option in the game. However, if you stop holding forward on the analog stick, for example, to take a corner, mario will slow down by a lot. So, instead, it's better to simply end the slide (by pressing "a"), taking the corner walking normally, then start another slide.
Combining the dive with your jumps:
You can:
- do the dive at the peak of your jump
- do the dive in the start of your jump (pressing both "a" + "b" at the same time). This is called a jump dive (a jump canceled into a dive). It's a dive, but with more height and travel distance.
So, if you press "a" + "b" together, you do a jump dive, combining your regular jump and the dive. However, you can also combine the dive with your other jumps.
To combine your double jump with the dive, you would have to jump once and, when mario is about to touch the ground again, instead of simply pressing "a" (to do a double jump), you press "a" + "b".
To combine your triple jump with the dive, you would, jump once, press "a" as you touch the ground again (to do a double jump), and the press "a" + "b" as you touch the ground a second time.
(your jump dive will subsequently go higher and travel further, if you combine the dive with a double jump, or even a triple jump, rather than a regular jump)
To combine the side flip with the dive, you simply do the motion on the analog stick for a side flip, but press "a" + "b" to jump.
To combine the spin jump with the dive, you rotate the analog stick 360º, and then press "a" + "b".
You can also combine the dive with a wall kick, by pressing "a" + "b" to do the wall jump.
That's all the posible combinations.
I'd say that you feel a greater sense of commitment when using a jump dive, instead of a regular jump, to jump over a cliff, as you can't use the water pack after doing a jump dive. Personally, i like mario's parabolic trajectory in the air during a jump dive as, once he reach the peak of his jump dive, he start falling to his doom.
Using the dive on the water:
When you're in water, if you press "a" you swim up and if you press "b" you swim down. And when you're on the surface, if you press "a", you jump off the water.
So, while on water, to travel fast:
1. when you're on the surface (not below it), slide your thumb from "a" to "b" (don't press "a" + "b" at the exact same time). This way mario will do, first, a jump, then inmediatly cancel it into a dive.
2. right as you fall on the water again, press "a" once, so that mario swims up, and repeat step 1.
3. repeat step 1 and 2
This is usefull because, in sunshine, if you misjudge a jump, instead of falling into a cliff and dying like in other mario games, you usually fall in water. That's going to happen again and again, and you will want to quickly go back to the ground.
Ropes:
The biggest jumps you can do involve using a rope:
1. climb onto a rope.
2. press "b", to hang on the rope.
3. use the waterpack in little bursts, until mario starts spinning
4. if mario is already spinning, you should be able to move him along the rope while he keeps spinning (by holding right or left on the analog stick)
5. once you've positioned yourself, hold forward on the analog stick, before the jump
6. press "a" to jump
7. mario should launch himself forward, while spinning (remember to keep holding forward, on the analog stick, during the jump, to mantain your momentum and jump further)
If, during the jump, while mario is still spinning in the air, you keep holding forward on the analog stick, and use the water pack, you will conserve the momentum from the rope jump while using the water pack, so you will fly further than usual.
If, instead, you don't use the water pack during the jump, press "a" as you land on the ground, and keep holding forward on the analog stick, mario will do a triple jump, but conserver the momentum from the rope jump. So this triple jump will go much, much further than usual.
(timing the "a" press, right as mario touches the ground after the rope jump, is tricky, so i'll propably take multiple tries)
mid air spin:
If you press "a", right as you land from a spin jump, you get a triple jump.
The spin jump is a very high jump, so waiting until you land is slow, but there's a shortcut: spinning (rotating the stick) in mid air, when you're close to the ground, and then pressing "a" as you land.
Inputs:
1. hold, for example, forward on the analog stick
2. press, and quickly release, the "a" button (to get a small and close to the ground jump)
3. quickly rotate the analog stick (and make sure that you end the 360º motion holding the same direction as before, in this case, forward)
4. finally press "a" again, right as you land, to get a triple jump.
With that sequence, mario should jump, spin in mid air close to the ground, and triple jump right after landing. Basically, it's a short cut, for being able to do a triple jump, without having to use your double jump first.
More tomorrow if the thread is still alive and people care (as i didn't went over the spin jump or water moves)
