Well, it's finally happened. Nintendo has unveiled the next-generation of the Mario franchise -- the successor to Super Mario 64 as it were. Press on-hand at Nintendo's Space World 2001 event in Tokyo, Japan caught a glimpse of the anticipated sequel for GameCube during a brief video previewed by designer Shigeru Miyamoto. The footage officially introduced Mario Sunshine as the title of the game and highlighted 30 or so seconds of in-game footage that consisted of some big, interactive environments that would make platform junkies drool and a whole lot of trademark jumping. When it was all over was everyone present speechless and giddy? Well, not exactly -- but there's definitely promise, and as usual Nintendo is keeping the majority of the game a secret at this point. Following is what we do know.

At first glance, Mario Sunshine seems a cross between Super Mario 64 and Sonic Adventure with much larger environments. The character design is very reminiscent of Miyamoto's N64 Mario title in that all of the entities in the demo we saw were cute, off-the-wall, and typically bright and cheery. Mario himself is more detailed than ever, boasting a newly improved high-polygon count and detailed texturing. The mascot celebrity runs through the gargantuan 3D world with an odd, still-mysterious gadget -- a kind of jet-pack and hose combination -- strapped to his back and shoulders. Shigeru Miyamoto would only say that what this "thing" does is a guarded secret at this point. We can guess that it's cool, whatever it is.



Mario Sunshine in action

The environment -- the one previewed, was not at all like what one might expect coming out of Super Mario 64. Instead of bright green pastures and castle backdrops, Mario manipulated what can best be described as a city and suburbia -- a setting much more fitting for a Sonic Adventure. The plumber jumped and flipped up houses to roof tops, ran through quiet roadways and down alley entrances. The size of the area seemed three or four times the standard level in Super Mario 64, and more detailed too. But not so detailed as to be shocking. Rather, some of the texture work on the background areas seemed rather primitive when compared to some other GameCube titles, and the geometry constructing some 3D objects wasn't terribly impressive.

The point of the game is still secret of course, but in looking at the video repeatedly we were able to determine that Mario collects Sun Coins while traveling through the 3D world. Also, in the top-right corner of the screen, a meter in the shape of a sun or moon and occasionally filled with different levels of water is meant to gauge some sort of ability presumably related to the secret pack Mario wears.

Play-wise, Mario Sunshine already looks brilliant. In the snippets of spliced footage presented, the plumber can be seen jumping from left to right on walls and climbing up them with each pass. In one area he is shown kicking a ball for reasons unknown. The camera follows him around as he flips and summersaults across houses or swings onto polls. He can presumably pick up objects like crates and barrels and move them to and from and it's all done with a relative ease and speed made famous by past incarnations of the franchise.

Mario Sunshine is scheduled for release in Japan during the summer of 2002, which suggests it is much further along than Miyamoto would have us believe currently. While the footage of the under development game presented at Space World 2001 didn't serve as undeniable proof of Nintendo's genius, the truth is that much of the genius behind the title is still a mystery. But even so, the title has already shot up to take a top spot on our Most Wanted Games list.

As soon as we know more about the hugely anticipated title, so will you.