Super Mario Sunshine/Version Differences

This is a sub-page of Super Mario Sunshine.

To do: More differences can be found from this webpage, along with a few videos: http://pastebin.com/KFr2jG07 Document the Japanese Rev 1 version - for one thing, it likely has the audio fixes from the international versions Find more differences between the GameCube versions and the Super Mario 3D All-Stars version. Add photos of 3D All-Stars changes.

Note: The Korean version is just the North American version with a different revision number in the header.

Intro

Japanese	International

At the beginning of the intro cutscene, SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE and Nintendo Presents were switched in international versions.

Title Screen

Japanese	American	European

The Japanese title screen has "Super Mario Sunshine" written in both English and Japanese. The North American title screen has a bigger logo than the Japanese or European versions. To accommodate this, the "PRESS START" text was also somewhat awkwardly moved to fit on-screen. The European title screen keeps the title screen layout the same as the Japanese version, but the logo re-positioned the tree to be on the left side rather than on the right. The reason that the layout was changed back may have been due to longer phrasing used in French ("Appuyez sur..."), thus the logo was simply redesigned to fit the layout better.

Options Menu

Japanese	American	European

The Japanese version doesn't have the option to turn off subtitles, likely because all of the voice acting is in English. The options menu in the American version was shuffled around a bit in order to make the new option fit. The European version also adds the language options, but removes the GameCube controller icon for the rumble settings (for some reason), the text "Control Stick" was also replaced with a control stick icon and the word "Button" after the A button icon was removed as well.

Audio/Music

To do: Videos are needed for some of these.

Added Audio/Audio Glitches

In the international versions:

• A short jingle plays when Delfino Airstrip returns to its normal state after defeating the boss.
• When racing Il Piantissimo in international versions, a unique music theme plays. In the Japanese version, the level theme still plays.
• A small voice clip of Mario saying "Whew!" when exiting a Rainbow M was added in international versions.
• When Mario's air depletes in the international versions, there is a trumpet-like chime that plays each time he loses a wedge of health. In the Japanese version, only the sound of the normal life meter depleting is used.
• In the Japanese version, if Mario has lost health and there is a cutscene, then when the HUD reappears, the sound of the life meter depleting is used even though no additional health was obviously lost. The international versions have the life meter reappearing in silence.
• There are some audio delays in the Japanese version (such as when Shadow Mario appears in Delfino Plaza) that were fixed in the international versions.
• Normally, there's a short jingle when a Shine Sprite appears, but in the Japanese version the music sometimes won't play when a Shine Sprite appears and won't come back until you restart your console. This glitch can also cause longer load times and sometimes, collecting a Shine Sprite will crash the game. This was fixed in the international versions.
• The Japanese and American versions, F.L.U.D.D.'s "Mario!" voice clip when giving advice has multiple variations for different situations. In the European version, F.L.U.D.D. only uses one variation for all pieces of advice.
• When a Nozzle box respawns in the Japanese version, it uses the same sound effect as a wooden barrel respawing. In the international versions, the Nozzle boxes have a unique sound effect when they respawn.

Cannon Launch

The timing for the sound of Mario yelling after getting launched from the cannon to Pinna Park is different. In the Japanese version, the sound is played when Mario enters the cannon, but the international versions correctly have the sound play when Mario launches from the cannon.

Japanese	International

Distorted Scream

In the Japanese version, if you load a save file where Isle Delfino is flooded, Mario will fall down to the flooded Isle Delfino with a distorted scream. This glitch was fixed in the international versions.

Japanese	International

Amplified Audio

A few audio files are quieter in the Japanese release than international releases.

Obtaining Nozzle

The sound for collecting a nozzle was amplified in the international releases.

Japanese	International

Eely-Mouth

Eely-Mouth is overall a tad louder in the international releases.

Japanese	International

(Source: Inkstar)

Mario's Conversation

During the arrival cutscene, Mario and Toadsworth are seen speaking in the background while Peach is in focus. As Peach spots Shadow Mario, the Japanese version has low-volume dialogue between them. In a bit of self-referential humor, Mario states "Looks like Mario's gonna have to find a job.", to which Toadsworth asks "Trying to start a new career?" right before his line about the Princess' well-being. This banter is not subtitled, and it was mysteriously removed from international versions in spite of it being in clear English.

More additional lines were removed from the international versions, including Mario and Toadsworth's thoughts regarding the airstrip- Mario can be heard saying "It looks like a giant empty plate" regarding the goop earlier in the same cutscene, in the shot right before the Toads' lines.

(Source: sunn)

The Prosecutor

Japanese	International

In the international versions of the court cutscene, the prosecutor and the judge use "Isle Delfino" consistently. In the Japanese video, while the judge continues using "Isle Delfino", the prosecutor uses an alternate take where he instead creates a third variant of the island's name: "Delfino Isle".

During this take, the prosecutor's voice actor also misreads all instances of "shine" as "shrine", resulting in terms like "Shrine Sprites" and "Shrine Gate", among other mispronunciations.

Japanese	International

(Source: Angry_Max)

F.L.U.D.D. Stolen

The sound when F.L.U.D.D. is snatched from Mario is much louder in the international versions. Additionally a whoosh sound was added when Shadow Mario passes by and the sound at the end was changed to a different pitch.

Japanese	International

Level Select

Japanese	International

Japanese	International

Japanese	International

Several level names were changed for the English-speaking audience. Note that Mare is the name for Noki, and Monte is the name for Pianta (although the water bottles, which spell out "Monte Drink", were left unlocalized). Additionally, stories are called episodes and "My score" was reduced to "Score" in the international releases.

Isle Delfino

Japanese	International

In the international versions, the island is always referred to as "Isle Delfino" while the name is less consistent in the Japanese version, where it is referred to as Dolphic Island by the introductory video.

As seen in the Japanese video above, the name "Dolphic Island" (a translation of ドルピックとう, the in-game Japanese name) is shown during the intro. The speaker (which uses the same English voice acting) still refers to it as "Isle Delfino", even when "Dolphic Island" is shown in the top-left corner.

On a related note, Hotel Delfino was always named Delfino, even in the Japanese version. A poster inside the hotel that reads "Dolpic" was left unlocalized in the other releases.

Map Screen

Upper Text

Japanese	International

Lower Text

Japanese	International

The small text on the map screen was changed for the international versions to read a little more naturally. Also, the lettering is thicker.

Jump Off of Yoshi

The way Mario jumps off of Yoshi differs between the Japanese and the international versions. In the Japanese version, he jumps off directly above Yoshi and in the international versions, he jumps off rather behind him. This change was most probably done in order to fix a glitch that allows you to clip through ceilings when jumping off of Yoshi, but it also introduced the "infinite flutter" glitch that allows you to flutter consecutively by jumping off and using a ground-pound immediately.

Level Preview Videos

See here.

Signboard Text

Japanese	International

In international versions, signboards show what is assumed to be gibberish. For a long time, the glyphs themselves were assumed to be random symbols. However, in 2024, 2CPhoenix discovered that the glyphs are a cipher which map to the Latin alphabet. They coined the term "Dolphic" to describe this system, and it operates in the same way as the Hylian language in the Legend of Zelda series. While other instances of Dolphic portray apparent intelligible text, this signboard graphic does not, reading "RZTU BOD TVR". This probably went undiscovered for many years because various graphics use English and Italian in Latin characters, seemingly negating the need for a thought out fictional language.

The Japanese version displays English text, but it is actually just a mangled example sentence taken from a dictionary. The text seems to read (missing text in brackets):

This isn't gonna [hurt a bit.]
Just a little stick.
Ready? 1...2...3.
There you [go.] All do[ne].

Fountain Fruits

Pairs of fruit were added to the water fountains in Delfino Plaza in the international versions, likely to make feeding Yoshi more convenient. Pineapples were put in the fountain by the Bianco Hills entrance, and papayas were put in the fountain by the Noki Bay entrance.

Japanese	International

Japanese	International

Exclusive Shine Spawns

Japanese	International

If the player collects 99 coins on the main plaza, and then one more coin on the secret level "Red Coin Field", the game will freeze in the Japanese version; this happens because there is no spawn point for the 100-coin Shine Sprite in this level. Despite the absence of Yellow coins in this level, Pokeys release some coins when they're sprayed into a wall. A spawn point for the Shine Sprite was added in the international versions, and counts as the 100-coin Shine for Delfino Plaza.

Sirena Beach's 3rd Episode is also missing its 100-coin Shine Sprite spawn on the beach in the Japanese version. Even though it's impossible to collect 100 coins out on the beach in Episode 3, the spawn was added back in the international versions.

Too Bad!

Japanese	English

When Mario loses a life in the Japanese version, the text says "Miss!" In the English versions, it says "Too bad!" instead.

(Source: http://themushroomkingdom.net/sms_j-e.shtml)

Shine!

Japanese	English

The text that appears when Mario collects a Shine Sprite says "Shine get!" in the Japanese version. In the English versions, the "get" was removed to fix the awkward grammar.

(Source: http://themushroomkingdom.net/sms_j-e.shtml)

Buttons in Text

The button characters used for when the game explains how to use an in-game function are slightly different between versions. In the Japanese version some of the buttons take on a square-shape, while in the international versions the buttons were redone to look more like the actual buttons on the controller so that the images can be seen better.

Japanese	International

Fruit HUD

When Yoshi runs out of juice before disappearing, the text "Hungry" appears in the Japanese version. In the international versions, it's "Fruit".

Japanese	International

Softlock in the Italian Language

There's a rather simple softlock exclusive to the Italian language setting (which exists in the normal European version and Super Mario 3D All-Stars).

During Gelato Beach's eighth episode, The Watermelon Festival, by reading the first sign straight ahead the game will show two dialogue boxes instead of one; the second being an unintended empty one probably added during translation. The second dialogue box can't be closed, causing the game to softlock.

Stage Changes

The European version changed a couple of stages as well:

• The ferris wheel in Episode 5 of Pinna Park moves slower.
• The windmill in Bianco Hills moves slower.

Other Changes

In the international versions:

• Stage loading times are slightly slower
• When Shine Sprites appear after defeating Shadow Mario, they spin as they fall
• Spraying Klambers with water stuns them
• The number of frames of air damage while underwater was changed from 11 to 50
• Glitches fixed:
  • When you throw a fruit as you land which causes the fruit to float in mid-air.
  • A "Sound Glitch" can occur randomly after a Shine Sprite spawns. This glitch causes various things to break throughout the game, including some sounds not playing, timer music muting, losing a life will take several seconds longer to respawn Mario, and the game has a chance of crashing after collecting a Shine Sprite. This glitch stays active until the console is reset.
• Glitches added:
  • The international versions have a glitch called 'Fruit Storage'. By dismounting Yoshi while Yoshi is in the process of eating a fruit, the fruit will freeze in mid-air and allow you to eat it from anywhere in the level.
• The test map "test11" is present.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars Changes

To do: At least some of the cutscenes aren't upscaled, but rather re-rendered from scratch. For example, the Delfino Plaza statue cutscene having a sleeping Player Mario in the background, lighting differences, and a slightly different facial animation for Cutscene Mario. Also notable are the timing differences present in the Mecha-Bowser cutscene. Document these changes and more. Is the audio still compatible with Dolby Pro Logic II decoders (i.e. pumping it through one outputs the game in 5.1 surround sound)? Don't know if this was me or something I'd actually experienced before, but the 3D All-Stars version has a typo for one of the NPC's dialogue in Gelato Beach, resulting in "a coin fel".

On September 18, 2020, to coincide with the 35th Anniversary of the Mario series, Nintendo released Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a collection featuring Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy.

The version of Sunshine featured in the collection runs through Nintendo's GameCube/Wii emulator Hagi, but to optimize performance, the code was recompiled ahead of time, allowing the game to have native widescreen support and the prerendered cutscenes (which get replaced with upscaled versions) were blanked out to save on file size. Aside from this, there's a slew of (mostly minor) differences from the initial release.

General

• All of the prerendered cutscenes have been upscaled, along with some in-game textures.
  • These are patched in on the fly as the game runs, and as such won't show up if the disc image is ripped and loaded on real hardware or in Dolphin. (Textures will be at the same resolution as the GameCube version and cutscenes will simply display a black screen with subtitles, though the audio still plays.)
• The game now plays in widescreen.
• The Dolby Surround Pro Logic II screen has been removed.
• Since the Switch's controllers don't have analog triggers, F.L.U.D.D.'s spray accelerates more slowly (even if playing with a GameCube controller). This allows for light spraying by quickly tapping the button.

Title Screen

Japanese (GameCube)	American (GameCube)	European (GameCube)
Japanese (Switch)	American English (Switch)	European languages (Switch)

The title screen's "PRESS START!" prompt has been replaced by "PRESS A". The American English title screen positions the prompt under the logo, just like the other versions, though it still uses the shrinking "PRESS" text.

Options Menu

Japanese (GameCube)	American (GameCube)
European (GameCube)	Switch

The options menu lacks the sound setting option, as it's automatically set based on the Switch's own settings. Like the European version, the image of the GameCube controller isn't present. However, its exclusion from this version is because the Switch version is compatible with its own controllers, though support for the GameCube controller was later added in an update.

Textures

Level Preview Videos

See here.

Buttons in Text

To do: Add switch image

International (GameCube)	Switch
	todo

The button textures have been changed once again to match the new layout for Switch controllers.

Audio/Video

F.L.U.D.D.'s Introduction

International (GameCube)	Switch

In the tutorial cutscene where F.L.U.D.D. introduces itself to Mario, its dialogue has been choppily edited to remove mentions of the GameCube's controller buttons, which results in F.L.U.D.D. calling each button "the button", and the control stick "the stick". The new control scheme, however, is shown in the subtitles.

Other

This page or section has one or more broken YouTube links. Please find an archived version of the video(s) or a suitable replacement.

• The sound effect that plays when a race starts has been replaced with a 1 kHz tone, similar to a common censor beep. This is as a result of a DSP bug in Hagi, the emulator used to run Sunshine. This was fixed in the Version 1.1.0 update.

International (GameCube)	Switch

• Using the turbo nozzle underwater caused the accompanying screen effect to not display correctly, the result of it not functioning correctly with the new 16:9 resolution. This was fixed in version 1.1.0.

Text

• The text that displays during saving was revised to remove any mentions of the Memory Card, for obvious reasons.

GameCube	Switch
Saving File... Please do not touch the Memory Card or the POWER button.	Saving File... Please do not touch the POWER button.

Revisional Differences

Version 1.0.0

Initial release. (Cartridge Release)

Version 1.1.0

• Adds native GameCube controller support, replicating the control scheme from the original 2002 release. Previously, the controller simply functioned identically to the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller when used.
• Incorporates the option to use inverted camera controls.
• Using the Turbo Nozzle underwater now covers the full 16:9 aspect ratio with the corresponding shader for this action.
• The debug cubes seen in secret levels are no longer visible, better reflecting the original release.
• The sound effect that plays when a race starts now plays back properly.