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Super Mario Sunshine mod turns the GameCube classic into a 10-player party

Better Super Mario Sunshine Online syncs movement, story, Shine Sprite, and Blue Coin progress across Dolphin sessions while adding hide-and-seek and 15 custom characters.

Mihaela Kicevski3 weeks ago

61 1 minute read

Super Mario Sunshine has received an unofficial multiplayer makeover through Better Super Mario Sunshine Online, a mod that adds online co-op for up to 10 players to Nintendo’s 2002 GameCube platformer.

The project is available through its GameBanana mod page. Rather than simply placing several versions of Mario in the same level, it links player progress across the adventure and gives groups new ways to play through Isle Delfino.

For its PC multiplayer setup, the mod connects separate Dolphin emulator instances and includes a launcher designed to handle the basic setup before a session begins. According to DSO Gaming’s report, the mod synchronizes player movement, animations, FLUDD sprays, Yoshi, Yoshi’s spray, and name tags so players can see the rest of the group moving through Isle Delfino in real time.

A full co-op Shine hunt

Teams can work together to collect all 120 Shine Sprites. Blue Coin progress is shared across the players as well, turning a usually solitary hunt into a group task.

Story and plaza progression also remain aligned across the group. In Red Coin missions, players in the same episode can collect the coins as a team, and someone joining an ongoing session can have their progress updated to match the rest of the group.

The mod also adds a 10-player hide-and-seek mode. That gives the game’s famously nimble movement a competitive setting, with players able to use the platformer’s movement tricks while searching for one another.

Character selection goes well beyond Mario. Better Super Mario Sunshine Online includes 15 fully custom characters, including Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, and Shadow the Hedgehog. Some of them also feature custom animations, giving the multiplayer sessions a look far removed from the original GameCube release.

The result is a particularly large fan project for a game that has long had an active modding community. It keeps the original platforming and collectible hunt intact, then adds enough multiplayer structure to make a group playthrough feel like more than a novelty.

Watch the mod in action below.

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A port of Super Mario Sunshine included in Super Mario 3D All-Stars, featuring updated textures and high-definition, widescreen visuals.

Time to hit the beach! Mario travels to the beautiful Isle Delfino for a tropical vacation with his friends, but instead finds himself teaming up with trusty F.L.U.D.D. to uncover a shadowy plot and the master puppeteer behind it all. His newfound friend also allows Mario to traverse worlds in all sorts of unique ways thanks to its wonderful water pump!