Super Mario Sunshine joins the Nintendo GameCube Classics app on Switch 2 on Thursday, Aug. 13, Polygon reported. The 2002 platformer will be available to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers at no additional cost.
The GameCube Classics app was announced in a Nintendo Direct in April and released in July of last year alongside Switch 2, launching with a handful of titles. Polygon reported that Super Mario Sunshine was among the games shown in that announcement trailer, and that Nintendo has continued to add titles to its Classic apps on a monthly basis.
An emulation, not the 3D All-Stars version
Polygon reported that the GameCube Classics release is an emulation of the original GameCube game rather than the version bundled in Super Mario 3D All-Stars. It is scaled to fit modern screen sizes but has not been visually enhanced.
That distinction matters for availability as much as presentation. Super Mario 3D All-Stars, the collection that previously carried Sunshine, was sold only for a limited period, Polygon reported, which left many players without a way to buy the game on a modern console.
What the subscription tiers cover
The base Nintendo Switch Online tier costs $19.99 per year and covers online features on Switch and Switch 2, exclusive profile icons, cloud saves, the Nintendo Music app, and the NES, SNES and Game Boy libraries. The Expansion Pack tier costs $49.99 per year and adds GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, Virtual Boy and Sega Genesis titles, plus DLC and Switch 2 upgrade packs for major Nintendo releases.
Polygon put the Expansion Pack at roughly $4 a month for access to hundreds of classic titles, and suggested Nintendo may have held back GameCube releases early in the app's life to keep attention on the Switch 2 hardware launch and on newer games.
In Sunshine, Mario is sentenced to clean up Isle Delfino for a crime he did not commit, and spends the game working out who framed him.
Join the conversation — sign in to comment.
Sign in