Super Mario Sunshine is without a doubt one of the best 3D Mario games ever released, but have you ever wondered what it might look like if it were transferred to Game Boy Advance around the same time as its original GameCube release in 2002?
If you have, do not be surprised – as a pixel artist known as ‘huttaburger’ over on Twitter has recreated the game’s most important hub island, Delfino Plaza – and recreates what it might have looked like on Nintendo’s 32-bit handheld system.
According to the artist, this “GBA port” would have been “a bit like the game” on the GameCube, but not quite. Back then, a perfectly mirrored port from console to handheld would have been unlikely, so that makes sense.
The only downside to all of this is that there is no real game here. However, if that has made you want to have some fun in the sun, Nintendo re-released Super Mario Sunshine on the Switch as part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection in 2020, the only catch is that it was a time-limited release, so it can no longer be purchased in the eShop, and physical copies may no longer be available.
The same artist has also made various other consoles for handheld pixel art customizations based on the hedgehog Sonic series and more. In some related news, a GBA emulator for Switch online was apparently discovered last week, suggesting that the return of GBA titles may not be far off.
What do you think of the above pixel art? Drop a comment below.