Super Mario Sunshine becomes available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members this August. Soon, players will be able to enjoy this relaxing summer game through the Nintendo GameCube Classics app on Switch 2.
With a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, gamers can use online features on Switch and Switch 2, get access to exclusive profile icons, save their game data on the cloud, use the Nintendo Music app, and play retro games from the NES, SNES, and Game Boy. All of this is available for $19.99 per year, which is less than $2 a month. However, this is just the first tier of the subscription service. For $49.99 per year, players can obtain the NSO Expansion Pack, which brings additional perks, such as games for the GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, Virtual Boy, and Sega Genesis, and access to DLC content and Switch 2 upgrade packs for major Nintendo titles. For about $4 a month, players can get access to hundreds of classic titles. And the library is constantly expanding, as Nintendo continues to announce new additions to the Nintendo Classic apps on a monthly basis.
The Nintendo GameCube Classics app was announced in a Nintendo Direct in April, and it was released in July of last year alongside the Switch 2. At launch, it only featured a handful of titles. Nintendo may have held back on getting up titles out to keep attention on the console’s launch and newer releases. Nevertheless, the Nintendo Direct announcement trailer showed players that the company was planning to bring a lot more titles to the app over time, and Super Mario Sunshine was one of several games shown back then.
It took over a year, but it seems that the time has finally come: Super Mario Sunshine is coming to the Nintendo GameCube Classics app on Switch 2. The game joins the app on Thursday, Aug. 13. Many players had been looking forward to the launch of this game on the GameCube Classics app, as the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection, which features Sunshine, was only available for sale for a limited time. Therefore, many gamers missed out on the chance to purchase it and thought they’d never have the opportunity to try Super Mario Sunshine on a modern console. Now, players get to help Mario serve his sentence for a crime he didn’t commit on Isle Delfino. It is their job to clean up the place while trying to figure out who incriminated him.
Unlike Super Mario Sunshine in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection, the GameCube Classics version of the game is exactly like the original. It’s an emulation of GameCube’s Sunshine, so while it is scaled to fit modern screen sizes, it has not been visually enhanced. Although Super Mario Sunshine was released for the GameCube in 2002, it is still visually stunning over 20 years later. Nintendo’s style makes it possible for older games to age quite well, so fans rarely find them unplayable due to dated graphics.
Super Mario Sunshine will be released on the Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Classics app on Aug. 13, 2026.
