It’s taken a bizarrely long time, but Nintendo is finally adding the summeriest game ever made to Nintendo Switch Online, with Super Mario Sunshine joining the Switch 2’s GameCube library next month. The 2002 follow-up to the industry-defining Super Mario 64 was one of the first games Nintendo announced for the GameCube Classics app before the Switch 2 launched, but for whatever reason we’re only getting it now.

The second 3D Mario game sees the plumber and pals head off to the sunny Isle Delfino on a well-earned vacation, but the good times don’t last for long, as a nefarious shadow version of Mario frames the good one for vandalism. The plumber is ordered to clean up a mess he didn’t make with the help of a sentient water cannon called a Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device (FLUDD), while simultaneously undertaking an obligatory princess-saving mission.

Despite its immaculate tropical vibes, Super Mario Sunshine is perhaps the most divisive of all the 3D Mario games, owing to wonkier physics and controls than we expect from Nintendo’s flagship series. It’s also comically difficult in places, which isn’t helped by a decidedly early 2000s camera. The platforming is built around the FLUDD mechanic, which makes Sunshine one of the most unique Mario outings, but its critics would argue that Nintendo went a bit too far in trying to differentiate the game from its groundbreaking predecessor.

Whatever side of the debate you land on, Super Mario Sunshine‘s arrival on Nintendo Classics is an important one, as it means all home console 3D Mario games can now be played on Switch 2 (the 3DS’ Super Mario 3D Land remains exclusive to the handheld). The game was part of 2020’s Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection, but if you didn’t pick that up for your Switch at the time you can no longer do so, as Nintendo bafflingly decided to delist it.

As Super Mario Sunshine on NSO is an emulated version of the GameCube original, you can expect it to play pretty much exactly as it did in 2002, warts and all, with the added bonus of upscaled visuals and built-in save states. It joins NSO on August 13. Before that, Nintendo will also add Zero Racers and D-Hopper to its Virtual Boy Nintendo Classics app on August 4. As a reminder, both the GameCube and Virtual Boy are part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership tier, which costs $50 per year.