This unofficial Super Mario Sunshine PC port puts Nintendo’s Switch 2 version to shame

Published Oct 6, 2026, 11:13 AM EDT Patrick O'Rourke is XDA's News Editor and Entertainment Segment Lead. Previously, he was Pocket-lint's Editor-in-Chief, the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian tech publication MobileSyrup, and earlier in his career, he worked as the technology editor at the Financial Post and Postmedia. He's based in Toronto. Over the past 15 years, he's written thousands of articles. Patrick has also interviewed dozens of tech industry executives and covered GDC, E3, Gamescom, WWDC, Apple keynotes, Samsung Unpacked events and more. Patrick has a BA in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University. Summary This unofficial Super Mario Sunshine PC port features major upgrades, including up to 8× resolution, 60fps, widescreen, mods, and UHD textures. The Switch 2 version runs at 900p/30fps in 4:3, while the original Switch version played at 1080p/30 docked — this new unofficial PC build easily outperforms both. Quality-of-life features include a free camera, button remapping, and controller support. Nintendo recently re-released 2002 GameCube classic Super Mario Sunshine on the Switch 2 as part of its Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. This followed the game's 2020 release on the original Switch as part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection. While both ports are fine, as is often the case with the recent wave of unofficial retro game recompilations and decompilations, Super Mario Sunshine PC Port 1Ups Nintendo's official releases in several ways. First, the PC port can run at 8x the original game's resolution, with 2x, 4x, or 8x MSAA, FXAA, and up to 16x anisotropic filtering and sharpening. It also supports mods, allowing you to install a UHD texture pack that replaces more than 2,000 textures in the iconic 3D platformer. Other quality-of-life upgrades include 60fps and widescreen support up to 32:9. You can even change the camera speed and switch to a free camera. With Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Ship of Harkinian PC port, I found that switching to a free camera makes the game feel much more modern, so it's great to see this feature in this Super Mario Sunshine port, too. Lastly, you can remap every button, and Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch Pro controllers work automatically. Nintendo's official Super Mario Sunshine ports are pretty lackluster in comparison Once again, a fan-made project has handily surpassed an official release Credit: Nintendo In comparison, the recently released Switch 2 version of Super Mario Sunshine plays at roughly 900p, 30fps, and a 4:3 aspect ratio, while the Super Mario 3D All-Stars original Switch release played at 1080p/30fps docked and 720p on a handheld with a 16:9 aspect ratio (yes, somehow the game runs worse on the Switch 2). This makes TekRantGaming's PC port a massive leap over both the Switch and Switch 2 versions of Super Mario Sunshine. In theory, since the unofficial PC port builds on chasem-dev's unofficial decompilation of the GameCube title and doesn't feature emulation like Nintendo's Switch versions, it should offer an experience more accurate to the original release. Like with all PC ports like this, you'll need to supply your own disc image to play the game. Of course, if you know where to look online, it's not difficult to find. Along with Windows 11, Super Mario Sunshine PC Port also runs on macOS and Linux. Super Mario Sunshine is pretty divisive for its F.L.U.D.D.-focused gameplay (that's the water gun on Mario's back), but I've always found it both refreshing and challenging as a 3D platformer. In other old-school game PC port-related news, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which released back in 2023 on the original Switch, was recently ported to PC using recompiled C++ and NVN-to-Vulkan layer. A browser-based Halo: Combat Evolved port that allows for 128-player multiplayer also recently dropped.