Other locations are also present in most of Delfino Isle’s main levels. From Plaza Delfino, the player can also see other levels in the distance.

Stitching everything together is Plaza Delfino, the most vivid and exuberating HUB world in Super Mario history.

While this choice could have led to repetitive level design, Nintendo did an exceptional job in making each level unique, leading the player to explore a harbor, a beach, a haunted hotel, and a lush forest, among many other locations. That means Sunshine’s levels share the same overall tropical island theme. Instead, they take Mario to distinct corners of the same island. While magic portals are everywhere, Sunshine’s main levels don’t teleport the player to different dimensions. There, the gang ends up involved with the evil deads of a Mario doppelganger who’s been polluting the island. Sunshine takes place in the paradisiac Isle Delfino, where Mario and his troupe go on vacation. Sunshine took a step forward by connecting every level to the overworld before the players’ eyes. This clever design choice allowed Super Mario 64 to have levels with unique locations without breaking the narrative cohesion of the enchanted castle. The Castle, however, remained disconnected from the main levels, which can be accessed through enchanted paintings and objects everywhere. While many 2D Mario games have beautiful overworlds that work as fancy level selection screens, Super Mario 64took things up a notch by turning Peach’s Castle into a level itself, filled with secrets to discover.

Super mario odyssey world map selection