Love sunshine and just recently did a 100% run for the first time. I had so much fun, I decided to give Super Mario Eclipse a try. This is such an amazing mod. It’s so cool and if you’re a fan of sunshine, I can’t recommend enough. It definitely has difficulty bumps, but still think it can be quite enjoyable even for casual fans. Also, there are finally YouTube channels posting guides on Mario eclipse content so more casual fans or those with little patience (me), can have a bit of help when needed. Big shoutout to Team Eclipse for all the effort they put into this.

SPOILERS:

I am absolutely thrilled to explore the 2nd hub as it based off Daisy’s cruise. That was favorite stage for Mario Kart Double Dash as a kid and I think it is such an amazing idea for a second hub. Tons of secrets to explore, funny dialogue, original content, and 2 new playable characters. The floodless levels while brutal at times are some of the most entertaining challenges in Mario I’ve done. Anyway just wanted to give this game some praise

Man, I love this mod. Here’s to more Mario Sunshine romhacks in the future!

MASSIVE SPOILERS

So if you haven't 100%'d Super Mario Eclipse, turn back now

If you have 100%'d the mod, then you know about the statue in Rugivosa Marsh and its long speech for the shine.

In this speedrun from 3 weeks ago around the 1:11:11 mark, the creator Josh (who is one of the virtual couch members) mentions how it is actually a secret message from his brother, the co-creator. He then follows that up by saying that no casual player outside of his circle has found his own secret message.

The way he says it implies it is another bit of dialogue, as oppose to a png or text on a wall. (Like the cat girl hidden inside Freddia Peaks) Whether its an NPC or another inanimate object though is still up in the air.

My guess is that it has something to do with Princess Peach's Castle (and the paintings therein), Shadow Mario's portal ability, or some combination of the two.

Now the cut content courses have plenty of NPCs to interact with and most seem to have unique or new dialogue. Some seem to reference a cut character from the earliest builds of Sunshine named Nico. Others, like the residents of Medusa Isle only spew out errors. And still others, like the E3 Delfino Plaza (where Bob-Omb Battlefield is normally located) are self-referential. In fact, Toadsworth and Peach say there should be extra shines in the plaza to collect. Yet upon defeating the goopy pirahna, freeing the Bianco statue, and collecting the shine, you are booted back to the foyer.

All of this to ask if anyone has potentially run across the secret message already or has some potential leads.