10 Worst "Ultimate" Video Game Unlocks

4. A Postcard - Super Mario Sunshine

super mario sunshine 120 shines
Nintendo

We’ve already had a couple of entries involving complex completionist challenges and this one is just about the worst in terms of effort put in versus the crap reward returned.

Super Mario Sunshine is a fan favourite for plenty of reasons, all of which are well earned, but there’s one infamous footnote we can’t look past. Gamers felt particularly burned by their efforts when they realised that the non 100% endings for this game is arguably better than the 100% ending.

The reward for collecting all 120 shine sprites, which is a super tricky undertaking, is literally a postcard featuring Mario, Peach, and all their mates standing around awkwardly with the words ‘Have a relaxing vacation!’ underneath. The fact that the reward is a postcard is one thing. The fact that it’s not even a good postcard is a whole other level of disappointment.

Thanks a bunch, Mario.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.