The FLUDD was a water jet pack that Mario carries on his again all through Sunshine. Primarily used to scrub up the assorted “gunk” that plagued Isle Delfino, it additionally modified the best way you have been in a position to transfer and attain your targets within the completely different levels of the sport. It made Mario’s actions extra versatile and will even be altered relying on what nozzle you found and opted to make use of in-game.
In principle, it was the last word instance of how platforming wanted to grow to be extra fluid (pun not supposed), extra liberal, and rather less conventional. It compelled you to suppose in a different way about the way you navigated the sport’s 3D environments. Ideally, forcing gamers to rethink how they navigate such an area would have had the identical impression as Super Mario 64‘s revolutionary gameplay had.
There have been a number of issues with all the FLUDD idea, although. Not solely was it typically extremely tough to regulate (Sunshine is, typically talking, a really tough sport), however Sunshine‘s wonky camera system often made it even more difficult to pull off the more elaborate movements the FLUDD pack theoretically allowed for. Besides, some fans weren’t able to see their favourite character explode into the air like a rocketship or hover over stretches of platforms. To them, it felt like a betrayal of Mario’s major skillset and the beloved Super Mario 64‘s core gameplay.
Mechanical points apart, it’s these expectations that basically gave Sunshine a tainted identify out of the gate. Super Mario Sunshine‘s team was stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to please the fans while also expanding on the medium at large. They kept the sandbox gaming that was popular in Super Mario 64, but this also meant they couldn’t go all-in on the originality that the title was so clearly flirting with. Maybe a number of fixes to Sunshine‘s controls and camera would have helped, but there was the sense that people wanted the Super Mario 64 “sequel” that Sunshine just wasn’t regardless of a few of its similarities to what that hypothetical direct sequel may appear like.
To make issues worse, some gamers even disliked the choose sections of Sunshine the place FLUDD is taken away from you and also you’re compelled to depend on Mario’s extra conventional platforming maneuvers. Those stand-alone programs ask the gamer to get him to the end line with precision wall-jumping, leaping, and spinning. Some appreciated the methods these sections appealed to veteran followers with their extra conventional gameplay. Others loathed those self same ranges for his or her infuriating problem and required what appeared like unfair platformer expertise.
Love them or hate them, I really feel that a part of the rationale these sections felt so misplaced is solely that they have been misplaced. The primary ideas behind there have been beginning to grow to be slightly outdated and definitely felt misplaced within the context of the whole lot else Sunshine supplied. Nintendo was proper to develop on Mario’s moveset with FLUDD. Sunshine‘s controls and camera hurt FLUDD’s potential, however additionally they impacted the extra conventional (if tougher) platforming sections as properly. Sunshine‘s struggles may be traced again to the execution of its concepts slightly than the concepts themselves.
