View Single Post
Old 01-10-2010, 02:58 AM   #1
Dark Seraphim
Junior Member
 
Dark Seraphim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Gender: Undisclosed
Posts: 431
Thanks: 4
Thanked 20 Times in 15 Posts
Item of the Week #8

F.L.U.D.D.



First Appearance: Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube, 2002)
Latest Appearance: New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (Wii, 2009)

I hope Metal Mario doesn't mind, but this week I've decided to review one of the sentient items of the Mario Universe, everyone's favorite hydraulic-based cleaning device (I know that's a pretty short list), F.L.U.D.D.

Introduced in the black sheep Mario game of the Gmaecube era, F.L.U.D.D., standing for Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device, was Mario's primary offense against Bowser Jr.'s Magic Paintbrush and the paint-based pollution is spread across the Isle of Delfino. Created by Prof. E. Gadd, F.L.U.D.D. can easily be seen as the counterpart to Luigi's Poltergust 3000 from Luigi's Mansion, although in this game we don't actually get to see E. Gadd take credit for his work personally. During its use in Super Mario Sunshine the device has access to several different attachments, including a device to allow Mario to hover around without falling, one that allows Mario to move at super fast speeds on the ground or in water, and one that shoots Mario up into the sky, far (FAR!) exceeding the reach of his normal jumps. Despite being an item, F.L.U.D.D. does show evidence of A.I., and will share in simple conversations with Mario during the adventure, even showing rudimentary emotion by the game's end!



FUN FACT!: When F.L.U.D.D. scans Mario in Super Mario Sunshine, a little window in the bottom left corner shows short gameplay clips of various Mario games, such as Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64. After Bowser is beaten at the end and F.L.U.D.D. is looking at Mario, the window shows "Game Over" from Mario Bros..



After Sunshine we don't see much of this actual F.L.U.D.D. again for quite a few years, however before that we do get to see its design emulated in several machines and enemies in the Mario franchise. The F.L.U.D.D. design shows up again in Mario Power Tennis, as well as its sequal, New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis on the Wii, as well as several enemies based on the F.L.U.U.D. nozzle appearing in Super Mari Galaxy just recently. F.L.U.D.D. him(or her)self finally makes a self reappearance in 2008 as one of Mario's new moves in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Although in combat F.L.U.D.D. doesn't actually do any damage, it does offer quite a strong push back, and can easily knock character off the edge when fully charged. With how many times F.L.U.D.D. continues to pop up in the Mario continuity, it proves that although Sunshine may not have been a record breaker, some aspects of it won't be forgotten so easily!



Item of the week #1: Hammer
Item of the week #2: Boo Mushroom
Item of the week #3: Metal Cap
Item of the week #4: Tanooki Suit
Item of the week #5: Ice Flower
Item of the week #6: Thunderbolt
Item of the week #7: Coconut Gun
Dark Seraphim is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Page generated in 0.03925 seconds with 11 queries