Shmuplations has translated two interviews from 2002 on the development of the then-upcoming Super Mario Sunshine, and both reveal some rather interesting details about how the game's FLUDD mechanic, and Mario's short-sleeved look, came to be (thanks, Time Extension!).
The first of these interviews appeared in Nintendo Dream and is between Mario creator and producer Shigeru Miyamoto, Sunshine's producer Takashi Tezuka, and the game's director Yoshiaki Koizumi. The trio discusses the trials and tribulations of getting a unique Mario game onto the GameCube, a system that was still relatively new at the time of the game's development.
Director Koizumi took inspiration from the GameCube's 'L' and 'R' buttons — pressing them in reminded him of "the water pistols I used to play with as a kid", which is likely where FLUDD originates from. And according to Miyamoto, FLUDD caused Nintendo a bit of concern:
"There was a very serious debate at Nintendo about the FLUDD water tank. Was it really appropriate to make Mario use tools and items like that? I mean, it was ok for Luigi, so… (laughs)"
We agree, Miyamoto! If Luigi can use the Poltergust 3000, then Mario can use FLUDD! Another amusing anecdote around Super Mario Sunshine is about Mario's new look — Miyamoto says that the team "tried giving him a tank top", which made the character not look like Mario at all! And Tezuka had reservations in general about changing Mario's design much but eventually agreed to give him shorter sleeves.
Koizumi wanted FLUDD to pave the way for "more eccentric and unusual action for Mario", and stated during the interview:
"Miyamoto actually said to us that he wanted the GameCube Mario to be something wild. Still, when I showed him the pump-looking toy thing, I could tell he was worried about where this was all going. In the end, though, the image of Mario doing his job, spraying water everywhere—it's pretty wild, right?"
FLUDD definitely made for a very different Mario experience with Sunshine, which is often singled out by fans of the Italian plumber. However, the game has a special place in many people's hearts.
- Further reading - Soapbox: 20 Years Later, Super Mario Sunshine Is Still The Best 3D Mario
In the second interview, sourced from the GSLA archive (and found around halfway down the page), the trio also revealed they wanted to give Mario a Hawaiian shirt — which you could eventually get after you beat Bowser for the first time. The shirt also made an appearance in Super Mario Odyssey!
But there are even more details on the FLUDD tank in this interview, including the fact that there were originally ten different nozzles for the device! Koizumi reveals that many of these were cut because discovering multiple items and using them felt more like a Zelda game:
"Mario Sunshine has the hover, rocket, and turbo nozzles, but originally there were 10 different types. We just kept adding them whenever we thought of a different situation they could be used in. In the end we whittled it down to just those three though. The reason why, is we felt that the whole playstyle of finding many different items and using them in the right situation was more befitting of a Zelda game."
The concept of cleaning up in a Mario game may have seemed a bit strange, and the team were wary that this might not have been appealing, which is why the "goop" looks "pretty" — and they even compared some of it to a "chocolate sauce look".
Despite how unusual FLUDD is, it's easily become the most iconic part of Super Mario Sunshine, even making an appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series as part of Mario's attacks. This is still the perfect Mario summer vacation game, and — if you have a Switch — you can at least experience this weird, wonderful adventure through Super Mario 3D All-Stars (if you're lucky to have a copy!).
What did you think of the FLUDD mechanic? Are you a Super Mario Sunshine fan? Fill up the comments with your thoughts!
[source shmuplations.com, via timeextension.com]
Comments 33
While I do feel Sunshine was the weakest of the main line Mario titles because it was different, it's also one of the more interesting ones to revisit because of how different it is.
At that period of time, we all should be thankful that Nintendo did not go down the "dark" "gritty" "serious" theme a lot of series did at the time.
I had the same concerns with FLUDD. I couldn't get past that as a kid, but did end up finishing it with the 3D All Stars release.
I never noticed Mario's short sleeves before...
@AlanaHagues “In the second interview, sourced from the GSLA archive (and found around halfway down the page), the trio also revealed they tried to give Mario a Hawaiian shirt — which we eventually got in Super Mario Odyssey.”
The shirt appears in Sunshine too - it debuted in that game. It’s unlocked after you beat Bowser for the first time.
@LudicrousBeeswax Can I say I have played Mario Sunshine quite a few times. Back in 2003 and when 3D All Stars came out. I've seen that cover art more times than I can count. I genuinely also never noticed Mario was wearing a short sleeve shirt. I think my brain is so trained to Mario's usual look it just never occurred to me that in this game, it was slightly different
I remember that my interest was pretty low, having almost dropped off from consoles at this point and thinking that this was some kind of inferior gimmicky spin-off while Nintendo were working on the "real" successor to Mario 64. A year or two after its release, I borrowed a friend's Gamecube to play other stuff, but decided to give Sunshine a shot anyway. That's when I realized that it was actually a genuine, fun and awesome Mario game, and it ended up being the one I spent the most time on while I had my friend's GC.
So, in short, I was proven wrong. FLUDD provided fun non-gimmicky gameplay after all, and Mario Sunshine was a true, worthy next-gen Mario game.
I was weirded out by it as a kid but as an adult, I'm happy with the direction they took. Sunshine is one of the best ones
Question : What did you think of the FLUDD mechanic?
Me : It was a MESS !
The FLUDD aiming control was really terrible.
I enjoyed more weapon using from Ratchet & Clank games than Mario Sunshine.
It was easy peasy using weapon in Ratchet & Clank games.
Glad I sold my Mario 3D All Stars several months ago.
Sunshine is and might always be my favorite Mario. The GCN era is near and dear to my heart.
I know people loved that game because they grew up with it, but I really disliked Sunshine. True I only started playing it as it was on the 3D Allstars but I didnt even complete it as the camera angles were awful and the control of the FLUDD was just mayhem, I just gave up.
I may go back to it at some point, but my backlog is way too big and want to play on new games that I might like.
I never really understood the debate over FLUDD and as a kid I thought he was pretty fun, especially with the rocket nozzle. Sunshine is a classic that I loved to play again on Switch, especially when they added GameCube controller support and fixed weird glitches.
Its different, my favorite 3d Mario game
You know I always preferred Luigi's Mansion to Mario Sunshine. I think that's just because a spooky haunted house setting is more appealing to me than a tropical island vacation one.
@Browny is not the weakest at all. weak how? it's an amazing plataformer
Definitely one of my favourite 3D Mario entries. I always loved FLUDD and the game holds up extremely well to this day
Koizumi was the coolest. He's responsible for the ambitious stories Super Mario Galaxy, Link's Awakening, and Majora's Mask and it always felt the Mario and Zelda series were at their most creative whenever he was at the helm. It's a shame he hasn't directed a game in years.
It’s germ of Splatoon, so I’m glad they went with fludd
@Koxen
A lot of subpar level design, a lackluster amount of content, a final level is that rather abysmal...
I could go on, but it's ultimately a subjective discussion, and not one I plan to debate this morning.
@Bunkerneath I enjoy some moments in the game. But unless it receives a complete overhaul in terms of controls and camera (essentially a remake I guess), it is not a Mario game I plan on ever going back to again. Great if others can overcome its flaws. Lord knows I enjoy certain games with their own issues that others can't get past. I will acknowleged that at its core, there exist a fantastic game, that with some changes, could be realized. But I have no desire to ever revisit Sunshine. And I am probably as big of a Mario fan as they come
Sunsine was my favorite 3D mario game of all time at one point. that is until Galaxy 2 came along. Glad they went with the fludd direction
This is the worst Mario game ever.
The last traditional 3d mario game they made many advancements to the movement and level design
It was pretty silly to try & make it a character , when it 'died' it was more humorous than sad lol
I sort of wish Miyamoto did direct the GC Mario. But he did have to hand the series over sometime.
I sort of think Koizumi, atleast originally, thought Mario was for very young children instead of everyone .In addition the freedom in progressing and collecting stars and unlocking routed from the game in 64 was traded for a pretty rigid structure of only certain shines counting towards unlocking the final boss.
While Sunshine was still very good, it was a bit if a let down, after Super Mario 64 so much right the first time it was a bit bad that Sunshine went backwards on game progression. For the sake of a pretty crappy story with unskippable cutscenes.
I missed Sunshine during the Gamecube era for various reasons. I think in that time I was so back in forth with console gaming and PC gaming with Unreal and/or Aliens vs Predator 2 (anyone remember Gamespy???). I got 3D All-Stars and was able to get through it. It's definitely rough around the edges and can be finnicky but overall, I did enjoy it. Not my favorite by far but I had fun. There were plenty of areas of frustration I can admit though. And lastly, those blue coins? They can eat my @ss!
@Erigen
Technically, we did get Twilight Princess...
I still daydream about how good "mario 128" could have been without the "cleaning up stuff with water" nonsense.
there is not one reason a mario game should be this controversial, lol.
mario could never innovate again, for all i care, just give me more SMB3, SMW, and mario 64!
Gamecube era was just an overall wild Nintendo era. We got wild Zelda, wild Mario, wild Metroid, wild Donkey Kong platforming with a BONGO CONTROLLER, wild Starfox, wild F-Zero, wild 1080, wild Mario Kart, wild 2d Zelda,... And other wild stuff like Eternal Darkness, Geist, Killer 7, RE4, Luigi in a spooky mansion as the "mario launch title", older Zelda games for free, wild Pacman multiplayer with GBA connectivity, and if all the goodness was too much to handle, a press of a button changed a big yellow friendly giant into an evil red giant and you could just destroy it all... And we got a purple cube with tiny discs and a friggin' handle attached to its friggin' back. A wireless controller with an A button you could not NOT press when you saw it.
Some people just never want to take a walk on the wild side...
@Shambo It was just WYLD man!!
Although I don’t really care for Mario Sunshine, I appreciate that Nintendo took a risk with trying something different.
I didn't mind the concept of FLUDD and new gameplay concepts. I just didn't like the actual game it ended up being. I didn't enjoy the overall design and found myself fighting with the camera way too much, more than other 3D games of that time. I had only played Mario 64 casually prior to that, but I had the same issues there so I guess they carried over.
@Browny subpar? lol I disagree
I kind of thought it was fun for a bit, but, the level selection really brings it down. As in I can play the first few levels and then I don't know where to go. I guess Peach's castle, or the Face Ship or just a plain old map seems boring, but it gets the job done.
Another issue that's not often mentioned, I feel like some of the levels are too vertical, which look really cool, but when you fall down it can take a long to get back up.
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