Lakitu's Cloud
It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include more information. Reason: Add info on Yoshi's Story, as well as any other game where Lakitu's Cloud can be ridden. Any other notable clouds as well?
Lakitu's Cloud | |||
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Artwork of a Lakitu's Cloud for Nintendo Switch Online | |||
First appearance | Super Mario Bros. (1985) | ||
Latest appearance | Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024) | ||
Variant of | Cloud Block | ||
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Lakitu's Clouds (occasionally formatted as Lakitu's clouds)[1] are objects introduced in Super Mario Bros. They are clouds with a smiley face on each, usually inhabited and maneuvered through the air by Lakitus. Certain games of the Super Mario series, starting with Super Mario World, allow the player character to ride in one temporarily.
As Lakitus appear alongside their clouds in most games, this article will only cover instances where the cloud can act independently of its Lakitu, or otherwise notable appearances.
History[edit]
Super Mario series[edit]
Super Mario Bros. / Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels[edit]
Lakitu Cloud debut in Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as an inseparable part of Lakitus. Unlike future appearances, Lakitu's hands are baked into the top of the cloud's sprite.
Besides this, Lakitu Clouds look almost identical to Cloud Blocks, although the Nintendo Entertainment System's sprite palette limitations give them a different color; a green outline in overworld levels (the only one featured in Super Mario Bros.), light gray in underwater levels, and being pale pink with a dark teal outline exclusively in World C-3 of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Super Mario All-Stars's enhanced graphics avoid this issue, and make all Lakitu Clouds white.
An early development concept of Super Mario Bros. shows Mario riding a cloud similar to the Lakitu Cloud, years before he would become able to ride one in later games.
Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]
Lakitu's Cloud[2][3] (originally named Jugem's Cloud,[4][5][6] with "Jugem" being the romanization of Lakitu's Japanese name, or Cloud Jewel)[7]) returns in in Super Mario Bros. 3 and its reissues, once again as part of Lakitu. This time, the cloud is a separate sprite from Lakitu, bearing a white palette with a red mouth, while Lakitu utilizes a yellow palette.
Additionally, Lakitu's Cloud is an item usable in the overworld. It allows Mario or Luigi to skip over an uncompleted level from the world map, but it does not update their position on the map. If they die before clearing another level, they will be reset to before the level they skipped.
Super Mario World[edit]
Super Mario World introduces the ability to ride Lakitu's Cloud, a feature that became a mainstay in future appearances. In this game, they feature a larger, outline-less sprite with a pink mouth.
Although a Lakitu's Cloud dissolves if the Lakitu is stomped, it will be left behind if the Lakitu is defeated with fireballs or other projectiles. The player character can then jump onto an unoccupied Lakitu's Cloud and ride it in any direction using , even while riding Yoshi. A Lakitu's Cloud can be dismounted by jumping, causing it to move at a constant speed in the direction it was traveling. It will ignore any kind of solid collision, but it will not allow the player to move through it. Thus, it is possible for a cloud to end up stuck inside a wall, unable to be ridden. Lakitu's Clouds will flicker and despawn some time after their Lakitu is defeated, whether they are ridden or not.
A glitch exists in Super Mario World that causes the cloud to last indefinitely if the Lakitu on top is defeated with fire power.
Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds return in Super Mario 64 and its remake, once again as an inextricable part of all Lakitus. In Super Mario 64, they are represented with a billboarded 2D texture without a face, even though a texture for its face is unused in the game's data.[8] Super Mario 64 DS changes Lakitu's Cloud into a 3D model and gives it its usual look.
A glitch in Super Mario 64 can cause Lakitu's Cloud to become attached to a Power Star.[9]
New Super Mario Bros. series[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds appear in all games in the New Super Mario Bros. series, functioning similarly to Super Mario World. They are required to obtain certain Star Coins.
In New Super Mario Bros., hitting a Lakitu with a shell dash does not dissolve the cloud, allowing the player to ride it. Lakitu's Cloud grants the player character 1,000 points repeatedly, if touched while shell dashing, even if it is unoccupied.[10]
In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Lakitus leave their clouds behind when defeated by any method, including stomping. This is retained in all future 2D Super Mario games.
Lakitu's Clouds are affected by Gold Rings in New Super Mario Bros. 2, becoming gold and spawning a trail of coins when ridden. In this game, Lakitu's Clouds swell up for a split second to "paahs." In New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, and their port, they mouth the sound of a "paah" instead.
Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds return in Super Mario Galaxy 2, where they dissolve whenever their Lakitu is knocked out of them. If a Lakitu recovers from being stunned, it will create another cloud and return to its usual behavior.
Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS / Super Mario Maker 2[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds are course elements in Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, and Super Mario Maker 2, bearing a new, larger sprite in both the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 game styles. In Super Mario Maker 2, they are not available in the Super Mario 3D World game style, much like Lakitus themselves. Under the effects of a Big Mushroom in Super Mario Maker, they gain black moustaches resembling that of Luigi.
Defeating a Lakitu by any means will cause it to leave its cloud behind in all game styles. Lakitu's Clouds can also be placed independently, and can be placed inside of blocks (where they will spawn out of it when hit), pipes and Bill Blasters (where they will spawn endlessly one at a time), or attached to tracks (where they will travel along the track until ridden). Lakitu's Clouds will eventually flicker and despawn, unless they are being ridden or attached to a track.
Much like in previous games, Lakitu's Clouds can be ridden by the player, granting free omnidirectional movement. Most enemies and items can be placed inside a Lakitu's Cloud as well, where they will travel left and right on a horizontal plane, trying to align themselves vertically with the player and moving through solid terrain. Any large object placed inside a Lakitu's Cloud will cause it to grow larger to match, shrinking back down once the object is no longer riding it. If the object is winged, the cloud will bob up and down in a sinusoidal pattern as it flies. Objects retain their non-movement behaviors and properties when riding a Lakitu's Cloud, such as Chain Chomps lunging at the player, or Bill Blasters retaining their solidity.
In Super Mario Maker 2's Story Mode, Lakitu's Cloud is used to reconstruct Peach's Castle after completing Head in the Clouds.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds return in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, once again being left behind whenever a Lakitu is defeated. The Lakitu trio[conjectural], a new enemy in the game, rides an extra-wide cloud.
Lakitu-less clouds are spawned endlessly out of pipes in KO Arenas Fluff-Puff Kerfuff and Sunbaked Skirmish, as well as Petal Isles Flying Battleship. Unlike the Super Mario Maker games, the pipes can spawn more than one cloud at a time.
Five standees depict the four colored Yoshis and Nabbit riding on a Lakitu's Cloud, replacing the other playable characters' Fire form standee.
Mario Kart series[edit]
A Lakitu's Cloud is used by the Lakitu referee in the Mario Kart series. It wears goggles during underwater driving in Mario Kart 7, which introduces a vehicle based on Lakitu's Clouds, Cloud 9. Lakitu's Cloud is depicted on several courses in Dragon Driftway in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. A Lakitu's Cloud is the basis of the Standard Kart and emblem of the playable Lakitu in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX.
Yoshi franchise[edit]
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds are objects in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its remake, being able to be ridden much like in Super Mario World. Unlike in that game, Lakitus will only leave a cloud behind when stomped, with all other attack methods causing the cloud to dissolve.
Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds are objects in Yoshi's Woolly World and its remake Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. Their behavior and abilities resemble their appearance in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. However, Lakitu's Clouds are only destroyed by eating the Lakitu.
Mario Party series[edit]
Mario Party 10[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds are objects in the minigame Fuzzy Fliers in Mario Party 10. They are used to fly to the top of a tower. If a Lakitu's Cloud runs out of time, the player character in it loses.
Super Mario Party Jamboree[edit]
Lakitu's Cloud is an object in Super Mario Party Jamboree. It appears on Mario's Rainbow Castle, replacing the Fwoosh found on the original board. It takes the player to the tower where they can get a Star from Yellow Toad or a Ztar from Impostor Bowser.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie[edit]
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Lakitu's Clouds from Super Mario Bros. 3 appear in the antiques shop.
Other appearances[edit]
Lakitu's Cloud is used as the symbol for Nintendo Switch Online's cloud storage feature.
Profiles[edit]
Yoshi's Story[edit]
- Nintendo Magazine : Le seul magazine officiel Nintendo 64: Un petit plaisantin perché sur un nuage vous envoie des pierres... En lui lançant un œuf, vous le ferez tomber, et pourrez alors monter sur son nuage. Hélas, le nuage disparaît au bout de quelques secondes...[11] (a little joker perched on a cloud throw rock at you... by throwing an egg at him, you will make him fall, allowing you to climb onto his cloud. Alas, the cloud disappears after a few seconds...)
Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]
- Wii Virtual Console manual: Use this item to pass Mario over an uncompleted level on the map screen.
- Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console manual bio: Allows Mario to clear a level not yet cleared.
Super Mario Maker[edit]
- Play Nintendo:
Catch a cloud
Sure, you could bounce up to that extra high platform on a trampoline, but why not travel in style by knocking off Lakitu and stealing his cloud?[12]
General information[edit]
Physical appearance[edit]
Lakitu's Clouds are puffy, stylized cartoon clouds, often wider than they're tall. Most of them feature a simple face with simple bead eyes and a smiling face, much like many other objects in the Super Mario series. In the Paper Mario series, the clouds share the expressions of their owners; additionally, some Lakitu's Clouds in the Paper Mario series wear sunglasses. The clouds of Fishing Boos and C. Fishing Boos do not have faces, however. In Super Mario 64, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, and Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!, all Lakitus are portrayed without faces on their clouds. In the latter, Lakitu and Mario are able to control rain, thunder, sun, typhoons, and snow with levers on the cloud.
Most Lakitu's Clouds are white, although some exceptions are present. Lakilulu from Paper Mario has a pink-colored cloud, while Dark Lakitus from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door have gray clouds. Lakithunder from New Super Mario Bros. also has a dark gray cloud with glaring, yellow eyes, capable of firing lightning bolts. King Lakitu from Super Mario Galaxy 2, another lightning-firing Lakitu, has a purple cloud. Lakipeas, the Beanbean Kingdom equivalent of Lakitus, have vines covering their clouds.
Similar cloud characters and items have appeared throughout the Super Mario franchise. In Super Mario World, when Yoshi eats two pink berries in the same stage, a cloud resembling Lakitu's Cloud appears and drops ten striped smiley-faced coins, giving a 1-Up Mushroom if all of them are collected. The Thunder Cloud item in Mario Kart Wii looks like a Lakitu's Cloud, but a bluish-gray color with a Lightning on its head. Ruff Puff's Tattle in Super Paper Mario openly speculates on the relationship between it and the similar Lakitu's Cloud.
Gallery[edit]
Super Mario Bros. 3 sprite
Super Mario World sprite
Super Mario All-Stars (Super Mario Bros. 3) sprite
Yoshi's Story sprite
Paper Mario sprite
Mario Kart 7 with goggles
Super Mario Maker sprite (Super Mario Bros. style)
Super Mario Maker sprite under the Big Mushroom effect
Super Mario Maker sprite (New Super Mario Bros. U style)
Promotional artwork for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe from Nintendo Co., Ltd.'s LINE account
Illustration containing various concept of key art for Super Mario Maker 2
Mario Undōkai trading card
A Japanese commercial promoting the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary
Concept artwork for The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Names in other languages[edit]
Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Japanese | じゅげむの Jugemu no Kumo |
Lakitu's Cloud | |
Kumo |
Cloud | Mario Family | |
Chinese (simplified) | 朱盖木云彩[16] | Lakitu Cloud | New Super Mario Bros. |
球盖姆的云[?] Qiúgàimǔ de Yún |
Lakitu's Cloud | Super Mario Maker 2 | |
Chinese (traditional) | 球蓋姆的雲[17] Qiúgàimǔ de Yún |
Lakitu's Cloud | |
French | Nuage de Lakitu[?] | Lakitu's Cloud | |
Nuage[11] | Cloud | ||
German | Lakitus Wolke[?] | Lakitu's Cloud | |
Wolke[18] | Cloud | ||
Italian | Nuvola di Jugem[19] | Jugem's Cloud | |
Nuvola[20] | Cloud | ||
Nuvola di Lakitu/Nuvola Lakitu[?] | Lakitu's Cloud | ||
Nuvoletta[21] | Little cloud | ||
Spanish | Nube de Lakitu[?] | Lakitu's Cloud |
References[edit]
- ^ "Commandeer Lakitu's cloud and use it to collect coins." – Lakitu's Cloud Heist. New Super Mario Bros. U (English).
- ^ 2003. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 28.
- ^ Peterson, Erik (2003). Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Player's Guide. Nintendo of America (American English). ISBN 1930206-37-2. Page 10.
- ^ 1990. Super Mario Bros. 3 instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 24.
- ^ 1993. Super Mario All-Stars instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 34.
- ^ Hodgson, David S J. (October 21, 2003). Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 0-7615-4425-9. Page 10.
- ^ March-April 1990. Nintendo Power volume 11. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 8.
- ^ Super Mario 64 Unused Textures. The Cutting Room Floor (English). Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- ^ UncommentatedPannen (October 31, 2021). Lakitu Cloud Adoption. YouTube. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
- ^ Nishman235 (April 11, 2018). MAX SCORE GLITCH Tutorial [New Super Mario Bros. DS]. YouTube. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ a b 1998. Nintendo Magazine : Le seul magazine officiel Nintendo 64. Issue 4. Nintendo and EMAP France (French). Page 27.
- ^ Super Mario Maker Platforming Tips. Play Nintendo (American English). Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- ^ 1988. スーパーマリオブラザーズ3 (Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Surī) instruction booklet. Nintendo (Japanese). Page 22.
- ^ Super Mario Collection instruction booklet.[page number needed]
- ^ Japanese website for Mario Family. Koizumi Sekei Corp (Japanese). Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ^ Official Chinese New Super Mario Bros. website. iQue. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- ^ Official Chinese Super Mario Maker 2 website. Nintendo HK (Traditional Chinese). Retrieved January 7, 2020.
- ^ 2003. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (German). Page 32.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 Italian manual. Page 24.
- ^ 1991. Club Nintendo (Italy) Volume 3 - Issue 6. Page 18.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 (3DS - Virtual Console), Italian e-manual. Page 14.
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