Nintendo makes an appearance in Borderlands 3 in the form of a fireball-firing pistol.
Pop culture references are nothing new for the Borderlands franchise. In fact, Borderlands 3 seems to have dialed up the references from Borderlands 2, which itself was a game chock-full of memes and mentions.
The latest one to appear in BL3 seems to take aim at Super Mario Bros. in the form of a legendary pistol called the Compressing Superball. If you ever wanted to know what it would be like to find the fire flower in Borderlands, this is basically it.
A Maliwan design, the Compressing Superball turns your bullets into literal fireballs that come bouncing out of the barrel like you were the Italian plumber himself. It even makes the same freakin' noise as every Mario game before.
In game terms, every fireball comes out, bounces off the ground, and explodes once it impacts an enemy. Every shot deals incendiary damage only (no switching elements here) and deals a fair amount of splash damage, making the Compressing Superball useful against groups of low-level mobs.
Sadly, it's not the highest-DPS weapon in the game, and armored or higher-level opponents will shrug off the Superball's flames.
This is hardly the first Nintendo reference in the Borderlands franchise. Borderlands 1 had an achievement called “My Brother is an Italian Plumber” that you can only get after killing an enemy by jumping on them. Borderlands 2 had a Bullymong called Donkey Mong, which was a clear reference to Nintendo’s resident ape, Donkey Kong.
So far, we’re not sure where the Compressing Superball has a higher chance of dropping, so it looks like it’s available from any suitable loot source. Just search around and you might come across it in one of your playthroughs.
Borderlands 3 Easter eggs are still pouring in, with the latest find coming from Dr DisRespect who got his very own sniper rifle named after him. Or at least, after a seldom-used nickname.
(via Gamerant)