Carrying on with this countdown, we celebrate today a real icon. This character is, when you get right down to it, a re telling of the classical archetype of the Knight in Shining Armor, crossing the deepest valleys, climbing the most dangerous mountains, and fighting off a wicked dragon, all to save this lady love, the Princess. This character has entertained millions the world over for over thirty years. His name is practically synonymous with video games! In fact, even people that have never even picked up a controller in their lives know who this character is! This brave Italian plumber, who has traveled all across the Mushroom Kingdom in order to save Princess Peach, has fought Bowser numerous times...I'm not talking about Mario, by the way. I'm talking about his little brother, Luigi.
Luigi is an oddity, because he has seldom ever been the default player character. Gamers first met Luigi back in 1983, in the arcade classic Mario Bros. It was a simple game, one that could be played in a few minutes until you ran out of quarters. In this game, he helped his brother Mario to rid the sewers from a bunch of turtles and other beasties...Yeah. Luigi became playable again in the ground breaking smash hit, Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo Entertainment System. He was the Player 2 character, the one your little brother or playmate got to play while you always played Mario as the Player 1, jerk. In this game, the story is that Mario goes across the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Peach from Bowser. That's it, that's the whole story.
In Super Mario Bros 2, Luigi is playable once more. Until now, Luigi looked and played exactly like Mario. This time, there is a difference between the two. Luigi is now the taller brother, he can jump higher, and he skids a little whenever he runs, making him a little harder to control than Mario. In this game...nothing important happened because the whole game was a dream! Plus, this was game was little more than a re-skin of another Japanese game, called Doki Doki Panic, that was re tooled to look like a Mario game, because the real SMB 2 was hard as heck. That game, however, eventually did make it to the west, as Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels.
Luigi continued in his role as the Player 2 character in Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World. In both games, he faced the same challenges, the same enemies that Mario did. Luigi would not get a starring role until the Edutainment game Mario is Missing! That game was awful for many reasons, including the fact that the game was not that fun. It's rather sad that Luigi's big break was, essentially, a bust.
I need a Kenyan pen pal, to ask him or her if there's any adobe in Nairobi.
Luigi had managed to get, in one word, screwed by Nintendo. In Yoshi's Island, he was relegated to the role of Baby in Distress, without so much as an appearance until the grand finale. In Super Mario RPG, Luigi managed to score a cameo in what is considered one of the best games in the Mario franchise. Toad, an unimportant character, had a bigger role in this game than Luigi, the main protagonist's brother! And in Super Mario 64, where was Luigi? I'll tell you where he wasn't, he wasn't playable!
Luigi finally, finally got his big break in the Gamecube game Luigi's Mansion. This was Luigi's game, he wasn't playing second fiddle to anyone this time! In this game, Luigi won a mansion, and he invited his brother over to celebrate. However, the mansion was haunted, and Mario went missing! After going through a field of ghosts, with his trusty Polterghust 3000 (har har, Nintendo...) Luigi manages to save his brother from the evil King Boo! And then...he never headlined another game again, until Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, released 12 years later.
Luigi doesn't get to star in a game without his brother, but Mario is fully capable of having a game without a trace of Luigi. I hate that, because what I feel makes Luigi such a powerful character is his loyalty to his brother. Luigi cares about Mario a lot, to the point that the three games that he gets to star in (Mario is Missing, Luigi's Mansion, and LM: Dark Moon) are all about Luigi saving Mario. Luigi doesn't get an adventure of his own that revolves around him, he only ever gets to save his brother.
Luigi is often portrayed as a coward, but I think that is what makes him a greater hero. When you think about it, Luigi has every right to be scared. Ghosts, fire breathing dragon turtles, walking bombs, evil rocks from the sky, these are but a few of the many, many enemies that Mario and Luigi have to face off every time they have to save the Princess, the Mushroom Kingdom, and even the world. These are dangerous enemies, and Luigi is right in being scared. I'd be scared too, and admit it, so would you.
Do you know the difference between bravery and courage? Bravery is doing something while not being afraid, while courage is knowing you're scared of doing something, but doing it anyway because you have to. Mario is brave, because he rushes into danger to save Princess Peach. Luigi is courageous, however, because even though he's scared, he still helps Mario either way. Luigi is placing his brother above his own self preserving needs, and for what?
Not for what, for whom. It's for Mario, the brother he'll never abandon. And not just for Mario, either. It's for Peach too, the woman his brother loves. It's for Yoshi, the dinosaur that put his hide on the line to make sure the two brothers could be delivered home safely when they were babies. He faces his fears because he's the hero the Mushroom Kingdom deserves.
Luigi is a real hero, and that is why, not only does he get the seventh spot of the top 11 greatest video game heroes, but why 2013 is HIS year. That's right, it's the Year of Luigi! Way to go, champ, you deserve it.
The Summary:
Name: Luigi
Motivation: Loyalty to his brother and their friends
Main Enemy: Bowser, King Boo
Finest Achievement: Saving the Mushroom Kingdom alongside his brother
Reward: 2013 is the Year of Luigi, baby!
Luigi finally, finally got his big break in the Gamecube game Luigi's Mansion. This was Luigi's game, he wasn't playing second fiddle to anyone this time! In this game, Luigi won a mansion, and he invited his brother over to celebrate. However, the mansion was haunted, and Mario went missing! After going through a field of ghosts, with his trusty Polterghust 3000 (har har, Nintendo...) Luigi manages to save his brother from the evil King Boo! And then...he never headlined another game again, until Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, released 12 years later.
Luigi doesn't get to star in a game without his brother, but Mario is fully capable of having a game without a trace of Luigi. I hate that, because what I feel makes Luigi such a powerful character is his loyalty to his brother. Luigi cares about Mario a lot, to the point that the three games that he gets to star in (Mario is Missing, Luigi's Mansion, and LM: Dark Moon) are all about Luigi saving Mario. Luigi doesn't get an adventure of his own that revolves around him, he only ever gets to save his brother.
Luigi is often portrayed as a coward, but I think that is what makes him a greater hero. When you think about it, Luigi has every right to be scared. Ghosts, fire breathing dragon turtles, walking bombs, evil rocks from the sky, these are but a few of the many, many enemies that Mario and Luigi have to face off every time they have to save the Princess, the Mushroom Kingdom, and even the world. These are dangerous enemies, and Luigi is right in being scared. I'd be scared too, and admit it, so would you.
Do you know the difference between bravery and courage? Bravery is doing something while not being afraid, while courage is knowing you're scared of doing something, but doing it anyway because you have to. Mario is brave, because he rushes into danger to save Princess Peach. Luigi is courageous, however, because even though he's scared, he still helps Mario either way. Luigi is placing his brother above his own self preserving needs, and for what?
Not for what, for whom. It's for Mario, the brother he'll never abandon. And not just for Mario, either. It's for Peach too, the woman his brother loves. It's for Yoshi, the dinosaur that put his hide on the line to make sure the two brothers could be delivered home safely when they were babies. He faces his fears because he's the hero the Mushroom Kingdom deserves.
Luigi is a real hero, and that is why, not only does he get the seventh spot of the top 11 greatest video game heroes, but why 2013 is HIS year. That's right, it's the Year of Luigi! Way to go, champ, you deserve it.
The Summary:
Name: Luigi
Motivation: Loyalty to his brother and their friends
Main Enemy: Bowser, King Boo
Finest Achievement: Saving the Mushroom Kingdom alongside his brother
Reward: 2013 is the Year of Luigi, baby!
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