Year of Luigi
Date | February 14, 2013 – March 18, 2014 (1 year, 1 month and 4 days)[1][2] |
---|---|
Type | Anniversary event |
Motive | 30th anniversary of Luigi |
Organized by | Nintendo |
Website | mario |
The Year of Luigi was the 30th-anniversary celebration of the fictional character Luigi. He was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. and has appeared frequently as a minor or supporting character in the Mario franchise since. Due to Nintendo's decision to develop Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team at the same time, they declared 2013 the Year of Luigi. According to Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo staff members also had the urge to develop games focused on Luigi, and considered the character underrepresented compared to Mario. It was announced via Nintendo Direct on February 14, 2013, by Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata and ended on March 18, 2014.
Games released in The Year of Luigi include Dark Moon, New Super Luigi U, and Dr. Luigi, all starring Luigi as the protagonist, and with little or no appearance of Mario. Mario & Luigi Dream Team also made Luigi a large focus of the game. References to Luigi and to the Mario Bros. remix titled Luigi Bros., are in Super Mario 3D World. These games were received generally positively.
Nintendo released a wide array of Luigi-themed merchandise via
History
Well, Luigi has been one of our characters for many, many years, but we've never really had much in the way of games that have Luigi in the starring role. He's had sort of a more prominent role in the Mario and Luigi series and there is one of those games coming out this year, but with that game and then with Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon coming, we felt it was really the time to make this the year of Luigi.
Shigeru Miyamoto, 2013[3]
During a February 2013
In March 2013, Nintendo made three
On November 28, 2013, Canadian actor
In a December Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced
Games
Full releases
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
At the beginning of the February Nintendo Direct, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon received major announcements on its gameplay and new game-modes, marking the first Luigi-oriented game for the celebration. A Luigi's Mansion sequel was announced at
In Dark Moon, Luigi is tasked by
New Super Luigi U
Also featured in the Nintendo Direct was New Super Luigi U, downloadable content (DLC) for the 2012 Wii U game New Super Mario Bros. U. It originally served as an expansion pack that would be downloadable from the eShop at an unspecified date, and would include an additional 80 levels on top of the base game.[36] The levels were designed to be much more difficult, so the time to complete them was made shorter so less experienced players would be encouraged to continue, according to producer Takashi Tezuka.[37] At E3 2013, Nintendo announced that Mario would be completely omitted from New Super Luigi U and would be replaced by Nabbit, a now playable non-player character who originally appeared in New Super Mario Bros. U.[38] In addition, Nintendo also announced that the expansion pass would be released as a separate physical purchase for a larger price and would be released the same time as its downloadable counterpart. The physical copy used a green box instead of the Wii U's traditional blue ones.[39] Both retail variants were released July 13 and 26 in Japan and Europe respectively and August 25 in North America.
Gameplay of New Super Luigi U retains most aspects of New Super Mario Bros U. Instead of Mario, the player controls Luigi, who has a higher jump and less friction in the movement, but after completion the player can switch back to regular controlling.[40][41] The new levels have a harder difficulty and a shorter time to complete them, and some are designed with Luigi-themed decoration.[40][42] The game received generally positive reception, being praised for its level design and content size;[43] critics also had mixed opinions on Luigi's handling,[44] as well as its difficulty and the time allotted to complete levels.[45]
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
In the same Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced the fourth installment in the Mario & Luigi series, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, scheduled for a summer release. During the Direct, Iwata specified that the majority of the game would take place within Luigi's dream, where he "might not be as traditionally cowardly" to better centralize Luigi's role. The game released July 12 in Europe, the day after in Japan, and August 11 in North America.[46] Alongside the release, a demo was made available on the Nintendo eShop.[47] Due to the last entry in the series, Bowser's Inside Story, focusing primarily on Bowser instead of Mario and Luigi, series developer AlphaDream conceived ideas for another game focusing solely on Luigi. After conceptualizing the idea of "having a lot of Luigis on the screen that you could control and who would run around", they set Dream Team's setting within a dream to justify its inclusion. According to game director Akira Otani, AlphaDream used Luigi as the butt of gag jokes too often and wanted to equalize Luigi with Mario. In another Iwata Asks interview about Dream Team's development, Otani was surprised to see the Year of Luigi's announcement and was shocked Luigi was as old as he was, meaning AlphaDream's emphasis on Luigi was pure coincidence.[48]
In his dreams, Luigi can be anyone — as brave and strong as his big bro. I wondered if the developer would take this opportunity to honor him seriously, and a few minutes in, I was immediately skeptical as he tripped over his own feet and others lobbed their usual ridicule. Before long, however, the game’s themes took precedence, and Luigi conjured a world where he finally belonged."
Stephanie Carmichael, 2013 review[49]
In Dream Team, Mario, Luigi, and
Dr. Luigi
The last full game is Dr. Luigi, which was announced via Nintendo Direct December 18 and released December 31 in North America and January 15 internationally the following year.[56][57] The sixth entry in the Dr. Mario series, Dr. Luigi has four different modes: "Operation L", which uses L-shaped pills instead of traditional Dr. Mario pills; "Virus Buster", which uses the Wii U GamePad and stylus instead of standard button controls; multiplayer, which includes both local and online gameplay; and "Retro Remedy", which doesn't use any gimmicks and is rather unaltered Dr. Mario gameplay.[58] Luigi replaces Mario, and stands on a pedestal that has a Year of Luigi theming. Critical reception was positive, being praised for the inventiveness of the Operation L gamemode and multiplayer features,[59] and criticized for its lack of new content in comparison to the Dr. Mario predecessors,[60] and some critics reevaluated the series as a whole to be non-inventive and too simple to hold interest.[61]
Other
Super Mario 3D World
If a player who purchased Super Mario 3D World also had data for New Super Luigi U saved on their Wii U, they were given access to Luigi Bros.;[a] Luigi Bros. was accessible via the title screen of 3D World and featured gameplay identical to that of Mario Bros. but used Luigi as the main character instead of Mario.[62] Nintendo also placed multiple 8-bit depictions of Luigi in hidden locations throughout 3D World.[63]
Merchandise and promotions
Coinciding with the release of Dark Moon, Nintendo began "Luigi’s 72 Hour Sale", during which their website was temporarily turned green and many games were put on sale.
Legacy
2013 was an apparent financial failure for Nintendo, losing $457 million in total, primarily due to the poor reception of the
Month of Luigi
In 2019, Nintendo declared October the "Month of Luigi", mainly to promote the new Luigi's Mansion 3.[76] Coinciding with the promotion, Nintendo UK's Twitter account was temporarily renamed from "Super Mario UK" to "Super Luigi UK" and posted daily Luigi trivia.[77][78] Luigi's Mansion 3 was released on October 31 at the technical end of the Month of Luigi, but daily Luigi trivia continued into mid-November.[79]
See also
Notes
- ^ Luigi Bros. could alternatively be unlocked by clearing the main game.
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