Take your mind back to the hazy days of 2013. In that year the Game Boy Advance SP was celebrating its 10th anniversary, we envisioned the squareness of the Nintendo 2DS, The Connection Between Worlds takes us back to the glory days of Zelda. Curiously, all of this takes place during the ‘Year of Luigi’.
This official year-long event (actually lasted for 13 months, if we were Actually picky) is nominally to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the second most popular player since his debut in 1983 Mario Bros. with a bunch of Luigi or Luigi related games and content coming out during the year. This fun little marketing ploy has a slightly different whimsy, helping to divert attention from the relatively sparse calendar as the Wii U stumbles out of the gate and Nintendo has trouble transitioning to the HD era leaving some significant gaps in the schedule.
There’s a lot of merchandise as Nintendo goes all out in marketing. We’ve got exclusive titles like Luigi’s Mansion 2, Mario and Luigi: The Dream Team and Dr. Luigi, and has a green limited spin on classic titles with expansions including ‘Luigi Bros.’ (unlocked on completion Super Mario World 3D) and New Super Luigi U Because New Super Mario Broslater released as its own title.
And don’t forget the celebration’s exclusive panel! Remember that Luigi-themed 3DS XL covered in little green shadows and the North American Dream Team model? Man, Nintendo really went all out on console designs back in the day (then again, with those delicious designs) Splatoon 3 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Converting models coming out last year, who are we to complain about?)
That’s not to mention the green wash has been active in all of Nintendo’s marketing during that time, with a Nintendo Club themed bonus (giant coin anyone? ) the red plumber mascot favors a younger model.
With a whole decade passed since this Luigi fortune, we can’t help but wonder which puppet character deserves to shine during this time period. The year of Luigi is one thing, but it’s definitely time for another famous Nintendo face to take center stage.
Yes, we assume Luigi could be in the role again – it’s been 40 years since he debuted anyway – but what’s so exciting about that? If we go down to the anniversary root, 2023 will be the 35th anniversary of Metroid (okay, in Europe, but still!), so maybe this year the Big-N will tackle all things Samus and finally deliver Prime Minister 4The long wait The trilogy of works remake, or — and perhaps this one is stranger than those! – one fear of Metroid the next part our way. Or, you know, some Samus-style outfits in xenoblades 3 DLC or something.
What about everyone’s favorite team of aerial animal pilots? fox star also celebrate the big three-O this year. Nintendo can go all in on driving games to celebrate Mario Kart Wii and Double underline (this year 15 and 20 respectively)?
Then again, who says that celebrations have to be all about the big anniversaries? You throw darts into the blinking annual calendar and you’re bound to find a connection with some Nintendo powerhouse. Could this be, heartbreakingly obvious, a ‘Year of Mario’ with even more merchandise to accompany his upcoming movie and theme park? Or maybe the ‘Five Links’ could identify the company’s releases, allowing Kingdom Tears to make one even bigger sensational (maybe even ‘Year of Zelda’ is a shout out here – it’s rumored she’ll be playable soon after all).
Why not push this bad boy further? People are really crying for ‘The Year of Tingle’, aren’t they? Mmm, imagine that exclusive Switch design…
All of this is to say we feel like we’re gearing up for an entirely different Nintendo-themed ‘Year of the Year’. [blank]’, but who will take the top spot? We’ve outlined some obvious picks as well as some fan favorites that rarely go unnoticed in the following poll.
Give us your answer below and then leave a comment to tell us why you think this character should be 2023’s top dog (or bear, or fox, or squid). , or …)
