Second Banana Saga: The Story of Luigi

Living in Mario's shadow seems to be Luigi's lot in life, and you can trace this trait all the way back to his debut as player number two -- a mere palette-swap of Mario with no otherwise unique characteristics -- in the original Mario Bros. Even as he starred alone in the commercial for the Atari home version of the game, his fearful nature was forever set in stone as he timidly cried out to the tune of the Car 54 theme song, "Mario, where are you?"

Luigi's next big game, Super Mario Bros., would see him relegated even further into the shadows. Like the original Mario Bros., Luigi would be Player 2; unlike his first role, however, he would not join Mario on his adventure. Rather, it was more like he had his own adventure to rescue the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, but only if Player 1 should falter in their quest. With a skilled enough player behind Mario's controls, it was entirely possible that Luigi would never even be seen!

When it came time for a sequel, Luigi's fortunes finally began to look up as Nintendo saw fit to establish the younger Mario brother as more of a character in his own right. In the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 (known here as The Lost Levels), there was no 2-player game as players chose between either Mario or Luigi. While Mario felt just as he did in the original game, Luigi was given a much mightier jump-- but with a cost. Though he could easily make leaps that were impossible for his older bro, a much more ungainly control style made actually stopping much more difficult, making small platforms and enemy collisions a greater threat.

The U.S. version (known in Japan as Super Mario USA) is where Luigi developed even further. Just as in The Lost Levels, Luigi's jump was greater than anyone's-- even the popular Princess. True to form, however, many would overlook this on account of her ability to float. But at least this time, Luigi had something else to show for it: A unique look.

However, it was not to last-- not immediately, anyway. Though promotional art would from then on depict Luigi in his new incarnation, further games were slower to catch on as both the enormously successful Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super NES launch title Super Mario World alike would both depict him as little more than a green Mario in both appearance and abilities.

An RPG adventure would seem like the perfect place for Luigi to shine, but instead, the only indications he even existed in the game were his role in leading a parade during the game's ending (squint or you'll miss him), and a wish up on Star Hill which speaks volumes about his role and his lot in life:

"I wanna be a great plumber like my brother Mario."

But then, in 2001, Nintendo would launch a new platform without a Mario game. The Luigi-less Super Mario Sunshine would not be available until the summer following the GameCube's launch, and so it fell to the younger brother to star in the first non-core Mario launch title to be available on any Nintendo system, and he even got his name in the title: Luigi's Mansion.

He still has his second-banana moments, however. In Super Mario Galaxy, during Mario's game, he attempts to help find Stars, but gets into trouble in the meantime, leading to Mario having to save both Luigi and the Star. And when you do unlock him, then the one trying to help is... himself? When Nintendo can't bother to swap your model out with someone else to even try to make sense, that's when you know you're still second-string.

Despite all of this, it seems Nintendo is finally coming around to give Luigi the respect that he deserves with "The Year of Luigi," featuring a number of Luigi-centric titles such as Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, the Luigi-centric dreams of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, and even a Luigi-only set of DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U called "New Super Luigi U."

Then again, as New Super Luigi U doesn't give Luigi his own story, maybe not.

David Oxford is a freelance writer for IGN. While he knows Luigi will probably never overtake Mario in popularity, he thinks it would still be nice if Luigi got just a bit more respect than he does now, but is at least happy that the palette swaps seem to be a thing of the past. Follow him on Twitter at @LBD_Nytetrayn.

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