I was growing up my brother wouldn't play games he really didn't like them, Golden Axe aside, any game he did infrequently play had to be his way or not at all. In the 90’s during the first great console war of Sega and Nintendo I was firmly signed up as a member of team Sonic and wouldn't dare to think of ever owning a machine which Mario appeared on. Saying this several friends had a NES or Super NES instead of a Master System and/or Mega Drive and naturally even with my Sega stance I would happily play on these machines when the opportunity arose! My brother however refused to play unless he got to play as Mario...always had to be Mario...so to keep procedures rolling I would be assigned the role of Luigi who I began to grow fond of and still to this day chose him over anyone else in the Mario Kart series!
Fast forward till today 20th June 2013 and in celebration of Luigi’s 30th birthday Nintendo have released their first major DLC: New Super Luigi U for the Wii U. The game requires you to own New Super Mario Bros U and costs £17.99 in the UK! The game is also coming out in a limited edition physical form on July 27th (Priced at £27.99). Aside from Luigi’s mansion, to my knowledge, this is Luigi’s first and only stand alone title where Mario does not take centre stage (post Mario is missing comments to @42levelone on twitter) and for myself this game is what the 5 year old me would of dropped Sega like a ton of bricks for.
82 new levels and a new playable character in the form of Nabbit, the burglar rabbit from the original NSMB U, are what is in store for platforming and Nintendo fans alike. Luigi handles kind of similar to his appearance in Mario 64 DS where he has a higher jump (which makes Luigi’s triple jump an insane cross screen leap on the third press!) and a sort of Yoshi like leg pedal triggered with a second press of the jump button in mid air to hover for a millisecond which is handy for any mis-timed jumps. He also has a harder time stopping compared to his podgy brother! The new playable character Nabbit would of been a god send back in the nineties for my brother to control as this character cannot die! He is perfect for newcomers or parents playing with their kids! The downside to Nabbit is while he is invincible he can't enjoy any of the pick ups Luigi or the toads can get.
Anyone who has played New Super Mario Bros U can attest to how fantastic HD Mario finally looks and Luigi U is no different: the bright colours, character models and level design look superb as ever! The main difference in the levels from Luigi U in comparison to NSMB U is you only have 99 seconds to finish each level lending a fresh feel to the way you the player must tackle levels, long gone are the "ooh lets back track and see where that other path leads" replaced now with "ahhh gotta move faster Luigi!!" Which is a genius way of spicing up the tried and tested Mario formula without making an unrecognizable experience. Some of the levels are redesigned, more challenging, versions of the ones found in the games predecessor sometimes giving Luigi U a feel of the lost levels rather than a whole new game. The toad houses , baby Yoshi’s and mid stage bosses are all here from the original game and for the most part the world map and beginnings of individual levels remain the same as NSMB U. Also power ups seem to be identical with no new items included for the younger Mario brother! The level differences alongside the newly imposed time limit however have created an altogether more challenging experience compared to previous Mario titles giving it a feel of being a spiritual successor to the previously mentioned lost levels game.
Now I have noticed the sound doesn't come though the game pad which is an annoyance as my current favourite way to play games (at least while the TV is otherwise occupied) is to use the newly added pro control support with game pad as my main screen...I am hoping an update fixes this!
Apart from the one niggle of no sound from game pad this game is a definite buy for any platforming fan or any Nintendo fan be you 5 years old or 50 years old, something in this game will most definitely tickle your pickle.
Until next time folks keep it classy, keep it 42.
Ali Kennedy
42 Level One