Mario and Luigi are the most famous pair of brothers in video game history, but Mario’s popularity greatly outshines his brother’s. The fact that they are called the Super Mario Bros. and not the Super Mario and Luigi Bros. shows that. However, you can’t keep a good brother down. Over the years, he has gained popularity, and he remains a beloved staple in the Super Mario series.
Luigi’s Debut
Since Donkey Kong, the 1981 arcade sensation where Mario made his debut, was a single-player game, there was no need for a second brother. However, in 1983, an arcade game called Mario Bros. was released. This time, Mario needed to rid an alley of pests and enlisted his brother for help. However, he was only playable as the second player character, his green outfit nicely contrasted with Mario’s red one and made him instantly memorable.
Player 2
When Super Mario Bros. was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, he resumed his role as the second player character. Two players would take turns: one playing Mario and the other playing Luigi, and his sprite was just a duplicate of Mario’s sprite with a different color scheme. However, when the two versions of Super Mario Bros. 2 came out, he finally started to develop an identity of his own.
Two Sequels and Two Luigis
The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 ditched the two-player mode and replaced it with a “Mario Game” and a “Luigi Game.” This let the player pick which character they wanted to play as, and Luigi could hover slightly when jumping. While this is a small detail, it is the start of him gaining his own identity.
The American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was a reskin of a Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic, which had four playable characters. Once again, Luigi is a playable character. He could still hover when he jumped, but now, he had a distinctive sprite that was taller and leaner than Mario’s. His new appearance helped to separate him from being just a second Mario.
Luigi’s Mansion
For almost two decades, he had to settle with being the second brother, but in 2001, he finally got his own game. A launch title for the GameCube, Luigi’s Mansion told the story of how he had to rescue his brother from King Boo by battling his way through a mansion full of ghosts. The gameplay involved Mario’s brother wielding the Poltergust 3000 to capture ghosts, much like how the Ghostbusters do their job. With a delightfully spooky atmosphere and addictive gameplay, this game became a classic and spawned two sequels. It also helped establish Luigi’s personality as a coward who still always does the right thing.
The Big and Small Screens
In addition to his game roles, he has had starring roles in movies and TV shows. During the eighties and early nineties, Luigi and the gang went on animated adventures in The Super Mario Bros Super Show!, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, all of which were produced by DIC Entertainment. In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, he was voiced by Danny Wells, who also portrayed him in the show’s live-action segments. In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, he was voiced by Tony Rosato.
In 1993, the live-action film Super Mario Bros. was released, and Luigi was played by John Leguizamo. In that film, he seemed to be much younger than Mario and he had a budding romance with Princess Daisy. In 2023, the animated film The Super Mario Bros Movie featured a Luigi that looked and acted similarly to his game counterpart, and he was voiced by Charlie Day.
Other Appearances
He has appeared alongside his brother in numerous other games. He is a prominent character in various Mario spin-off series such as Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Super Smash Bros. He also goes on epic adventures with Mario in the Mario and Luigi RPG series. With the Nintendo Switch 2 launching soon, we are sure to see this lovable brother in many more roles to come.
