gaming Mario, Luigi, Wario, Or Waluigi?

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,303]

Say what you want about how popular Mario is but it's a fact that Mario himself is an incredibly dull character. Almost intentionally so. His simplicity makes it so his "personality" doesn't run against the player's impression of the game but even in his own RPGs, games built with an actual story in mind, he's far overshadowed.

Mario got a personality (canonically, at least) the moment Charles Martinet started voicing him.  He joyously shouts as he successfully performs feats of agility on his strangely merry way to rescue a princess whose cake he thoroughly enjoys; all in spite of the constant dangers he faces in the form of pitfalls, sentient mushrooms, and giant, fire-breathing turtle...  Bull...  Thing...  Bowser.  I'm talking about Bowser.  He speaks broken English, dreams of Italian cuisine, and cried when an obnoxious talking water spigot "died."  He frickin' cried!  If you think LUIGI has a personality and Mario doesn't, you haven't been paying attention; Luigi - within the context of the main series - is pretty damned similar to Mario.  He boasts a more or less down-pitched version of Mario's voice; coupled with the same enjoyment of his own peril-dodging, gravity-defying antics on his path to do the same things and accomplish the same goals (and with similar Italian stereotypes intact).  Mario got a personality first, and Luigi followed suit.  Mario, as fleshed out by Martinet, was essentially the basis for Luigi.  And that's still true even from a character design standpoint; the two used to be identical twins.  Mario / Jumpman / Mr. Video came first.

 

If you like Mario, you should like Luigi; and vice versa.  We're not talking Sonic vs. Tails, here.

 

"In the Mario series alone he is average in nearly every way where Luigi can jump higher and Peach can hover in the air and whatnot."

You played Super Mario Bros. 2 (JPN) / a.k.a. Lost Levels?  Luigi jumped higher, yes, but he also controlled like a skater on an ice rink.  By comparison, Mario stops on a dime.  You're speaking entirely in RELATIVE terms, here.  Luigi jumps comparatively higher than Mario, and Mario controls comparably better than Luigi.  And yes, Peach can float.  But - in Super Mario Bros. 2 / Super Mario USA - her lifting speed is different (and I believe slower) than Mario's (Toad's actually the weight lifter in the group, apparently), and, in Super Mario 3D World, I'm pretty sure her movement speed is slower (again, Toad's a quick little so-and-so, by comparison).

 

If you perceive Mario as being average, it's because he was kind of what they based everyone else around.  Luigi jumps high because he was made to jump higher than Mario.  Peach's floaty ability stands out because Mario didn't have it (and, if you wanna be technical, she inherited it from the Doki Doki Panic character).  Hell, I've read that Smash-ability for individual characters was originally based around Mario's character in the Smash Bros. series.  Mario's the character you pick when you want neither an edge nor a handicap, but that's the character's strength from a game play perspective.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Ziggy + Angel + Rain

[StormBlaze 992]

was torn between Luigi and Waluigi 

i love Luigi as the underdog and the Mansion game sealed the deal. I love that game, not to mention the memes that featured Weegee I found them pretty hard to not laugh at. Then the death stare happened in Mario Kart. Luigi is the best Mario character ever.

 

I also love how ridiculous Waluigi is.

 

WAA HAAAA

[greenflare 154]

No shit liking Mario is subjective. That doesn't mean any of what I said is any less true, many of my points are very objective observations such as, and I quote, "In the Mario series alone he is average in nearly every way where Luigi can jump higher and Peach can hover in the air and whatnot."

 

Also, this is a topic discussing who one likes more out of the four listed. It adds everything to the discussion to explain exactly why Mario is or isn't the best character out of the four. I simply took it a step further and expanded to all of gaming rather than just the four listed to explain my point.

Nobody said your observations weren't objective.  I'm saying you insisting a video game character can't be "the greatest in history" because it's subjective.  Maybe it's just the way you put it, but you're coming off more like you're trying to debunk opinions instead of just voicing your own.  I think you have a lot of nice points, I agree with all of them honestly.

 

You're entitled to your opinion, I don't mean to come off as hostile and maybe I am just too stupid to understand you.

Either way, I'm not gonna continue this because I feel like starting a flame war wouldn't be right.  Have a nice day.

[Radiance64 7,053]

Waluigi is obviously the best, gwehehehe

Waluigi solo game WHEN

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,441]

Luigi won Mario Party by doing absolutely nothing and won a mansion in a contest he didn't even enter. He's just that good. So Luigi.

[Victoria Sponge 1,017]

Luigi's definitely the best because he seems to have more personality than Mario and I don't really like Wario and Waluigi that much.

[Discordian 6,015]

Nobody said your observations weren't objective.  I'm saying you insisting a video game character can't be "the greatest in history" because it's subjective.  Maybe it's just the way you put it, but you're coming off more like you're trying to debunk opinions instead of just voicing your own.  I think you have a lot of nice points, I agree with all of them honestly.

 

You're entitled to your opinion, I don't mean to come off as hostile and maybe I am just too stupid to understand you.

Either way, I'm not gonna continue this because I feel like starting a flame war wouldn't be right.  Have a nice day.

I suppose I do come across as a bit harsh but I see little point in having an opinion if you can't explain why you think so and why you disagree with others. I was never denying that someone couldn't think of Mario as the greatest character of all time, I was conveying my thoughts on why I don't think he fits the role.

 

So I apologize for being rude in the last couple posts but I don't see the point in specifically saying "oh this is my opinion" or whatnot. It should be obvious from what I'm saying that it's an opinion.

[greenflare 154]

I suppose I do come across as a bit harsh but I see little point in having an opinion if you can't explain why you think so and why you disagree with others. I was never denying that someone couldn't think of Mario as the greatest character of all time, I was conveying my thoughts on why I don't think he fits the role.

 

So I apologize for being rude in the last couple posts but I don't see the point in specifically saying "oh this is my opinion" or whatnot. It should be obvious from what I'm saying that it's an opinion.

Nah m8, it's fine.

I'm not the best at being perceptive so I apologize too

[Dreambiscuit 10,030]

I like Luigi. I used to play him in Mario Party. Ironically my brother always got to play Peach. I think I like Luigi because I can imitate him really well and used to irritate everyone while we were playing. Ah, fond memories. 

[PoisonClaw 8,165]

Wario. My siblings always laughed at me when I picked Wario in Mario Party, but he's still my favorite Mario character. 

[CheeryFox 23,822]

The hairy, fat plumber guy. 

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

Out of Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi, I'll go with... Samus.

 

But seriously, I guess I prefer Luigi.