Now about a year ago when I first started this blog, I spent some time talking about the Paper Mario series and how the games differ from each other. Now I want to spend some talking about a man who did not get very much screentime in those games. That’s right, it’s Paper Luigi. It is really a shame though since I find him to be one of the funniest characters in the series. You may not know this if you haven’t played these games, but Paper Luigi is a bit different from his normal 3D self. In fact, ironically his character is a lot less two dimensional in these games and has a lot more freedom to express his personality. If I were to sum up his personality from what I have seen, he is the kind of guy who shoots for the stars, only to be reminded each time that the higher you jump, the harder you fall. What I am saying is that his plans don’t really work out. For instance, in Super Paper Mario, he tries to interfere with Peach and Bowser’s absolute sham of a wedding, only to cause the Chaos Heart to go nuts and causes him to be trapped in Count Bleck’s castle. Later when trying to escape he gets captured and brainwashed into being his third-rate villain counterpart: Mr. L. Or we can look at how Paper Luigi dashed off to the rescue at the beginning of Paper Mario and the Origami King and immediately ends up being stuck in-between dimensions. The only Luigi I know that is this reckless is the one in Super Mario Galaxy who always manages to find himself in some trouble after nabbing a power star for you. Of course there is something else I should mention when it comes to Paper Luigi.
For those of you who are unaware of what I am about to reference here, thanks for hearing me out so far. As for those who are, I am going to spend a bit of time talking about a game that only exists in fairytales. That’s right, it is Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass. This game is a kind of running joke throughout the events of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door where Paper Luigi will occasionally show up in the hub area letting his brother know all about this exciting adventure he has been on without Paper Mario. He even has his own little groupies that are following him on his adventures that you get to meet him. The difference is that all of his followers think of him as a screw-up and all have their own little vendettas against him. The problem is that the green one has no idea what he has gotten himself into at all. Poor guy. He actually seems to think of himself as the hero in his own story. The two things that interest me the most about this little side story is that we could get a return to an older version of the Paper Mario adventure formula. The other is that we can’t really be sure what really happened in that adventure unless we see it for ourselves. Although I am more inclined to believe his followers since Paper Luigi is a bit of a klutz as I mentioned previously. He still means well though and that is what matters. At least I think so anyway. So what is the point of all this? Now hear me out for a moment. You knew I was going to say that at some point.
You see I would like to see Paper Luigi as a game. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the game they made as a running joke, but I would still like to see more of that Luigi personality. Luigi is fairly underutilized unless it is for the Luigi’s Mansion series. We see a lot of scared Luigi in situations where he seems to be in his element, which apparently is very uncomfortable and with a burning desire to go home. We don’t get to see as much of Luigi being a total dork. And if we do, it is usually because Mario also happens to be there. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Luigi’s Mansion series, but I feel that Luigi has more potential than just sucking up ghosts in a vacuum. He just has a certain charm to him and just wants to be recognized for his efforts and I say we give it to him. Not to mention the incredible amount of people who would love to actually see a version of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass so long as it stays true to what they want. I am just leaving that as a possibility you know. Besides, this way Nintendo will have people hopefully embracing the life of the Paper Mario series once again. Maybe all you needed was just a new charismatic lead ready to steal the show and potentially save the day with a dash of flair. Or people could just keep playing Bug Fables instead to scratch their Paper Mario itch. I don’t really know for sure, but that is why I write these. I like to speculate on what could be even if it might never actually happen. It doesn’t hurt to dream a little right? I’m even issuing a compromise here so maybe there is some hope right? Anybody? No? Okay. See you next time.
That Casual Gamer Guy 