Will There be More Mario and Luigi Games?

The Mario and Luigi game series provided a fresh and exciting take on Nintendo’s Super Mario franchise.

Well-written storylines, awesome new characters, and interesting gameplay mechanics for each installment’s respective console delivered all-new gaming experiences for fans who were looking for something different from the standard Super Mario game.

However, the most exciting and special part of the series dealt a lot with the fact that each game relied heavily on stories and cooperation revolving around Nintendo fans’ favorite pair of plumber brothers: Mario and Luigi. 

There are certainly a huge number of Super Mario titles that feature Luigi as everyone’s favorite underdog. At the same time, not enough of those titles ever give Luigi the chance to grow as a proper character in the franchise, with most of his spotlight revolving around him being rescued by Mario or simply serving as some type of side-character to move the story along (I still believe Super Paper Mario was the only Super Mario game that gave Luigi a well-balanced comically rich arc - fight me).

The Beginning and Unfortunate End of the Series

When the role-playing Mario and Luigi games were first introduced with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga in 2003, fans everywhere quickly jumped on board the idea of the brothers equally sharing the role of protagonist. It also gave fans new game mechanics to figure out and turn-based battles that had an extra twist due to Mario and Luigi’s own special set of skills needing to be controlled in their specific ways and timings.

For instance, two buttons had to be pressed at the same time for both Mario and Luigi to jump at the same time, or a special attack (called “Bros. Attacks”) requires players to focus on what each brother did differently during the attack to time it just right and earn double points. 

While a lot of combined and separated game mechanics took some getting used to for a lot of players, the stories are what made it all worth it.

Each story had the brothers travel to vastly different strange (in a Super Mario-styled way) locations to achieve original and unique story goals, such as helping Princess Peach retrieve her lost voice in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, reviving Bowser from “The Blorbs” after he inhales them in Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, or saving residents of Pi’illo Island by entering the Dream World.

The Mario and Luigi games also brought back the lovable humorous edge to the story’s dialogue and tone like what is found in the fan-favorite Super Nintendo title, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. 

The Mario and Luigi games were so popular among fans that two titles received remakes with extra side story gameplay added on with the addition of Bowser’s Minions and Bowser Jr.’s Journey. However, after a while, it became clear that remakes were all there was going to be when the series’ developer, AlphaDream, declared bankruptcy in 2019.

Possible Future for the Mario and Luigi Games

Not all hope for the series is lost, however. On January 9, 2020, Nintendo of America filed a trademark for the Mario & Luigi series. Nintendo Life translated a report from the scanned document proof provided by LetsGoDigital (whose report is all in German). The trademark was filed in Argentina and deals with video game software and mobile phones, hinting at a possible Mario and Luigi game release on mobile or Nintendo Switch (or maybe the next Nintendo console?).

It’s also important to point out that Nintendo may not have any plans for another Mario and Luigi game at all; the company may just want to protect its IP, as pointed out by the source. So, it’s best not to jump the gun just yet. Still, it’s exciting to consider the possibility of another installment on the horizon. Nothing is set in stone at this point, so it’s certainly possible. At the time of writing this article, there have been no new announcements or hints released by Nintendo regarding the future of the series.