Earlier this year, Nintendo had promised us that 2013 would be known as the "year of Luigi", although, at least initially, we weren't quite sure what they meant. Now, though, Nintendo's grand plan has been revealed, with a trifecta of Luigi themed games set for release this year - kicking off with Luigi's Mansion 2, before heading onto the fairway with Mario Golf: World Tour, and rounding the year off with New Super Luigi U. Except this one isn't technically a game in itself.
Look out for the spikey balls.
Instead, New Super Luigi U is a downloadable expansion pack for New Super Mario Bros U. Taking the original game, and adding a whole new load of Luigi themed levels, this will apparently be a completely Mario free game, as his little brother steps into the centre stage. From what we can tell, it sounds like the expansion will be nearly the same sort of size as New Super Mario U, with over 80 levels to complete. As a "New Super" game, you can be pretty much guaranteed it'll feature four player co-op, too - although with no Mario, perhaps we'll see a second supporting character instead?
With a new character in the leading role, and a whole host of new levels to be played, we're still hoping they'll reinstate the bonus minigames from the original New Super Mario Bros rather than the rubbish replacements they added for U. That, and Toad's "IM-A-BACK-BACK" battle cry. Set to be released on the eShop later this year, there's no word as yet on a release date any firmer than "2013", and a similar lack of information regarding cost - although we're expecting it to be quite hefty. Considering New Super Mario Bros 2 level packs cost £1.99 for 3 levels, we're hoping it's not a straight extrapolation...
