2023 Is The First Time In 23 Years Waluigi Didn't Star In A Game
2023 was a big year for the Mario franchise. There was a brand-new 2D platformer in the form of Wonder, an Illumination movie that grossed over $1 billion, an entirely new WarioWare game, a remake of the classic 1996 RPG, and a reveal for a solo Princess Peach title. But in that ocean of Mario goodness, Waluigi was left behind.
As spotted by the Super Mario Wiki (and reported by Kotaku), this is the first year since 2000 that Waluigi has been absent in any of the games. He was last seen in Mario Strikers: Battle League in 2022, the long-awaited football spin-off.
The closest we got to 'new' Waluigi content in 2023 was when his creator revealed scrapped concept art for Wapeach (or Warupichi). She was set to debut in Mario Tennis, but Shigeru Miyamoto vetoed the idea.
In 2021, he appeared in both Mario Golf: Super Rush and Mario Party Superstars. In 2020, he just made the cut in the Arcade Edition of 2019's Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo. The year before, he was all over the shop in Dr. Mario World, Mario Kart Tour, and Luigi's Mansion 3. Waluigi was the spin-off king, but his brother Wario couldn't make room for him in his own spin-off in 2023.
The reason behind Waluigi's absence is pretty simple. 2023 is the first year since 2002 that Nintendo hasn't released a Mario sports game, where Waluigi pops up the most. There's no word on when the next sports game will be, so for all we know, the Waluigi drought could continue throughout 2024. Sorry Walu-heads.
Waluigi was conceived for Mario Tennis in 2000 because Wario didn't have a partner for the doubles games. The idea to make him a rival to Luigi was coined by designer Fumihide Aoki, resulting in his tall and lanky appearance which took Luigi's aspects to the
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