Fans of the high-jumpin’, low-traction-havin’ green Mario brother rejoice! Luigi has been discovered as a playable character in Super Mario Bros. 35, though it’ll take quite a bit of time and a sneaky button input to play as him.
There’s just something about Luigi, isn’t there? Whether it’s his silly, lovable personality or the sheer appeal of the underdog, many Nintendo fans prefer him over Mario himself. Back in August of this year, he was discovered buried within the source code of Super Mario 64, much to his legions of fans’ delight. That very same month, a talented modder added the entirety of Luigi Circuit to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Why? Because Luigi, that’s why.
Fast forward to Mario’s 35 birthday celebrations and Super Mario Bros. 35 was revealed. This peculiar battle royale experience sees 35 players journeying through familiar levels, desperately trying to take down rivals with showers of goombas, koopa troopas and more from their own screens, until they’re the last Mario standing. It’s a riot of ridiculous fun Tetris 99 style, with only one flaw (well, aside from the fact that players are cheating): there’s no Luigi in it. Or so players thought.
As Nintendo Life reports, it’s been discovered that Luigi is actually a hidden character in the game. No fanfare from Nintendo, no announcement, just the lean, green mean machine fans around the world adore. Unlocking him will take a little time, though.
The first thing Super Mario Bros. 35 players need to do is reach star rank. This is the tricky part, as that equates to level 100 (profiles go from level 99 to 1-star, 2-star and so on). After this, it’s a simple matter of holding the L button — L for Luigi! — while starting a game, as Twitter’s CombotronRobot demonstrates:
The timing for holding the button seems to be finicky, players are reporting, so it might take a few attempts to get this down. As with the apparent level 100+ requirement, though, one thing’s clear: Luigi fans will agree that he’s worth the effort.