It’s safe to say the relationship between Waluigi and the Smash Bros. franchise is strained at best. For the past two generations of Smash releases, Wario has been given a ticket to the battle. Wario has been held up by Nintendo as a character worthy of inclusion in the hit series with some of its other biggest stars. But Waluigi? He’s not been treated with the same respect. He’s been left on the sidelines with nothing but time to ask the same question over and over again: “wah?”
It’s unclear why Nintendo chose to pass on Waluigi as a playable character in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Even as the company went from the window to the wall adding all sorts of heroes and villains from non-Nintendo properties, it was continuously passing on Luigi’s evil counterpart. Hordes of fans cried out for Waluigi as DLC, but Nintendo simply ignored them.
It kind of makes you wonder about Nintendo’s supposed “fan service,” doesn’t it?
That’s not to say fans didn’t try themselves
What Nintendon’t, fans do, apparently. The Big N wouldn’t satiate the Waluigi Legion, so a few Smash modders took it upon themselves make the magic happen. It shouldn’t have come to that, but it did.
The combination of Waluigi and Smash Bros. seems like such a no brainer, even more so after seeing him in action. He, like so many Nintendo characters, fits right in with the whole goofy arcade vibe and aesthetic.
When you see mods like the one above, you have to ask yourself how amateurs being paid zero dollars could somehow make Wauligi a member of the Super Smash Bros. roster but Nintendo couldn’t. Please do add another sword character no one’s ever heard of from Xenoblade or something! But this beloved weirdo confined to tennis courts and go-kart tracks? Apparently he isn’t good enough for the fighting arena.
The Waluigi and Smash Bros. situation will go down as a huge miss by Nintendo
Months after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate released its final DLC character, it is still baffling that Mr. W could not get the time of day from the company that owns him. Waluigi in Smash Bros. would have made a lot of people very happy. Nintendo would’ve owned the internet for weeks as the news made the rounds and fans celebrated.
Instead, Nintendo dropped the ball on what was almost certainly an easy win. It’s a great reminder that the same company currently lighting it up in the sales department with the Nintendo Switch also decided to name a console “Wii U.” Nintendo is wont to make extremely boneheaded decisions which are only slightly forgotten about once the company does something good again.
The Waluigi and Smash Bros. decision is one to file under “extremely boneheaded.”
