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The Year of Luigi is over - who will be the star of 2014?

5 worthy contenders

The Year of Luigi is over - who will be the star of 2014?
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iOS + Android + 3DS ...
| Prince of Persia Zero

We're coming to the end of "The Year of Luigi".

If you forgot, 2013 marked the 30th anniversary of Mario Bros., the first game to feature Mario's lanky younger brother.

To celebrate this milestone, Nintendo launched an ungodly amount of Luigi-themed merchandise, games, and consoles.

But who will get this extra-special honour next year? We wanted to suggest some worthy recipients, based on gaming heroes who will 'celebrate' their 30th, 25th, or 20th anniversary in 2014.

Feel free to make your own suggestions in the comments section below.


L-Shaped Tetris Block
Tetris
The creator of Tetris will actually celebrate two anniversaries next year.

Alexey Pajitnov's ultra-addictive block dropper was first released in Russia 29 years ago, in 1984. But it wouldn't become a worldwide phenomenon until the Game Boy version debuted in 1989, 24 years ago.

That caused an explosion of popularity that makes Angry Birds look like some obscure art house indie game. Since that time, Tetris has been released and remade for every device with a screen. That core thrill of carefully lining up odd-shaped blocks has never really changed, mind.

The Year of L-Shaped Tetris Block special release: EA has proved itself to be an unfit custodian of the brand, turning a noble puzzle game into a sordid vessel for micro-transactions and Toyota Corolla power-ups. Give it back to Nintendo for another 3DS edition, please. It knows how to treat a girl right.


The Prince
Prince of Persia
2014 will mark the 25th anniversary of the first Prince of Persia on Apple II. This game had sharp puzzles and platforming. It really stood out, however, thanks to its fluid lifelike animations.

To achieve this effect, designer Jordan Mechner shot videos of his brother and traced over the footage in pixels, using a technique called 'rotoscoping' or 'cheating'.

Since then, the Prince has been rebooted more times than a Windows PC. He's gone through a gloomy emo phase, become one of 17,000 game heroes to be voiced by Nolan North, and been immortalised as a Lego mini-figure.

The Year of The Prince special release: Ubisoft has re-released the first two PoP games more times than we can count, so we'll ask for a Vita version of the terrific Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time instead.


Ness
Ness
Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the weird and utterly wonderful RPG EarthBound. In this bonkers adventure, Nintendo, Ape, and HAL Laboratory sent four telepathic kids on a mission to save the world from aliens.

An absolute mind trip, this Super Nintendo RPG featured New Age retro hippies as enemies, a journey inside Ness's subconscious, and a religious cult that worships the colour blue.

But for all its wackiness and weirdness, EarthBound was also heartfelt, adventurous, ambitious, and one of the most memorable role-playing games of its era.

The Year of Ness special release: While Ness doesn't star in the threequel, the 20th anniversary of EarthBound seems like a perfectly good excuse for Nintendo to drop an officially translated version of Mother 3 on the 3DS eShop.


Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim
The 16-bit period was the age of mascot hell. Every game character had to be some wise-cracking cartoon figure, and heroes were anthropomorphised hedgehogs, possums, and bobcats. Even the red dot in the 7 Up logo got his own show.

In that day and age, a run-and-gun worm in a robot exoskeleton probably seemed quite normal. And due to Earthworm Jim's slick animation and slapstick silliness, this 20-year-old Mega Drive platformer was also one of the standout platformers of the era.

Time, however, has not been too kind to Jim. Gameloft's 2010 remake made us realise that all the offbeat humour in the world couldn't compensate for frustrating and clumsy platforming elements. So...

The Year of Earthworm Jim special release: Yeah, we'll pass on this one. We wouldn't even chuck a buck its way if it cropped up on Kickstarter like Boogerman and Dizzy. Some things should just stay dead.


SimCity Mayor
SimCity
24 years ago, Will Wright & co. released this absurdly ambitious city builder. As mayor, you had to deal with taxation, electricity, transport, and - if you're unlucky - earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and monsters.

The games only got more complicated as the series went on. In the sequels, the SimCity teams added waste management, neighbouring cities, agriculture, and a whole new disaster scenario. Yep, EA's anti-piracy technology.

Maxis would eventually affix every word in the dictionary to 'Sim', including 'Earth', 'Ant', 'Copter', and 'The'. But nothing quite beats being the brains behind a well-functioning mini-metropolis.

The year of SimCity Mayor special release: A proper SimCity game for iPad and Android tablets. None of this free-to-play nonsense where you can buy your way into the Mayoral Hall of Fame. We want depth, strategy, and absolutely no wait timers.
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer