10 Best Luigi Solo Games On Nintendo, Ranked

Luigi occasionally needs to step out of Mario’s shadow and enjoy some of the limelight. Luigi’s solo games are sorted from worst to greatest.

Luigi, the taller and more intelligent sibling, never seems to get the attention he deserves. People usually forget Luigi is younger than Mario because he is taller, but his cowardly nature quickly reminds them. But that doesn’t mean Luigi hasn’t had his fair share of adventures and successes!

Luigi is a relatable human character who many fans root for, especially given how Mario treats him at times. So, in his honor, let’s look back at all of his solo games over the years and rank them from worst to best.

Luigi’s Hammer Toss

Even though most people thought that playing games on such a little screen was nothing short of a nightmare, the Game Watch was a rather unusual novelty in the 1980s that fans wanted to collect as a great piece of Nintendo memorabilia. Such was the case with Luigi’s Hammer Toss, which was essentially a novelty game devoid of the satisfying game feel for which Nintendo is famous.

The premise of this game is as straightforward as it gets: Hammer Bros are flinging their patented weapons on the ground, and it’s up to Luigi with a shield to resist these attacks. There’s nothing else to it, and the only reason this game is noteworthy is because it’s the very first game developed by Nintendo that puts Luigi in a lead role, however subdued and unsatisfying that may be.

Mario Is Missing!

Many people believe that Luigi’s first role as the “star” of a game was in 2001, with Luigi’s Mansion. Those people are mistaken, as the plumber first appeared as the main character in an educational SNES game called “Mario Is Missing!” in 1993. This game was part of a current attempt to incorporate Mario characters in instructional games.

All it takes is one look at the box cover to get a sense of how “great” this game was. It involved Luigi traveling across the world looking for clues that would lead him to Mario’s location, but it’s hardly worth anyone’s time in this day and age.

Super Luigi Bros.

The compilations are fantastic games that allow players to explore Nintendo’s vintage library while adding a unique touch that makes them replayable for long-time fans of these games. NES Remix 2 completely flips the script… literally! It includes the game Super Luigi Bros., a mirror replica of the renowned Super Mario Bros. in which Luigi takes center stage in this iconic platformer.

The most remarkable feature of this game is that players must go to the left rather than the right. This is a difficult adjustment in and of itself, with the additional aspect that Luigi’s jump is substantially higher, as is the usual in his appearance across Nintendo’s other platforming titles. This adds a distinct twist to Super Mario Bros.’ conventional platforming, and players must be careful not to overshoot their jumps.

Luigi’s Mansion: Arcade Version

People may not even be aware that new arcade games are released on a regular basis. Arcades may be on the decline in the United States, but they are prospering in Japan. And Nintendo appears to have pushed a barebones arcade version of the 2001 ghost-based plumber adventure.

The game itself is rather simple, yet it contains all of the gameplay aspects that one would expect from a vacuum-centric adventure, as well as the majority of the settings from Dark Moon. The key difference this time is that 1-2 players take control of many Luigis in first-person as they chase ghosts for the maximum score. The physical vacuum players employ is cool, but it’s still an arcade game with little to no genuine depth.

Dr. Luigi

The famous Dr. Mario game isn’t exactly what the plumber is known for nowadays, but it was his biggest game for a long time. This iconic formula was clearly Nintendo’s attempt at Tetris, but instead of random blocks, the adversaries are viruses Mario fights in pill form. Dr. Luigi is just that, and it was published in 2013 for the Wii U.

It’s not a bad game, but it’s also not a spectacular game; it’s basically Dr. Mario with better graphics and a different take on the main character. The new virus designs for Luigi are adorable in their own right, and the game does offer a few modes… but overall, it’s a rather basic game that many gamers quickly forgot about.

New Super Luigi U

New Super Luigi U wasn’t a full game in and of itself, but rather a DLC expansion/add-on for New Super Mario Bros U for the Wii U. This DLC overhauls most of the game’s stages to cater to Luigi’s unique leap arc and slip-and-slide running style.

It’s entertaining in its own right, and it’s cool that Nintendo later released the DLC as its own standalone game, but for the most part, New Super Luigi U felt like a tacked-on addition to the Year of Luigi that really encapsulated why that year didn’t go as planned.

Super Mario Galaxy NG+

This is perhaps the most unusual item on our list, especially considering it is only available in the original game’s post-game. After collecting all 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy, players will be able to access a new “mode” called Super Luigi Galaxy, which is essentially the main game tweaked for Luigi. Still, Galaxy was a fantastic game, and playing as Luigi added a lot more to the overall experience than many expected.

Furthermore, Nintendo reintroduced the option in Galaxy 2 and even gave players a taste of playing as the mansion’s owner, Luigi, earlier in Geometry Dash Subzero game.

Luigi’s Mansion

Did anyone else predict that these three games would not make the top three? From the start, it was clear that all three Luigi’s Mansion games were the best solo Luigi titles. They give Luigi his own backstory! It’s probably not a surprise that their rankings correspond to their chronological order.

The first game is the most old and archaic of the sequels, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon improves on the original but has its own issues, and Luigi’s Mansion 3 is the most streamlined and inventive of the sequels, having accomplished what it set out to do. That being said, the speedruns for Luigi’s Mansion are among the greatest available, owing to how easy the game is to crack and how well it was put together.

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon

The Mansion of Luigi: In every way, Dark Moon is the “middle child” of the trilogy. Yes, it is literally the middle game, but it also fills the stereotypical role of a middle child, where it is neither the worst nor the best.

The fact that both the first and third games have numbers in their names is a wonderful example of how it fulfills this position, but this second game simply gets a “subtitle name.” It’s still a B+ to A- title, but after experiencing the greater Luigi’s Mansion 3, there’s no turning back.

Luigi’s Mansion 3

As previously stated, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is without a doubt Luigi’s best adventure. It improves on everything fans liked about the previous two games by introducing new mid-fight ghost mechanisms, new types of vacuum equipment, plenty of detail work, and plenty of items to smash and suck up in each room.

The first game went on for a while and truly fell flat once players were charged with discovering all the boos; the second game was just more of the first plus some really awesome new characters; and the third game offers everything gamers expected and more. Plus, look at that art style! It could be the best-looking Switch game yet. All of this adds together to make this new title by far Luigi’s finest example, proving that he can be the hero. Not to mention how good he looks doing it!