Ever one for nice surprises, Nintendo released its new, free update for Super Mario Odyssey without warning yesterday, delighting Switch owners everywhere with more costumes, photo mode filters, and a new game mode called Luigi's Balloon World.
As the name suggests, this is very much a Luigi focused adventure, where players can find Mario's taller, less successful twin across the various Kingdoms of Odyssey's game world, and talk to him to try out a series of challenges.
The "Hide It" challenge lets you hide a balloon somewhere in the kingdom for other players to try and find, while "Find It" tasks you with locating a balloon that someone else has tucked away somewhere.
Being good at both allows you move up in the online leaderboards, and Balloon World is also a great way to earn coins if you're still saving up for that ridiculously expensive Skeleton Outfit.
As expected, Nintendo has filled the update with classic Ninty-esque details and easter eggs, and Switch owners have already taken to Twitter to show off some of the best things about Luigi's Balloon World.
Warning: most of them prove that Luigi has always secretly been best Italian plumber this whole time.
Brotherly banter
It turns out that Luigi's conversation dialogue will change depending on which costume Mario is wearing at the time in Super Mario Odyssey. He gets particularly confused, in fact, when his brother is wearing the same outfit as himself...
i love you luigi pic.twitter.com/dTc9s7B1SCFebruary 22, 2018
Lmao I love Luigi's dialogue pic.twitter.com/7xrTJeLQb2February 22, 2018
Luigi is supportive of his brother's choices and that makes me smile. #SuperMarioOdyssey #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/EvUKvTy1V9February 22, 2018
when you wear the invisibility cap, luigi still talks despite the fact he cannot see you pic.twitter.com/23jKvhTTFGFebruary 22, 2018
Mario's still the star
Despite the brotherly love, players are still having fun asserting Mario's dominance as the protagonist of the game, even if poor old Luigi looks visibly distressed by his brother's obsession with fame.
Nintendo is so committed to torturing Luigi that they made a special animation for when Mario pops his balloon pic.twitter.com/ftGIIXNu0GFebruary 22, 2018
I POPPED LUIGI'S BALLOON ON ACCIDENT AND FELT LIKE I JUST KICKED A PUPPY ;((((((((((((( #SuperMarioOdyssey #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/IXUKDzRF8uFebruary 22, 2018
Mario and Luigi's relationship summed up in one image pic.twitter.com/4KOXGnPlOaFebruary 22, 2018
So many coins, so little time
For coin hunters out there, Luigi's Balloon World is a dream come true, offering the chance to quickly earn dozens of the little gold fellas without much in the way of risk.
like no joke luigi just descended from the heavens and totally eliminated boring lengthy coin grinding except for speedrunners ig i kinda doubt it’ll be legal for 100%February 22, 2018
Luigi Coin prices are skyrocketing invest now! #SuperMarioOdyssey #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/n7GqzTVf0rFebruary 22, 2018
I will say one thing, Luigi's Balloon World is probably the most efficient way to farm coins, if you're good at movement and know the kingdoms well. At the very least, it's more entertaining than throwing nuts in pots and running the same 30-second straight line for half an hour.February 22, 2018
Anyone with a Nintendo Switch console and a copy of Super Mario Odyssey can get going on Luigi's Balloon World as of right now, so boot it up as soon as you can to start downloading the update, then let us know your thoughts about it in the comments below.
