NintendoForce

Issue #35: Waluigi Time! – September/October 2018

Added 2018-08-20 14:00:36 +0000 UTC

WAAAAAAHHH!!

Is it an exclamation of victory? A shout of shock and surprise? A prolonged, extended, far-too-lengthy lamentation decrying the cruelty of his existence? Perhaps, for Waluigi, the "WAAAAAAAHHH" is all of these things at once.

Behold the man in purple. Look upon his sharp mustache. See his angled nose, his knowing sneer and his eyes – his terrible, sad eyes who have watched character after character be invited to become a playable fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series, while he himself has been thrice brushed aside, forced to settle for being a simple Assist Trophy.

WAAAAAAHHH indeed.

In this issue of NF Magazine, we're doing things a little differently. We almost always award our front cover position to an upcoming game, then seek to theme the content inside to match that game and support some aspect of its design, its world or its characters. This time around, though, one character alone is in our spotlight. The one. The only! Waluigi!

Because, by golly, if Masahiro Sakurai isn't going to show him the respect he's due, the Nintendo Force surely will step up to salute him instead.

But ah, that's the issue, isn't it? That's the question. Is Waluigi a mascot who's worthy of true love and honest respect – an icon who has wrongly been left out of the lineup of Nintendo's most prestigious series? Or has his profile and "popularity" simply been inflated by laugh-seeking, meme-loving gamers on the Internet, only crying foul at his lack of inclusion as a joke, when in reality he only deserves the background character treatment he usually gets?

We'll seek an answer within the pages of this 35th NF edition. We've prepared a complete retrospective of Waluigi's whole 18-year career in gaming thus far, to examine how he's evolved over time. We look ahead at Super Mario Party, his next most prominent appearance that will hit store shelves in early October. We review Mario Tennis Aces, which is probably the most Waluigi-ish game Waluigi has ever had. (And then, for those of you who can't stand the guy, all our other regular previews, reviews, features and the like are here too.) But if you don't like Waluigi, I have to say to you: WAAAAAAHHH!

Digital subscribers, keep an eye on your email inbox, as the PDF version of this new issue should arrive there within the next 24 hours.

As always, the Magzter version for tablets, eReaders and the like will follow within the next week or so.

And print copies are in production now, set to be mailed out later this week. They should arrive to most print subscribers' mailboxes by early-to-mid September. Go ahead and prepare a blank spot on your wall for the "Too Many Waluigis" wall poster!

NEXT TIME ON NF MAGAZINE:

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! For our 36th NF issue, we're going to expand the page count to bump the magazine up to an even 100 pages, and we're also going to have another mega-sized double-big poster to be able to bring you guys the massive playable cast of the next Smash on a single poster. So if you've just joined us because of this Waluigi issue, stick around for our next issue too! It'll be the biggest we've ever done!

Until next time! Thanks for continuing to support the Nintendo Force, everyone!

~ Lucas M. Thomas