In this new series of articles, the staff of NOF reflects upon their gaming history and they respond to a prompt about their first and fondest memories of a series.  Since this year is of course the year of Luigi, we thought it was fitting to start with our memories of the man in green.  Enjoy.   

True Hero:
Now let's see... I believe my first experience with the Man in Green was in Super Mario Bros. 3. Ideal played as Luigi while I did Mario. Me and Ideal probably formed a brotherly rivalry similar to Mario and Luigi's while we played through the game: we worked together, but we each wanted to be the best.

I do remember one particular time playing as Luigi in SMB3. I found a 1-Up Mushroom, but was unable to get it. I didn't worry, though because I thought that it just must have been a Super Mushroom for Luigi, because it was green and all (Bear in mind that 3 was my first Mario game). I still chuckle at that.   

Ideal Hero:
My first experience with Luigi was in Super Mario Bros. 3. True had gotten the GBA version for Christmas and wanted someone to play with. We would pass the game back and forth, he playing as Mario and I playing as Luigi. Morton was giving us some trouble in the second world, but I managed to finally overcome him with the man in green. It was a crowning moment of awesome!

Knuckles:
My first clear meeting with Luigi was back on the NES, playing NES Open Tournament with my dad. We played that golf game for a long time, and I don't have any definate memories except hours being wasted trying to get the NES to work when the wires weren't responsive. And the sight of Luigi making a hole in one is still implanted in my brain. Now can we move on to the first memories of Sonic the Hedgehog?

Cyb3Rnite:
Well, I had a SNES since I was five, and I played Super Mario All-Stars a lot. I guess I started to recognize who Luigi was when I played Mario Kart DS. My brain considered him an important part of SMB after playing as him in SSBB when I was 10-ish.

3Dash:
If I remember correctly, the first time I ever encountered the man in green was in Super Mario 64 DS. He's my favorite unlockable character in the game, as he can jump and flutter in the air, making some of those longer jumps easier. Plus, overall, he was cooler than anyone else, from being able to walk temporarily on water to becoming invisible and (somehow) walking on the other side of a mirror. It's good Luigi gets a year of respect, it's been far too long Mario's held the top position.

TricolorYoshi:
Well, my very first experience with luigi is in super Mario 64 DS. I enjoyed using him in the game, I was especially find of his ability to run on water, flutter kick to slow his descent, and his ability to spin in the air upon using a backflip. It also just so happens that this game was my intoduction to Mario, and video games in general, and is probably the reason I'm so fond of luigi and yoshi, since they were my favorite characters to play as throughout the game. So really, overall, LUIGI IS AWESOME. That is all.

ProfessorClayton:
Luigi is certainly a great character, from his humble beginnings as a doppelganger of Mario, to his ghost busting career of today. My first experience with the Green Hero was in Super Mario Bros. 3, playing Co-Op with my brother. By far the best character in the game, I proceeded to get all the way to the final level; which had never been possible with Mario. Luigi then went and defeated the final boss, stomping on his head. But unfortunately the pure awesomeness of his actions caused the system to die right after the end credits.

Happy_Mask:
Luigi is actually my favorite of the two brothers, ever since I first played as him in Luigi's Mansion on Gamecube.  I had seen him around in other games(such as Super Smash Bros on N64), but to me, he was simply a recolor with a more slender figure than his chubby brother.  I'll never forget anything about Luigi's Mansion.  While the atmosphere was perfect, it was really Luigi and his witty yet cowardly personality that made the game for me.  With an entire year dedicated to ole green 'stache, it appears Luigi is finally getting the attention he deserves.

And there you have it.  Have a whimsical anecdote of your first adventure with the lean green moustache machine?  Tell us about it in the comments!