There’s a new modification for Mario Kart Wii on the internet that takes Waluigi off his motorcycle and challenges him to run races on foot. After messing around with it, I’ve come to the conclusion that Waluigi is just too damn powerful.
This mod uses Waluigi’s model and animations from Mario Party 9 to craft an incredible facsimile of his appearance in Mario Kart Wii, only without a kart or motorcycle to speed him along the various courses. As is often the case with anything involving the lanky villain, the result is hilarious. Watching Waluigi dash through Luigi Circuit and Moo Moo Meadow, keeping pace with souped-up racing machines, provides a much different picture of the purple anti-plumber than his previous appearances in games like Mario Tennis and Golf, where he’s portrayed as a bumbling, cowardly doofus.
The best part is that this isn’t just a slapdash transfer of assets. Mod developer Niment made sure Waluigi’s movements were at least somewhat believable. While boosting, for instance, Waluigi takes a Superman-like stance as he speeds forward, and performing motorcycle tricks off ramps results in special animations that, while not very graceful, get the job done. Don’t get me wrong: This mod is goofy as all hell, but I appreciate the work it took to get Waluigi looking as good as possible.
Niment has also released on-foot versions of Wario and Luigi over the past few days. It’s almost like they’re trying to recreate Sonic R in the Mario universe. All I know is that I love seeing Waluigi getting some attention, even if it’s not from Nintendo itself.
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