Ever notice that Mario’s brother Luigi has a lot in common with martial arts and action-comedy legend Jackie Chan? Of course you have! Everyone knows this! Especially people who experienced the 10-minute demo of Luigi’s Mansion 3 at E3 back in June.
Next Level Games is bringing incredible animation chops to Nintendo’s ghoul-bothering franchise. Everything comes to life and oozes personality: the environment, the ghosts, and most of all, Luigi, who is a huge coward. So how does Nintendo make a game where a huge coward wrangles the undead in a convincing fashion? The answer is the Luigi / Jackie connection that I, and everyone I know, keep talking about! I’ve been yelling it on the streets and I’ve found nobody who will disagree with me!
Jackie and Luigi share a style of movement that’s built on the intersection of two elements, effort and vulnerability. It’s a philosophy that’s crystalized in one of Jackie’s favorite gags: He punches a foe, and he hurts their face, but he also hurts his fist. This same philosophy permeates all of Luigi’s wonderful animations, which I detail in the video above!
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