Welcome back, lovely people, for another trip to the Nintendo Life Mailbox.

Got something you want to get off your chest in our monthly letters page feature? We’re ready and waiting to read about your game-related ponderings.

Each month, we’ll highlight a Star Letter, the writer of which will receive a month’s subscription to our ad-free Supporter scheme. Check out the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page.

Let’s sit back with a warm beverage and go through our dispatch box…

Nintendo Life Mailbox – May 2026

“Very inspirational” (***STAR LETTER***)

Dear NintendoLife,

The Miis in Tomodachi Life always look like they are having the best life. You could say they are “Living the Dream.” They go through the ups and downs of life in a rapid pace, from breakups to making new friends. Even when they are down in the dumps, they always recover and get back up. Very inspirational.

I had broke up with my girlfriend recently, and it really hurt. Tomodachi Life taught me how to recover, by doing something you love (Playing Tomodachi Life) and talking with others. It really inspired me to recover and get back up, because if the Mii’s can do it, I can. I didn’t think Tomodachi Life would have been so inspiring.

ParakerriRush

Glad to hear you’re doing well. Video games, eh? They’re pretty good. Important to remember the ‘talking with others’ bit, too. – Ed.

“weird pimp sim in a blimp”

21 April marked 10 years since the passing of the former performer and artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince (or formally speaking, that Love Symbol thing for which no Unicode equivalent exists).

Prince was unapologetically himself: a pop powerhouse; an irresistibly bombastic iconoclast who rewrote the rules of what popular music meant and who it was for; a proud, purple peacock.

…A bit like Waluigi really. Or at least, like what Waluigi could be if he were allowed to realise his true potential.

For the sad fact is, we’ve never had a dedicated Waluigi game.

Wario has had plenty, ranging from his rapid-fire micro-game series to 2D (and even 3D) platformers. Luigi has had his mansions, as well as New Super Luigi U — part of an entire year dedicated to the Green Machine. But Waluigi? Squiddly nowt.

Now, you could argue that Waluigi is really just an extra to make up the numbers in sports games, there for the sake of four-player symmetry and nothing else. And you’d be entirely right. But also missing the point. Because this isn’t about what Waluigi IS, but what he COULD be, given the chance.

If someone asked you, “what would a Tingle game look like?” and you replied “It would would be a sort of weird pimp sim in a blimp featuring the characters from the Wizard of Oz”, they’d think you were mad. But they’d also let you make that very game and it would go on to sell… averagely and never get a Western release. But the point is, it got green-lit.

So I ask you, “what would a Waluigi game look like, should one be miraculously purple-lit?”

Let your imaginations run wild.

I feel it would probably have some musical component, partly because I can’t break the Prince connection, but also because Nintendo has a habit of making music a core part of their games’ aesthetics (Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, and even Splatoon follow this pattern). However, in order to justify its existence, it would have to touch on a gameplay-style that Nintendo hasn’t yet put its twist on.

It struck me that Nintendo has never really done a Souls-like. So how about it Ninty? A musical Souls-like in which Waluigi is armed with an array of instruments which act as his arsenal: overwhelm enemies with sonic blasts from Walguigi’s flying-L guitar which he summons with Townsendian windmills (naturally the guitar doubles up as a literal axe); melt off foes’ faces with ripping sax solos; batter your opponents into oblivion as you take them for bongos.

…Either that or they finally release Project Giant Robot but the robot is now an enormous animatronic Waluigi and it plays like Doshin the Giant except set to Jashin mode all the time and it’s called ‘Project Washin Machine’ and your goal is to destroy as much of the city as possible before a super-sized Donkey Kong comes and punches you to pieces.

…Those are just a couple of my ideas. I have more, but I fear I’ve already breached the character limit. So I here I am, humbly soliciting ideas from you, the Nintendo Life writership and readership.

The world is dark. The news is grim. Discord and darkness abound, and I feel we could use a Year of Waluigi to turn this ship around.

Yours purpley,
Waaaaaxz

I would very much enjoy Waluigi taking on the ‘big bad’ mantle in the next 3D Mario. Bowser and family need a break, and who better to keep King Koopa’s throne warm? I’m picturing the wiry purple goblin-dude draped over it, possibly holding a suggestive, glowing staff.

Alternatively, Dr. Waluigi. But he’s an orthodontist and each level is a different Mushroom Kingdom regular coming in for dental work. – Ed.

“the ultimate feature”

I think GameShare is an undervalued feature.
If you think about it, it’s really hard to play many games in 51 Clubhouse Games without GameShare.
Now, what would make GameShare the ultimate feature is if Nintendo brought in GameShare support for Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3.
I don’t have Splatoon 2, but if Nintendo brought in GameShare support for Splatoon 2, I would buy Splatoon 2 (but not the Expansion Pass because i have Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack) the day support launches.
Also, if Splatoon Raiders is good and has GameShare support that would be great and I would probably buy it.
Ben

It’s definitely a handy tool for anyone who’s still rocking some Switch 1s in the house, though I haven’t yet had much use for it myself. I’d like to see Nintendo design a game around it – something that relied on multiple screens. It’s got potential.

Straight Wii U ports seem possible, too, where the docked Switch 2 streams the GamePad screen to another system in your hands. I’d love to see Nintendo Land playable in some form on Switch. And bring back Affordable Space Adventures. – Ed.

“quite frankly”

“What’s your favorite Mario game?”
“Super Mario RPG.”
“No, what’s your favorite mainline Mario?”
“Why would you clump SMRPG with the likes of Mario Party?”

It seems to me that more people are assuming that “mainline Mario” is a thing, even though I haven’t seen a definition of what “mainline” even means.

“SMRPG isn’t mainline because it wasn’t directed by Miyamoto.”
“Then Super Mario Galaxy is just a spin-off.”
“SMRPG isn’t mainline because it isn’t a platformer.”
“Then Super Mario 64 isn’t mainline because it’s more of a sandbox game. And Super Paper Mario would be mainline.”

I get it—SMRPG is a very different experience than Super Mario Bros. I think a taxonomy that makes more sense would be having two main groups—Mario “adventure” games and Mario “play” games. Mario “adventure” games tend to be single-player focused and have some kind of a story while “play” games usually focus more on multiplayer. This would make 2D Mario, Mario RPGs, and 3D Mario all types of “adventure” games and Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Mario sports as types of “play” games. Yet this system isn’t perfect—Mario Pinball Land would classify as an “adventure,” but its gameplay feels more arcadey.

I feel that there has to be a better way to classify these games. If SMRPG is just a spin-off, then SM64 is also just a spin-off. Both are radically different takes on the Super Mario Bros. formula, and quite frankly, SMRPG had more actual platforming.
Fan of Mario RPGs

Any genre label’s usefulness rests upon how quickly it communicates general meaning to the widest audience. Criticism of ‘Metroidvania’ is 100% valid in that it requires specific knowledge (in this case, the exploratory, ability-limited search-action structure of Metroid and Iga-era Castlevania games) to make any sense. It’s jargon that persists because it’s handy shorthand for those who use it most.

Likewise, most game fans (and even non-gamers, I’d argue) would understand ‘mainline’ Mario to be a 2D or 3D platformer. It signifies Mario games where jumping is the primary verb – where he’s a ‘Jump Man’, if you will.

Lumping everything else together as ‘spin-off’ is just a byproduct of defining the traditional jumping games, not a useful label in itself. That’s why we separate our Mario RPG and Mario Sports and Mario Partys into their own lists, plus further subdivisions. If I were new to gaming, I’d be annoyed if I asked a pal to recommend a Mario game and they made me buy Jamboree.

Then again, I find Mario Party as fun as shingles. – Ed.

“happy camper”

I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting to be a Nintendo adult! I was raised on PlayStation and my first experience with Nintendo was with the GameCube. Of course, decades later things changed to put it lightly and here I am thinking the Switch 2 is one of my all time favorite consoles.

There’s something relaxing and joyful and fun about playing Nintendo games I didn’t realize until getting older. And in an already difficult world, having something that brings you joy no matter its imperfections means so much.

Now if we can get Doom: The Dark Ages, a Sleeping Dogs port and a Kid Icarus Uprising remake, I’ll be a very happy camper.
Antonio Denis (ATD)

Agreed on all fronts. The variety is the real joy, with all the gloomcore survival fare and pastel-coloured cosy confections you could ask for, and absolutely everything in between and out to the sides. And Nintendo games spanning multiple decades. Not a bad offering. – Ed.

Bonus Letters

“I wish I could swap pikmin like I can trade Pokémon. I have doubles and my friends don’t have the same ones and I can’t share ” – alex

I wish I could swap Louie for someone more pleasant. A Waterwraith, perhaps. – Ed.

“I’m not as bothered by how Ganon broke free each time.” – YarrCaptainJuan

No one’s ever really gone sacred realm evil something something. – Ed.

---

That’s all for this month! Thanks to everyone who wrote in, whether you were featured above or not.

Got something you’d like to get off your chest? A burning question you need answered? A correction you can’t contain? Follow the instructions below, then, and we look forward to rifling through your missives.

Nintendo Life Mailbox submission advice and guidelines

• Letters, not essays, please – Bear in mind that your letter may appear on the site, and 1000 words ruminating on the Legend of Heroes series and asking Alana for her personal ranking isn’t likely to make the cut. Short and sweet is the order of the day. (If you’re after a general guide, 100-200 words would be ample for most topics.)
• Don’t go crazy with multiple correspondences – Ideally, just the one letter a month, please!
• Don’t be disheartened if your letter doesn’t appear in the monthly article – We anticipate a substantial inbox, and we’ll only be able to highlight a handful every month. So if your particular letter isn’t chosen for the article, please don’t get disheartened!

How to send a Letter to the Nintendo Life Mailbox

• Head to Nintendo Life’s Contact page and select the subject “Reader Letters” from the drop-down menu (it’s already done for you in the link above). Type your name, email, and beautifully crafted letter into the appropriate box, hit send, and boom — you’re done!