Ennuigi

Last updated
Ennuigi
Ennuigi (2015) screenshot.png
In-game screenshot
Publisher(s) Lexaloffle Games
Designer(s) Josh Millard
Series Mario (unofficial)
Engine PICO-8
Platform(s) Internet browser
ReleaseAugust 5, 2015
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single player

Ennuigi (or Ennuigi 1.0 [1] ) is an art, [2] browser and fangame [3] created using PICO-8 that combines Super Mario Bros. and boredom. Ennuigi is a portmanteau of the French word "ennui" and the name of Mario's fraternal twin brother Luigi. The game was designed by Josh Millard.

Contents

Inspiration

"This is a shot at a collection of ideas I had a few years ago, about looking critically at the universe of Super Mario Bros. in light of the total lack of explicit narrative in the original game in particular. Who are these strange men? What motivates them? By what right do they wreak the havoc they do on this strange place? What do they feel about where they are and what they’re doing?

And so, this is one lens through which to look at all that, with Luigi, the second brother, the also-ran, as a complicit onlooker, wandering now through some fractured, rotting liminal place in this strange world, reflecting on it all in scattered fragments."

 —Josh Millard [1] [4] [5] [6] [7]

The story of Ennuigi centers on Luigi's inability to come to terms with the lack of narrative in the original game. [4] [7] [8] In a Reddit thread, Millard commented "I [...] think it's a pretty weird implied narrative once you step back and look at it, and enjoyed funneling some thoughts about all that into a recharacterization of Luigi as a guy who's as legitimately confused and distressed by his strange life as you'd expect a person to be once removed from the bubble of cartoony context of the franchise." [2]

Gameplay

"Left" and "right" control "walk around," while "up" for "ruminate" and "down" for "smoke." [4] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] The player cannot "jump" as, according to the game, "Jumping is not consistent with ennui!" [7] Ennuigi is procedurally generated. [2] [6] [13] It is available to play on the Pico-8 Forums. [9]

Reception

Character

Reviewers described Luigi's character in Ennuigi as "chain smoking," [3] "depressed," [3] [6] "laconic," [5] "perpetually miserable," [15] and "an angsty teenager who just finished writing a book report about Albert Camus' The Stranger ." [8] A reviewer said "it’s like Luigi read too much Derrida" while another adds "Sartre and Nietzsche too to that assessment." [8] [13] IndieGames.com's Joel Couture called Luigi "a man commenting on a lifetime of strange things and events beyond his control." [9]

Music

Polygon 's Owen S. Good said "That brooding chiptune will have you questioning what you've really done with your life, too." [6] The Mary Sue's Jessica Lachenal described the music as "slow, plodding, aimless." [16] Dangerous Minds's Martin Schneider reviewed "The slow, tinny music is a perfect complement" to the game. [7]

Video game

In 2015, the game was received by various news publications favorably. In a review for the interactive movie video game Night Trap , TechCrunch 's John Biggs recommended playing a little Ennuigi. [17] The A.V. Club 's Jennifer Billock appraised the game favorably stating "thankfully, you can play." [4] Rock, Paper, Shotgun 's Emily Gera praised the game with "It is excellent." [5] Destructoid 's Steven Hansen said it "makes for a fun, depressing little distraction as it looks literally at the cartoonish abstractions of the Mushroom Kingdom." [10] Pajiba's Vivian Kane described it as "Luigi minus that philistine Mario, plus cigarettes and deep thoughts." [18] Columbus Alive 's Brad Keefe listed Ennuigi on their list of fictional siblings remarking "Think it wasn’t hard growing up in his brother’s shadow?" [19]

The Mary Sue's Jessica Lachenal called Ennuigi a "hilarious parody." [16] Motherboard's Emanuel Maiberg remarked while it is a "small and funny browser game," it is "not as fun to play as the original Super Mario Bros." [8] Gamnesia's Gabriel McBride found the game as "possible interpretation" to Luigi's actions and thoughts in official games and thus "manages to be pretty amusing in the process." [3] Boing Boing 's David Pescovitz reviewed the game "excellent." [1] GamesRadar 's Sam Prell, despite the concept, implored "It's funny though, I promise." [15] Dangerous Minds's Martin Schneider described Ennuigi as a "dreary, Beckettian video game." [7] The Next Web's Mic Wright received the game favorably stating it "reveals the bleakness of Luigi alone time. There are no bad guys, no adventure, just smoking and moping." [14]

In 2016, Polygon 's Owen S. Good said "[Ennuigi]'s gotten some attention lately." [6] PC Gamer 's Steven Messner reviewed the game with "Where Mario games are typically upbeat and energetic, Josh Millard's reinterpretation of the Mushroom Kingdom is glum, sometimes pretentious, and sometimes wonderfully insightful." [2] The Nerdist's Blake Rodgers said "this side-scrolling game staring Luigi is equal parts hilarious and heart-wrenching." [12] The Boston Globe 's Jesse Singal called it "a very different, very dark take on its 'Mario Bros.' source material." [13] Wired UK described it as "a darkly amusing take on video game worlds." [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Mario Bros.</i> 1983 video game

Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo as an arcade video game in 1983. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures, like turtles (Koopas) and crabs emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away. The Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System version is the first game produced by Intelligent Systems. It is part of the Mario franchise, but originally began as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series.

<i>Super Mario Bros. 3</i> 1988 video game

Super Mario Bros. 3 is a 1988 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990 and in Europe on August 29, 1991. It was developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, led by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi</span> Video game character

Luigi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as an Italian plumber and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Defined by his kind-hearted, yet cowardly demeanor, Luigi appears in many games throughout the Mario franchise, oftentimes accompanying his brother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario</span> Video game character

Mario is a character from the Mario franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario is an Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom with his younger twin brother, Luigi. Their adventures generally involve rescuing Princess Peach from the villain Bowser while using power-ups that give them different abilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoshi</span> Video game character

Yoshi is a fictional dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo. Yoshi debuted in Super Mario World (1990) on the SNES as Mario and Luigi's sidekick. Throughout the mainline Super Mario series, Yoshi typically serves as Mario's trusted steed. With a gluttonous appetite, Yoshi can gobble enemies with his long tongue, and lay eggs that doubly function as projectiles. Yoshi is the title character of the Yoshi series and a supporting character in Mario spin-off games such as Mario Party and Mario Kart, as well as many Mario sports games. He also appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game series Super Smash Bros. Yoshi is a member of the same-named species, which is distinguished for its wide range of colors.

<i>Super Mario Bros. 2</i> 1988 video game

Super Mario Bros. 2 is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was first released in North America in September 1988 and in the PAL region in 1989.

<i>Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels</i> 1986 video game

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is a 1986 platform game developed by Nintendo R&D4 and published by Nintendo. A sequel to Super Mario Bros. (1985), the game was originally released in Japan for the Family Computer Disk System as Super Mario Bros. 2 on June 3, 1986. Nintendo of America deemed it too difficult for its North American audience and instead released an alternative sequel, also titled Super Mario Bros. 2, in 1988. The game was renamed The Lost Levels and first released internationally in the 1993 Super Nintendo Entertainment System compilation Super Mario All-Stars. The game has since been ported to the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, along with being re-released through emulation for the Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch.

<i>Super Mario Bros.</i> (film) 1993 science fantasy film

Super Mario Bros. is a 1993 fantasy adventure film based on Nintendo's Super Mario video game series. The first feature-length live-action film based on a video game, it was directed by the husband-and-wife team of Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, written by Parker Bennett, Terry Runté, and Ed Solomon, and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures through Hollywood Pictures. It follows brothers Mario and Luigi Mario in their quest to rescue Princess Daisy from a dystopic parallel universe ruled by the ruthless King Koopa.

<i>New Super Mario Bros.</i> 2006 video game

New Super Mario Bros. is a 2006 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was first released in May 2006 in North America and Japan, and in PAL regions in June 2006. It is the first installment in the New Super Mario Bros. subseries of the Super Mario franchise and follows Mario as he fights his way through Bowser's henchmen to rescue Princess Peach. Mario has access to several old and new power-ups that help him complete his quest, including the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower, and the Super Star, each giving him unique abilities. While traveling through eight worlds with more than 80 levels, Mario has to defeat Bowser Jr. and Bowser before saving Princess Peach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Next Level Games</span> Canadian video game developer

Next Level Games, Inc. is a Canadian video game developer owned by Nintendo based in Vancouver. Founded in October 2002, Next Level Games specializes in creating console video games. Their first project was NHL Hitz Pro, which was published by Midway Games in 2003. The company is best known for its work with Nintendo, the Mario Strikers games and Punch-Out!! for the Wii, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS, and Luigi's Mansion 3 for the Nintendo Switch.

<i>Super Mario</i> Video game series

Super Mario is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario franchise. At least one Super Mario game has been released for every major Nintendo video game console. However, there have also been a number of Super Mario video games released on non-Nintendo gaming platforms. There are more than 20 games in the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goomba</span> Super Mario character

The Goombas, known in Japan as Kuribō, and originally Little Goomba, are a fictional species from Nintendo's Mario franchise. They first appeared in the NES video game Super Mario Bros. as the first enemy players encounter, part of Bowser's Army. They have appeared outside video games, including in film and television. They are usually brownish with long black eyebrows, sharp upward fangs, tan torsos, dark brown feet, and are most commonly seen walking around aimlessly, often as an obstacle, in video games. They were included late in the development of Super Mario Bros. as a simple, easy-to-defeat enemy.

<i>Mario</i> (franchise) Video game franchise

Mario is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for video game company Nintendo, which produces and publishes its installments. Starring the titular Italian plumber Mario, it is primarily a video game franchise but has extended to other forms of media, including television series, comic books, a 1993 feature film, a 2023 animated film, and theme park attractions. The series' first installment was 1983's Mario Bros. even though Mario made his first appearance in 1981's arcade game Donkey Kong and had already been featured in several games of the Donkey Kong and Game & Watch series. The Mario games have been developed by a wide variety of developers, including Nintendo, Hudson Soft, and AlphaDream. Mario games have been released almost exclusively for Nintendo's various video game consoles and handhelds, from the third generation onward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toad (Nintendo)</span> Fictional character in Nintendos Mario franchise

Toad, known in Japan as Kinopio, is a character from the Mario franchise. The character was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, and is portrayed as a citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom and one of Princess Peach's attendants. Toad is typically a non-player character who assists Mario and his friends, but he occasionally appears as a protagonist.

<i>New Super Mario Bros. U</i> 2012 video game

New Super Mario Bros. U is a 2012 platform game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for the Wii U. The game is a sequel to New Super Mario Bros. Wii and is the first entry in the Super Mario series to feature high-definition graphics.

<i>Super Mario Bros.</i> 1985 video game

Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published in 1985 by Nintendo for the Famicom in Japan and for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America. It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. and the first game in the Super Mario series. Following a US test market release for the NES, it was converted to international arcades on the Nintendo VS. System in early 1986. The NES version received a wide release in North America that year and in PAL regions in 1987.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pescovitz, David (August 11, 2015). "Play "Ennuigi," starring a depressed, smoking Luigi". Boing Boing . Happy Mutants. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Messner, Steven (August 29, 2016). "In Ennuigi you play a depressed, chain-smoking Luigi who's lost all hope". PC Gamer . Future plc. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 McBride, Gabriel (August 14, 2015). ""Ennuigi" is a Fan Game Where a Depressed, Cigarette-Smoking Luigi Ponders the Meaning of Life". Gamnesia. Gamnesia.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Billock, Jennifer (August 6, 2015). "One of the Mario Bros. has an existential crisis in the new game Ennuigi". The A.V. Club . The Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on August 31, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Gera, Emily (August 16, 2015). "Ennuigi: Bringing Existential Angst To Super Mario". Rock Paper Shotgun . Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Good, Owen S. (August 27, 2016). "Bored? I'll show you boredom. Play 'Ennuigi'". Polygon . Vox Media. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Schneider, Martin (August 6, 2015). "'Ennuigi': Nintendo for pretentious existentialists". Dangerous Minds. DangerousMinds.net. Archived from the original on September 3, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Maiberg, Emanuel (August 17, 2015). "Uh Oh, Luigi Read Some Derrida and Now He's 'Ennuigi'". Motherboard. Vice. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Couture, Joel (August 17, 2015). "Contemplate the Pointlessness of Mushroom Kingdoms in Ennuigi". IndieGames.com. Gamasutra. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Hansen, Steven (August 12, 2015). "Luigi walks, smokes, and ruminates in Ennuigi". Destructoid . Destructoid.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  11. Johnson, Paddy; Farley, Michael Anthony; McNamara, Rea (August 6, 2015). "Thursday Links: Better Living Without MFA?". Art F City. AFC Board. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  12. 1 2 Rodgers, Blake (August 6, 2016). "Explore Luigi's Existential Angst When Mario Is out Adventuring". The Nerdist. Nerdist Industries. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Singal, Jesse (September 2, 2015). "Between 'Super Mario Bros.' and nothingness, there's Luigi". The Boston Globe . Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Wright, Mic (August 6, 2015). "Here's what Luigi does while Mario is away". The Next Web. The Next Web B.V. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Prell, Sam (August 12, 2015). "A chain-smoking Luigi is your forlorn guide through life in Ennuigi". GamesRadar . Future plc. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Lachenal, Jessica (August 11, 2015). "Embrace the Listlessness with Ennuigi, Featuring Luigi Riddled with Ennui". The Mary Sue. Dan Abrams. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  17. Biggs, John (August 11, 2015). "A Programmer Is Recreating The Classic Game Night Trap In The Browser". TechCrunch . AOL. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  18. Kane, Vivian (August 13, 2015). "Never Cross an Angry, Drunken Horde of Taylor Swift Fans & Lindsay Lohan Dined and Dashed In Greece". Pajiba. Pajiba.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  19. Keefe, Brad (August 27, 2015). "The List: Best fictional siblings". Columbus Alive . GateHouse Media. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  20. Wired UK staff (August 29, 2016). "WIRED Awake: 10 must-read articles for August 29". Wired UK . Condé Nast . Retrieved August 31, 2016.