This is going to be difficult, but bear with me. It’s not often someone has to write an apology to a fictional character. Yet, I feel I must. See, I used to be one of them; I was a Rosalina hater. But now, after playing Super Mario 3D World , Mario Kart 8 , and even Super Smash Bros . at E3 2014, I feel I owe Nintendo, and perhaps Rosalina herself, an apology.
I used to complain about her inclusion in these two games to anyone who would listen. Occasionally, I’d even rant to people who wouldn’t or couldn’t (yes, I’m one of those pet owners that considers my cat “people”). I accused Nintendo of padding the roster, trying to force us to like the character, and shoehorning her into every game. I may have even likened the Rosalina crusade to Square Enix’s Lightning propaganda parade.
I started to think that perhaps my bitching was misplaced after actually unlocking Rosalina in Super Mario 3D World . Prior to that, I admit to more than a little grumbling about her suddenly being shoved into the game. I grudgingly acquiesed that maybe she wasn’t so awful. The fact that she had the Super Mario Galaxy Spin Attack was pretty awesome, if a bit OP. Still, I wasn’t ready to admit that I was wrong. Especially since I had plenty of grousing to do about her being in Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros .
Though, I suppose my Super Smash Bros . complaints around Rosalina were always half-hearted. I’ve always had a fondness for characters in fighting games with innovative control schemes, and Rosalina reminded me too much of BlazBlue ‘s Carl Clover for my criticisms to have any bearings. Especially since my beloved Ice Climbers are still nowhere to be found. All it took was one play session at E3 to realize she belonged on the roster.
But I held fast when it came to her inclusion in Mario Kart 8 . To be more specific, I was against Baby Rosalina (it would have been silly to rail against standard Rosalina, as she’d been a racer since Mario Kart Wii ). There were too many babies already! I miss Dry Bones! Diddy Kong would have been better! Bring back R.O.B.! I had a million reasons to speak out against her.
Which adds to the irony that, when I finally did cave and pick up Mario Kart 8 earlier this week, she was the first character to randomly unlock. Of course, I tried using her, and found pairing her with a Biddybuggy that had cyber slick tires and a super glider actually made for a good starting racer. I actually enjoyed using her.
It was that final realization that pulled it all together. For some reason, I’ve had an irrational grudge against Rosalina. Perhaps it’s because she’s new. Maybe it’s because the Super Mario Galaxy titles are the first and only video games to ever make me nauseous. It could be that she physically looked to similar to Peach. Whatever it was, I was wrong. Rosalina is a strong character and a good addition to Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 , and Super Smash Bros ., and I was wrong to ever say otherwise.