Luigi's in sparkling form

In both the North American and European Nintendo Direct broadcasts, Satoru Iwata appeared — wearing a snazzy green hat — to declare this the "Year of Luigi". After Mario has hogged the line-up in recent years, Luigi will have a starring role in some new titles, one of which will actually be an expansive DLC offering for New Super Mario Bros. U, titled New Super Luigi U.

The "Bros." is dropped as this will be an extensive set of 80 levels — alternate versions of those found in the main game — featuring the brother and offering "a whole new level of gameplay challenge". Notably this will be a single download — not broken up into small chunks of DLC — and Satoru Iwata didn't give a set date, only that it would arrive this year. It's not clear whether multiplayer is included, nor was any hint given at the potential price, but it was promised that it would be a substantial addition to the launch day platformer.

If you download it you'll apparently be able to freely jump between the Luigi and normal game stages. What do you think of this upcoming expansion via DLC, and what sort of pricing do you expect to be applied? Let us know in the comments below.