Mario games have been all the rage since the early 80s, so it's easy to see why Luigi would try and ride his older brother's coattails (most recently in the Nintendo DS game Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story). It seems that wherever Mario goes, be it running through the Mushroom Kingdom or fighting opponents in Super Smash Bros., his brother Luigi is sure to follow. While one can appreciate the family loyalty, the lesser Mario brother does get annoying, so who could blame Mario for going it solo in these ten Mario games without Luigi?

#10 - Donkey Kong

There was no sign of Luigi when Mario made his debut in 1981 in Nintendo's Donkey Kong. It was just the plumber going head-to-head against the big ape, out to rescue his beloved Pauline from danger. Mario was just looking out for his younger bro who'd probably just inadvertently catch on fire. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa!"

#9 - Punch-Out!!

Technically, Mario wasn't a playable character in Nintendo's classic 8-bit boxing game. Nevertheless, he was in there, giving Little Mac the victory every time he scored a knock out. Luigi took a pass on this one, probably because he feared he was going to be beaten to a pulp by Mike Tyson. "Mamma mia!"

#8 - Mario Vs. Donkey Kong

When Donkey Kong came back into Mario's life to raise havoc and steal his girl (again), the heroic plumber didn't call upon his bumbling brother for help. Instead, he relies on wind-up Minis, which assist him in taking on the big ape in this puzzle adventure. Turns out those wind-up toys were more courageous than poor ol' Luigi.

#7 - Dr. Mario

Bothersome germs are everywhere in this classic puzzle game, and it's up to Mario and his supply of colorful pills to save the day. This game originally debuted on the NES, and Nintendo recently re-released in downloadable form for the Nintendo DSi and the Wii. Thankfully, Luigi isn't found in either game, as his rampant case of nerd flu has yet to have a cure.

#6 - Mario's Picross

This Game Boy puzzle game has you forming pictures by figuring out what goes where in nonogram logic puzzles. With over 250 to solve in all across a number of difficulty settings, there's hours worth of fun to be had here. And you won't have to worry about the green-wearing plumber popping up to ruin your fun (we don't think he graduated high school).

#5 - Mario Clash

Luigi didn't show up in Mario Clash on the Virtual Boy, despite the fact that the game was a spiritual successor to the arcade game Mario Bros., which he was in. For once, it looks like his decision was justified, since the game wasn't really that good. Not even 3D tricks could save it, since the gameplay isn't enjoyable and the save options just aren't there. Mario should have punted this one to Luigi (like he did with Luigi's Mansion, zing!).

#4 - Mario Paint

The only way you'd find Luigi in this Super Nintendo painting program is if you took the time to draw him yourself. The possibilities are endless in Mario Paint, thanks to the inclusion of a SNES mouse peripheral and full creativity at your fingertips. Still, why would you want to waste it on Mario's brother? Draw something cool instead. Like a brick, for instance.

#3 - Yoshi's Story

Here we have a game in which including Luigi wouldn't have been so annoying. That's because Yoshi's Story is so overloaded on cuteness that it almost succumbs from an overdose. The stage design, the Yoshi expressions, the super cute enemies; it's all ridiculously adorable. And then there's the theme song ("The apples, the apples!") which we hope to never hear again.

#2 - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Either Square Enix didn't like Luigi or didn't really have a need for him in its SNES role-playing adventure. That's cool, because every other character in the Mario universe can be found in Super Mario RPG, from Bowser to Toad to Princess Peach. You can even find Samus from the Metroid series and Link from the Zelda series if you look hard enough. But nope, no Luigis allowed in this one.

#1 - Super Mario 64

We can hear the arguments now. "But, GameDaily, Luigi was in Super Mario 64!" No he wasn't, gang. We researched it and the whole thing is a hoax. You can find Yoshi in Super Mario 64, but you won't find Luigi anywhere. That suits us just fine, since we can focus more on retro 3D platforming goodness without needing to worry about Mario's whiny bro!