Nabbit, the NPC from the original game will also be included as a playable character in the DLC pack.

This year is the year of Luigi, but you wouldn't know it if Nintendo wasn't constantly telling us. He's had a grand total of one game released starring him (Luigi's Mansion) and a piece DLC announced for the previously released New Super Mario Bros U. In today's Nintendo Direct event, Nintendo top banana Satoru Iwata admitted that this simply was not enough to honor the most cowardly Mario brother, and announced a stand-alone retail release for New Super Luigi U, that won't require the original NSMBU to play.

It will cost $19.99 for the downloadable version, and, perplexingly, $29.99 for the retail version. Nintendo did not specifically state why the retail version cost an extra $10, but one can assume it is because it does not require the original game to play, while the digital version still does. The downloadable content will feature alternate versions of over 80 NSMBU stages, and players will be able to switch between the regular NSMBU and Luigi-focused stages at will. It's probably a safe bet to assume that the non Luigi-focused stages from the original game will not be included in the stand-alone retail version.

Also announced was Nabbit, that stupid annoying bunny-creature-thing from NSMBU, will be making his debut as a full playable character in the Luigi-focused DLC. While Nabbit can't take advantage of any of the traditional Mario powerups, he also takes zero damage from enemies, making him effectively invulnerable. Purists may groan at this news, but gamers with children or younger siblings will probably be jumping for joy. Nabbit will only be available in multiplayer.

The retail version of New Super Luigi U will be released on August 25, while the digital version will be released on June 20.