Despite coming from games with simple plots, the Super Mario cast has evolved into one of the iconic ensembles in gaming. The titular plumber is far from the sole defining aspect of his franchise. Many Super Mario characters represent Nintendo as a whole, and Mario spin-offs take advantage of the main series’ arsenal of characters to give players control over supporting protagonists and foes alike. Petey Piranha is one of those characters.
One of the major characters introduced in Super Mario Sunshine alongside Bowser Jr. and Toadsworth, Petey Piranha became a mainstay in the GameCube era of Super Mario spin-offs. This remained fairly consistent in the Wii era, but after that Petey vanished from rosters, only becoming playable again in Mario Tennis Aces. Since recent Mario spin-offs and sports games seem to want to recapture the charm of the Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii games, they should also keep Petey a mainstay.
Why Petey Piranha Matters
Petey is a glorified version of a long-established Mushroom Kingdom species. Just like how King Boo is the leader of his species, Petey’s status as a mutated Piranha Plant makes him a de facto representative of his kind. Petey is also one of the few antagonists in his debut game to be encountered more than once, making a bigger impression on the player in the process.
As soon as the Mario spin-offs started their life on the GameCube with Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Petey joined the ranks of playable characters alongside fellow Sunshine alumni Bowser Jr. and Shadow Mario, with the latter never being playable again following Toadstool Tour. An established role was created for Petey Piranha in the GameCube Mario spin-offs as an unlockable character, and his stats would consistently depict him as more powerful and slower than Bowser. This is the case in his playable appearances in Mario Power Tennis, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and Mario Superstar Baseball.
The Wii era would continue this trend to a certain extent. Petey is one of the two Double Dash characters, alongside Paratroopa, to be cut for Mario Kart Wii, and he was available at the start in Mario Super Sluggers just like every other character returning from Superstar Baseball. However, his playable appearance in Mario Strikers Charged represents what his previous playable roles led to.
The champion of the infamously tough Striker Cup, Petey is one of the bulkiest characters in the game, and its last unlockable character. The difficulty spike makes unlocking him a satisfying achievement, and obtaining him is the game’s equivalent to 100 percent completion. Additionally, Petey’s galactic counterparts like Dino Piranha, and his status as a boss in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, proved that he was popular enough to become a major Mario character that spin-offs integrated into the main cast like Rosalina and Daisy.
Between the release of Super Sluggers and Tennis Aces, Petey Piranha was little more than a boss. What used to be a spin-off mainstay became neglected by the direction of these new games. Petey’s inclusion in Tennis Aces is a step in the right direction, and the existence of Mario Strikers: Battle League implies that his regular playable roles could make a return. The Mario spin-offs are appealing because they allow players to appreciate side characters and enemies in a way the main series could never achieve, and that should continue to be the case.
Mario Strikers: Battle League releases on June 10, 2022, for Nintendo Switch.