Rosalina might be my favorite character from the Mario platforming games.

In fact, Rosalina might be the only character in the Mario platforming games.

There are checklists and guidelines for this sort of thing, but I’d like to adapt one of Gene Siskel’s favorite tests. Imagine winning the opportunity to have lunch with your favorite video game character. Would you have anything interesting to talk about?

Nathan Drake, sure. Solid Snake, sure. Master Chief, sure. Lara Croft, sure. Gordon Freeman… uh, assuming you have a pen and paper, sure.

But Mario? Luigi? I might imagine Princess Peach would have something to say about how the Mushroom Kingdom works, but the last time she spoke with a voice was in Super Mario 64.

Rosalina comes from Super Mario Galaxy, a revolutionary leap over Mario 64 and one of the best generation 7 games of all time. Unlike the usual plumbers and princesses she has an actual backstory that’s revealed by a storybook in the game hub. It’s an absurdly saccharine tale, but once your teeth have rotted to dust it’s likely to grab you. Rosalina is a tragic figure and seems to be capable of emotions like sorrow or compassion. She isn’t a fossilized nonentity like the Mario brothers.

At lunch with Rosalina I’d ask her about her parents, where else she’s gone with the Cosmic Observatory, what the Lumas eat, if anything.

2013 might have been the Year of Luigi, but I’m delighted to see Rosalina pop up more and more. She’s unlockable in Super Mario 3D World at - ugh - exactly the moment when you’re sick of the game, and now she’s coming to Super Smash Bros. Very exciting!

Can’t wait for Super Smash Bros. to be the, what, fifth game I buy for my 18 month-old Wii U?