Birdo has appeared in countless Mario spin-off games since making her debut back in Yume Koujou Doki Doki Panic in the late 80s but has never really been the star, instead simply existing as part of a larger roster of other Mario-related characters.
This Christmas season, however, a fan developer named Super Squidoodle has finally given the character a proper chance to shine, positioning them as the lead in a brand new Mario fangame for PC called Birdo's Holiday Brawl (thanks @Sonic_Hedgeblog for the spot and Garrett Gilchrist for bringing it to our attention!).
Birdo's Holiday Brawl is a new shooting-gallery-style game that was released earlier this year in November as part of the Christmas Sonic Amateur Games Expo and takes inspiration from the 1995 Virtual Boy title Mario Clash and the 1988 NES classic Super Mario Bros. 2.
It sees players assume control of Birdo as they are given the task of fighting off a range of returning Mario enemies and bosses across several background and foreground layers — all while listening to NES-style renditions of familiar Christmas songs.
You can download the game now at Sonic Fan Games HQ if you'd like to try it out for yourself.