Luigi's Mansion was one of the launch titles for the Gamecube. You may then ask yourself, why Dots, if the game is so old, are you reviewing it now? Well, I just played it and it is new to me. I am only recently a Gamecube owner. Paired with the fact that there is really nothing new out there that I want to play or review. SO, with that out of the way, I give you the Luigi's Mansion Review!!!

I will start this review with a brief history about my relationship with Luigi. It all started with the original Mario Bros. game. I always played Mario and made my younger sister play second player, thus, she was always Luigi. She would get mad because I "never died" and she always had to play second. So, she went and cried to our mother who then made me play second, which was fine because she died in the first level every time. At this point I began to like the green brother much better than his short and fat counterpart. My love for him continued to grow through the years and peaking when Mario Kart 64 came out. Luigi was the best driver there was; easy to control, fast, and when he won he said so adoringly "I'm-a Luigi, Num-ba One-a!" So, when I heard that he was FINALLY getting a game of his own I was very excited.

The story behind Luigi's Mansion is that Luigi wins this mansion in some contest he did not enter (spooky!) and it turns out that his brother was already there and has disappeared. He meets a little scientist that lives near the mansion to watch ghost activity. He gives him a vacuum that has the power to suck up ghosts (ala the Ghostbusters). You start out by exploring the mansion sucking up the little generic ghosts. You are able to suck up ghosts as soon as you can see their heart, which happens when you startle them. You also suck up little gold coins and gold bars and such that you see in all the rooms. You can open just about everything and find some money in it, but watch out, cause there is probably a ghost in there too. At this point I am wondering where the game is going, because it is feeling a little pointless. That is when they introduce you to the ghosts that belong in the gallery (it is all explained in the game). These ghosts are harder to catch because you can't just see their heart by looking at them. You have to search the room that they are in for clues on how to catch them. You do this by using your Game Boy Horror that the scientist gives to you. Once you sit there and figure out how the heck you catch the ghost, then comes the actual task of catching it. You just gotta start sucking as soon as you see the heart and you suck and suck and suck until he disappears, no easy task, as they fly around the room trying to avoid the wrath of the vacuum of death. You can change controls in mid game from classic to strafing depending on your need at the moment, wh ich is nice. My only complaint is that the vacuum controls are inverted, as I am not such a huge fan of inverted controls. This only took a while to get used to and once I did I was fine. You will most likely be horrible at sucking up the ghosts in the beginning, but there is a training room that you can practice in until your hearts content. Once you beat them you get a key which will open up another door in the mansion that will more than likely lead to another ghost. The ghosts get harder to beat as the game progresses, obviously. It is challenging, but not impossible. I really liked the fact that I had to think to catch the ghosts. There are times where you just start sucking at everything in the room trying to make the ghosts heart appear, but after a little thought, you should have no problem figuring it out. Without giving away too much, you are trying to get through this creepy door that hurts you if you touch it. Once through, things just get weirder and weirder.

The game itself is very nicely put together. Keeping with the tradition of the Mario Bros. style games, it keeps the cartoon-ish look, perhaps better than any of its predecessors. The ghosts look great, Luigi looks great (you can even see his reflection when you look in the mirror), the house looks great, you get my point. When you use your vacuum it can suck up bed sheets and money and move chandeliers. There is even one place where you can see the steam from a shower…very realistic in a cartoon way. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the game is the responses of Luigi. When he gets scared he starts to breathe heavier. You can hear his breathing throughout the game. You can see his breath when he gets into a room with a ghost and his little noises are great, when he gets scared he might even scream out. There is even a button to push that when not in ghost combat makes him call out nervously "Maaaaarrrriooooo." All of this coupled with the classic haunted house music makes for a great game.

All in all, I would say that this is one of my favorites in the Nintendo collection. Maybe it is just my love of the guy in the little green plumbers outfit, or my love for haunted houses…either way, it is a great game. Even if I am not convincing enough, if you have a Gamecube, rent it and give it a try. You might find that you really like it.

Jun 24, 2003 | 23 comments
Lauren Rasco