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Gaming, In My Opinion
A surprise title from the start, and even more surprising as Nintendo’s main launch title, Luigi’s Mansion is one of the second-most-famous plumber’s first starring roles. And the poor sod is up to his neck in ghosts.
Having won a mansion in a contest he didn’t enter (hmm…), our green-capped hero arranges to meet Mario there so that they can celebrate. On the way, he gets lost and by the time he arrives at the mansion, Mario is nowhere to be soon. Luigi starts looking around, only to be ambushed by a ghost. The plumber backs away, convinced he’s done for, when suddenly the ghost is sucked up by a peculiar little fellow, the hilariously-named Professor Eric Gadd (E. Gadd – egad, geddit?). Gadd leads him back to his lab and kits him up with a ghost-sucking Hoover. Then, Luigi is sent to the mansion to suck-it-to-‘em and rescue his brother. Simple plot, simple premise. Move from room-to-room, clearing up ghosts and occasionally fighting a boss, all the while picking as much lucre as possible (though this really doesn’t serve much purpose). So, Luigi’s Mansion is nothing groundbreaking; it’s simply a case of Ghostbusters-meets-Dustbuster. The visuals, too, aren’t revolutionary. Compared to Rogue Leader, Luigi’s Mansion’s graphics are initially disappointing. And yet, as you play through, the visuals seem to fit in with the rest of the Mario-series, and you’ll accept that the visuals are the best Nintendo graphics so far (in terms of the plumbers’ escapades, anyway). The great thing is that Nintendo could have easily taken the easy way out, pre-rendered the backgrounds Resi-style and thus made Luigi stick out from the rooms (much like the pre-rendered areas in Zelda: Ocarina of Time). Instead, they have made everything look the same, making the mansion look even more convincing. The sounds are the usual Nintendo sounds (the famous coin chime returns) and everything makes a sound. From Luigi’s pattering footsteps to the Boos’ familiar chatter, from the crash of the thunder to the sucking of the Hoover, it all sounds sufficiently realistic and Nintendo-ey. Also, the music is worryingly catchy, whether Luigi is humming it or whistling it, although there should have been more than one tune. But the greatest feat of the game is the attention to detail. Everything… everything can be tapped, hoovered, or moved. And ultimately, the level of experimentation with this will reveal untold treasures. This is a small bonus when compared with the one major flaw about the game. If, like me, you’ll play the game continuously until you complete it…which unfortunately won’t take long. Even novices can complete it within half a week. The only replay value is to play through it again in a new mirror mode. Which, again, won’t take long. Yes, you’ll come back to it in a few years, but if you play it through once, then you’ve pretty much seen everything. VISUALS: Not exactly ground-breaking, nor does it push the Cube to its limits, but the Mario Universe has never looked better or spookier. 9/10 SOUND: Everything in the mansion makes a sound, as well as the return of many traditional Nintendo sounds. 10/10 PLAYABILITY: Very good. No major problems in terms of control or skill means everyone can progress through the game without a hitch. 9/10 LIFESPAN: Questionable. For a launch game, this is worryingly short with debatable replay value. 5/10 VERDICT: Not that bad for Nintendo’s programmer-training project. Not revolutionary, nor is it the best launch game. Think of it as a warm-up for Super Mario Sunshine. 82% |