Luigi's Mansion 
By:  Lheurch 

     We all remember the excitement we felt as we ripped off the plastic to Super Mario 64 back in 1996. Putting that gray cartridge into the system brought back pleasant memories you had long forgotten. That familiar music in your ears, the familiar figure at your control, and the same old mission of stomping Bowser. But after getting all of those 120 stars and perhaps missing school or work to accomplish this task, you realized something was missing. Part of what had made Mario popular in 1985 and beyond was not there: Luigi. You had found Yoshi on top of the castle but Luigi was not in the game anywhere. He showed up in Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros, but somehow it was not the same.   

Now the prodigal brother has returned. After the nixing of the 64DD in America and Zelda being put on top priority in 1998, Luigi may have his turn to shine on the Game Cube. While still very early in development and only a brief demo has been shown to the public, Luigi’s Mansion looks to be a strong front-runner in the Game Cube’s lineup. It is still debatable to whether or not Luigi’s Mansion is just the working title for a new Mario game or actually a stand-alone game starring Luigi. Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, has given no clear answer to this question and the true nature of this game will probably not be known until next year.   

The screen shots that were given to the public are simply amazing. The scenes are extremely well rendered. Although some small flaws are evident, it is not an assumption that these will be corrected come next July. The amount of time that has been put into this game should also give it several quality points more than other games we will see around launch time.   

After looking at other announced titles though, any game will have very high standards to live up to. If this game does indeed turn out to be the next full Mario game then it looks like it will live up to the standards set forth by fifteen years of excellence. If the game turns out to be a stand-alone, then it certainly can succeed by its own right. It just seems unlikely for a Miyamoto game to be based solely on one character in one environment though.   

Fortunately you will not have to wait until the launch to know the dynamics of this game. Just be sure to tune in to E3 2001 for the full details.