We store cookies, you can get more info from our privacy policy.
GC

North America

Luigi's Mansion

by Rick Powers - May 17, 2001, 2:40 pm EDT

Rick's finally made it down to the floor, and managed to wrangle some quality time with everyone's favorite green-clad plumber ...

There isn’t an awful lot one can say about Luigi’s Mansion that hasn’t already been said. The game is quite simply phenomenal, and is everything we’ve come to expect from a Nintendo launch title. The game was clearly designed to be a showcase for all of the GameCube’s hardware effects, as well as a tutorial on how to use the new innovative controller.

Have you ever seen the movie “Casper?” The ghosts in Mansion look just like that. Fully 3D rendered, and at a decent polygon count, then made transparent to give them that ethereal look. The haunting of the mansion has been done exquisitely, with “Boss” apparitions going about their business until Luigi decides to “bust” those ghosts.

But it’s the little touches that really push Mansion over the top. The shacking and rumbling of furniture when Luigi’s vacuum gets too close, the little spectral rats running around the house (haunted by the lack of cheese, no doubt), reflections, lighting … the reaction when Luigi gets spooked. This is another Miyamoto classic, no doubt about it.

The game is a little difficult to control your first time around. Don't be daunted, as just a little practice will have you sucking up ghosts and strafing around the room like a pro.

The gameplay is fairly simple to grasp. Luigi runs around the mansion with his vaccuum cleaner, startling ghosts with his flashlight and sucking them into his vaccuum "Ghostbusters" style. Luigi looks around with the analog stick, and moves with the C-Stick. The A button opens doors, Right shoulder button turns on the vaccuum and the Left shoulder button turns on a water hose (not available on the playable version we tried).

There doesn't seem to be a ton of depth to the game, but at the same time, Nintendo flatly refused to tell us approximately how much of the game we were seeing. Nintendo representatives also got a little squeamish when asked if Luigi's Mansion just just part of a larger title, or even just a level in a larger Mario title. In fact, they seemed unhappy that we were making a connection to Luigi's Mansion and Mario at all. What this means, I'm not sure.

All told, however, Luigi’s Mansion accomplishes everything it was meant to do; it impresses gamers with the next wave in gaming, and impresses developers and publishers into embracing Nintendo’s new brand of entertainment. It's a technology showcase for devlopers wondering what the system is capable of, and a title starring Mario's brother, which is something that many of us have been waiting for.

Share + Bookmark





Genre Action
Developer Nintendo
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: Luigi's Mansion
Release Nov 17, 2001
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Luigi Mansion
Release Sep 14, 2001
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: Luigi's Mansion
Release May 03, 2002
PublisherNintendo
Rating3+

Related Content

Got a news tip? Send it in!
Advertisement
Advertisement