Luigi's Mansion (3DS) Review

A spooky adventure.

 

 Luigi's Mansion was the stand-out launch game of the Nintendo GameCube back when it released in 2001. Focusing on the iconic plumber's cowardly brother Luigi, as he explores a haunted mansion, it wasn't received all that well by most fans who were expecting the next big Mario game. Still, that didn't stop the game from getting recognition over the years, appearing in Super Smash Bros. and even getting two sequels. In 2018, Nintendo and Grezzo (of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D/Majora's Mask 3D fame) decided to remake the game for the ageing Nintendo 3DS-- an odd choice since the Switch was at peak popularity back then. I've only played the sequels so the thought of playing the original game was an exciting prospect, so is it still fun or has time been not-so-kind to Luigi's Mansion?

 Our story begins when Luigi mysteriously wins a mansion in a contest that he didn't even sign up in the first place. Happy with the news, he shares it with his brother Mario, who beats him to the mansion first. After finally reaching it, Luigi finds the mansion empty with no sign of Mario. Worse yet, it's haunted by ghosts and with the help of the eccentric Professor E. Gadd, Luigi must clean up the mansion while searching for his lost brother. The story was an alright one and it was cool seeing Luigi as the capable hero who must overcome his fears and save his brother. The then-new characters like E. Gadd and King Boo were great and grew to like them in the following games.

Luigi's in for a long night.

 Luigi's Mansion is an adventure game where you explore the mansion in search of Mario. Right off the bat, you'll notice some Resident Evil inspirations with the design of the mansion and the door opening animations, which were cool. Luigi is equipped with the Poltergust 3000, a vacuum cleaner that can suck up ghosts and other objects like hidden cash in certain rooms. To catch a ghost, you'll need to stun it first with the flashlight--making its heart appear-- then suck it in with the vacuum, though you'll need to wrestle with the ghosts till their health reaches zero. The controls can take a while to get used to, as you'll need to quickly switch between buttons to catch ghosts as well as carefully aim with the 3DS C-stick. Aiming with the c-stick wasn't always accurate and was slow, even on the highest sensitivity, making the controls cumbersome at times.

The gameplay is fun though pretty simple,
but the controls will take a while to adjust to.

 Ghosts come in all sizes, ranging from easy to catch to boss- level ones that'll take a bit more effort to reel in but were fun to catch. There's also the Boos from the Super Mario series that are hidden and are trickier to deal with since they throw traps at you and even teleport to other rooms. Luigi's has a has Game Boy "Horror", which showcases the map on the 3DS' bottom screen with rooms and floors visited. You can scan items in first person view with it and hear Luigi's often amusing thoughts too like commenting on the "filthy" state of the mansion and preferring to hand wash his hat rather than machine wash.

There's a lot of ghosts to catch and rooms to explore.

 The mansion is neatly detailed and sports variety with its design as you'll start off in the main entrance and explore through the main hall, kitchen, cellars, billiards room, observatory and even the graveyard. Some rooms have mirrors that can teleport you to the entrance, cutting down a bit on backtracking. For the 3DS remake, Luigi's Mansion receives a co-op mode where a player with a copy of the game can play as "Gooigi", a gooey clone of Luigi that would later appear Luigi's Mansion 3. Amiibo support is present and the bonuses were neat like having Toads replenish your health, Boo locations showing up on the map, and even Polterpup reviving you if you're health reaches zero. I tried using the 3D effect and it was decent but added nothing to the gameplay. Overall, the game took 7 hours to beat with me searching for treasures and getting all 50 boos.

 Being a remake, the game receives a face-lift featuring the modern designs of Mario and Luigi as well as more detailed backgrounds. The design of the mansion was neat and some rooms like the observatory really did stand-out. The game ran fine on 3DS but a Switch version would've made sense to fully appreciate the new changes. The sound design of the ghosts were uniquely memorable and the soundtrack is catchy. The main theme, Professor E. Gadd's Lab theme, Toad's theme, King Boos theme, and the ending theme were some memorable tracks.

Luigi's Mansion holds up nicely.

 All in all, I had a blast playing Luigi's Mansion and it's still fun to play many years later. The spooky atmosphere, neat gameplay, and charming presentation were all aspects I enjoyed and would be improved with later games. While it's on the short side, the new features in the remake make it worth the $40 price. Fans of Luigi and even the survival horror looking for a lighter take on the genre can pick up Luigi's Mansion and enjoy what it has to offer-- though you'd better do it soon since the eShop is going to close next year.