Luigi's Mansion

The Good
Luigi's Mansion mixes Ghostbusters with the green goofball himself, Luigi. Does it work? Despite the ridiculous concept, yes it does!

What the game is basically about is you win a mansion from a contest you didn't even inter. Strange, huh? To make matters worse, Mario went there to check it out and has gone missing! Again!!! But this time, it's fun!

What makes it a fun game? If it were a boring game, I wouldn't be typin' here disscusin' it with ya, now would I!?!? ...But seriously, what you do is you suck up ghosts... Ghostbusters style. Well, only not as dangerous and literately sucking them up... WITH A VACUUM!!!

The story, while I said it was ridiculous, doesn't mean it's bad. Ridiculous can be good. This is one of those cases. After all, it is refreshing to have something different from the usual save the Pea- I mean Princess formula, right?

The music, while not to much of it, is very enjoyable. It's not the best, but it's still good. I like the fact that in lighted rooms, Luigi whistles the theme, while in dark rooms, he hums it. What I like even more is that the weaker he is, the more frail he sounds. But probably the best part of the sound department is when you press A when not against a wall, he yells "Mario!". The funniest one he does is the one where he goes "MAAAAARIOOOOOO!!!". I crack up every time I hear that.

The graphics are surprisingly good, especially for an early GC game. The models look good, if not to terribly detailed. The art in the art gallery kind of sucks, though.

The Bad
It can sometimes be irritating to scare and suck up ghosts. ESPECIALLY the rare light blue ones. You have to get them juuussst right or... poof. Gone forEVER! And... that's about it.

The Bottom Line
If you like Luigi, you should definitely buy this. Even if you don't, consider it. It is a very fun, if not sometimes irritating, game.

PS: If you play it at midnight in the dark, I think you could actually get scared!

The Good
Even though I may be quoting many other people when I say this I think it is good to see that Luigi had finally got his own game, even though the game seems to like pointing out how much of a wimp he is. I liked the way that Luigi can react with the rooms he enter after he clears all the ghosts so even though the lights are on and there are no enemies left in the room there still may be some secrets Luigi will be able to find before he moves on. The idea of the vacuum cleaner or poltergust 4000 was a imaginative idea and a good one, a good way for the programmers to be able to hide things on top of shelves and such.

The Bad
It was WAY WAY WAY to short. I guess it is a bit unfair saying that because I had just finished playing FFX and I was foolishly expecting at least 15-20 hours gameplay, but sadly my fun was stopped dead in its tracks at a poor 6 hours. And they could have at least tried a bit harder on the secret mansion at least try to put new things in so it doesn't pretty much seem to be the same game over again.

The Bottom Line
An amusing game for someone who is looking for a little bit of entertainment. But don't expect a big unfolding story because you wont get one.

The Good
For everyone who ever thought that Luigi ought to have his own game, this is the one. Luigi's first chance at solo stardom. That alone is enough to make me like the game, but even more, it's pretty fun in a Ghostbusters kind of way. The game controls are easy to master, and the graphics are beautiful, particularly the various rooms of the mansion.

The Bad
For starters, the game is just too short. Most people will get through it in about six hours, and after that, if you really want to, you can play through the "Secret Mansion" really the same mansion with extra traps, but most people won't have the patience to do that, particularly in light of the game's other two major flaws: clueless AI and terrible camera angles. Admittedly, the clueless AI really isn't that bad. However, the bosses and tougher ghosts have exactly one method of getting Luigi; the follow him relentlessly. That's it, nothing more complex than that. As for the other problem, the camera is likely the most irritating thing in the entire game. It is essentially fixed in a flat 3rd-person view, on level with Luigi. While it occasionally moves, the inability to view an entire room without resorting to the "Gameboy Horror" is incredibly irritating.

The Bottom Line
Despite it's flaws, Luigi's Mansion is a pretty fun game. By this time, you should be able to pick it up in the used section for a reasonable amount of money, and it's worth having in your library. For everyone who wanted Luigi to have his own adventure, this is a must have. Let's just hope that next time Luigi will get his own princess to rescue, instead of having to save his brother the glory hound.