Luigi's Mansion

The Good
This game's graphics were quite nice, and the music was cool and creepy(that's to be expected in games like this). I also had a huge laugh at some of Luigi's lines. The rest of my family had quite a laugh and loved to occasionally quote Luigi's lines. I also liked the bosses as well as the challenge they gave me. The storyline also suits this game quite well, but it might have been better if Luigi had to save Peach instead of Mario.

The Bad
I was annoyed by the camera, and a lot of the puzzles are just too easy to solve, it would probably only take people about 5 minutes to figure them out. I was also irritated that the game was 4 to 5 hours long.

The Bottom Line
Luigi's Mansion is cool. To me, it's Nintendo's way of apologizing that Mario was hogging the spotlight for years. On a scale of 1 to 10, this is a nice way of bringing Luigi back to the Mario series.

The Good
The graphics and sound were absolutely stunning when it came out. Very colorful, very whimsical, very, well, Mario-ish. The gameplay is fun (you control Luigi while he walks through a haunted house and suck up ghosts with your vacuum, just like in Ghostbusters). All the different rooms and ghosts are different, with different graphics, and somewhat different strategies used to proceed. The sound is just as good, everything's technically very neat and tidy.

The Bad
The controls took a while to get used to (you use one set of controls on your joypad to control Luigi and another one to control your vacuum). Took me a while to get used to it but a more experienced action gamer might feel differently. But if the game is designed for young kids (it's Mario, after all), then it might be a tad too difficult.

There's zero replay value. Seriously, nothing to unlock really so the second game is essentially the same as the first.

Also, the game feels too short. Even though the graphics are stunning and every room of the house is different, it's still the same house and it doesn't have the same feel as most Mario games, where you discover entire worlds.

The Bottom Line
This is NOT a typical Mario brothers game. Keep that in mind.

Remember the original Mario for the NES? It came with the system (along with Duck Hunt), just to showcase the system. They should have done the same with this game and the GameCube. Hey, this is a short, not too demanding game that'll show you exactly what your new system can do. But as a seperate purchase it's still nice to own and more than adequate, but I can't shake the feeling that it would have been a better rep if it came bundled with the GameCube. Still, it's been republished under the "Player's Choice" budget games, and for that price it's a nice pickup if you like the whimsical colorful Mario stuff (and really, who doesn't?)

Of course, the problem with games that make you "Ooh" and "Aah" when you first get it because of their technical standards have one major problem: you won't "Ooh" and "Aah" any when you get the game for the first time years after it's release and more impressive stuff is on the market when you first see it. But so far, time's been kind to it - I can still fire it up and consider it a beautiful game. Ten years from now my opinion might be different.

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!