Luigi's Mansion - Nintendo Gamecube Game Review

Ok, to start off, this game isn't as terrible as so many make it out to be. The graphics and sound are top-notch, not to mention the fact it is a Mario type game. However the weak game play and very short play-time produce a game that is really only a rent only.

There isn't much of a story here, so for those of you who can't follow the complex plotlines of games like Banjo Kazooie, you may want to pick this one up. Anyway, the story is that Mario and Luigi have won a mansion in a contest that they didn't even enter. Regardless, Mario goes to the mansion and Luigi follows a little later. When Luigi gets there, Mario is nowhere to be found and it turns out the house is haunted. Luigi also meets a professor who studies and captures ghosts. From him, Luigi receives a ghost capturing device(a vacuum cleaner) and a flashlight and with them, goes back into the mansion to trap some ghosts and look for Mario.

The graphics are definitely the highlight of this game. The lighting and the physics of the game are amazing. Luigi is rendered incredibly, he looks like he came straight from Pixar. The environments are a little weak, when compared to the character rendering, but they don't detract from the graphics. The physics that I spoke of are unbelievable. Luigi's vacuum doesn't only suck up ghosts, but it can suck up tablecloths, the money and coins that you come across and even mist from a refrigerator and the flames of a fire. Not only does Luigi look great in this game, but the ghosts also look very nice. It's fun to walk into a room and see a chair rocking and see no one in it. Then you turn the light away from the chair only to see the glowing slightly transparent form of a ghost sitting there casually reading a newspaper. It's very cool the first time, but the novelty wears out later on in the game, good thing the game doesn't last very long huh. The backgrounds are a little weak in comparison to the characters in terms of lower polygon counts and textures, but it's nothing terrible.

Sound, sure this game has sounds. Is it anything great? Well, no it's not. It's not terrible, but it's nothing ground breaking. For the most part the only sounds are the sounds of ghosts, and the sounds of the vacuum accompanied by the occasional crash of lightning. You also hear Luigi whistling the background music and calling out Mario. There is only one piece of background music in the game(other than when you fight the bosses). To tell you the truth though, I didn't even really notice. Again, this is most likely because of the shortness of game play.

The control is this game is pretty good once you get the hang of it. At first you'll probably be walking into walls and will have some trouble capturing ghosts, but after no time you'll be very accustomed to the setup. The control scheme is pretty simple. The analog stick moves you around and the "C-stick" points the flashlight and vacuum around. The R button activates the vacuum's suction and the L button activates the vacuum's reverse function, which allows you to spray flame, water, and ice once you have found the appropriate medal that corresponds to each one. The A, B, X, and Y buttons open doors, shut off the flashlight, bring up the first person view, and bring up the map respectively. It's a good control set up and anyone can become quite familiar with it in very little time, which is good, cuz a very little time is all this game takes.

Have you noticed an overall theme to this review, something I've been saying the entire time? Well, if not then I'll come out with the cliff notes for you some other time, but for the rest of ya, you obviously picked up that the game is freakishly short. Not only that, but it's also very repetitive. The game revolves around Luigi vacuuming up ghosts and getting keys so he can open up another room so he can vacuum up another ghost to get another key…you notice a pattern here? You think that with such a simple formula, you could make a game that lasted at least 15-20hrs, but that is not the case. The average gamer should be able to beat this game in 8-10hrs. Many of you may ask then why in the hell did I buy this game? Well, I'm a Nintendo mark and it just doesn't seem right getting a Nintendo system without a Mario related game to play on it.

The Good!		The Last Word(s): Like I said at the beginning of this review, this is a rent-only game, unless of course you are a hardcore Nintendo/Mario and Luigi fan like me. This game does show off the great potential the Gamecube has in the graphic department, but it's really nothing more than a eye candy showcase. Final Rating: 75% Way Pimpy
Great graphic effects such as lighting and physics. With Mario Sunshine not out til' summer, this is the closest to a Mario game as you are gonna get.
The Bad...
The controls can be a little frustrating at first. The music could be better.
The UGLY.
Very repetitive gameplay. Only 8-10 hours of gameplay.