Release Date: November 18, 2001 (First Mario game on GCN)
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
System: GameCube
Luigi's Mansion was the first Mario (actually Luigi) game for GameCube. Yeah, sure, everyone was supposed to be SO impressed. I really wasn't too impressed myself. I will, of course, rate this Review on a 1-10 scale.
Story: 9
This is one of
the best parts of the game. Once again, I look for originality, and this
is original. Luigi wins a mansion for some reason and is very excited.
He calls Mario to meet him at the mansion. So then he gets there, Mario's
gone, and he walks in the mansion. Then a ghost tells him that Mario has
been kidnapped. Oh no! LUIGI has to be the hero for a change. I thought
this was very unique and different. There were two reasons I took a point
off. One was because they NEVER told what type of contest Luigi was in.
Second is because the makers made a huge noticeable mistake. If Mario supposedly
left behind his belongings and his clothes (which I'll explain later) then
why is he in the painting fully dressed? Never made any dog-on sense.
Controls: 1
This game is
the worst game I've EVER gone through with controls. Ok, instead of A jumping,
it opens doors. Then you get the vacuum. You have to use the C-stick for
your flashlight and move Luigi himself with the control stick, PLUS hold
R-down to use the vacuum. Now having to do all of this while fighting King
Boo is not as easy as it seems. No, you'll find out how hard it is just
to control Luigi. You'll find yourself walking sideways at a lot of times,
and getting hit in the back by ghosts because you have such a hard time
turning around. This game is nothing but a pain to control. Bad job, Nintendo.
Graphics: 10
After pretty
much saying the controls are terrible, I've now changed my mind in this
categorey. Now the graphics are the BEST I've seen on GameCube yet. Luigi
looks amazing, the mansion almost looks real, even outside looks very good.
Also there will be scenes every time Luigi opens a door, and it actually
shows his hand grasping the key putting it in the hole and unlocking the
door. Now the weird thing is it looks like a person wearing a white glove.
Yes, a real live person. Nintendo did fantastic with the graphics in this
game. This is by far the best part of the game, too.
Music: 4
I like the song
that plays through this game. It changes moods depending on which room
you are in, and it's sort of creepy. Also you'll find yourself humming
it while walking down the hallways at school. Now here's the problem; KEY
WORD SONG-SINGULAR. Where's the other songs? Even when you go to save your
game it's just a remixed version of it. In fact, the only other songs you'll
hear are when a certain ghost plays a classic theme for you on their computer.
That's it. I gave this a 4 because I really loved that ONE song. There
should have been a lot more music. Also, when you are in the middle of
capturing a ghost, the music stops. ???. Oh wait, you do get a small tune
from when you have to capture the Boos also.
Gameplay: 8
This is an original
way to play a Mario game. Instead of defeating bosses, going through worlds,
and defeating Bowser at the end, you actually have to work for E. Gadd
to help capture every ghost to fill back in portraits of the mansion. Now
this is a lot like the movie "Ghostbusters". Also later on in the game
you have to catch several Boos just basically for extra completion of the
game. Here's how the game works exactly. You'll go about the mansion sucking
up certain enemy ghosts, collecting MONEY, and you also have to suck up
boss ghosts. The trick is to flash your flashlight on their HEARTS. When
this happens, they won't do anything so now you get a chance to suck up
their HP. You also get three elements in your vacuum: ice, water and fire.
You'll need these for certain ghosts in the game. This is way different
from any other Mario game, which means this gameplay Review gets a good
score.
Characters: 7
I had nothing
wrong with them really. Mario, Luigi, and Toad were the only returning
characters. Then you have new characters such as E. Gadd, all the boss
ghosts, and new ghost enemies. King Boo was already used, but not as a
final boss. I just wish there would have been a better background for the
boss ghosts. It gives a brief bio of them, but doesn't tell a whole lot.
I think it would've been cool to unlock an archive showing how they all
died and their lives after beating the game. This would have made the dialogue
more interesting rather than a brief bio.
Secrets: 2
Ok, another bad
part. After beating the game, you basically get nothing. You supposedly
get a NEW mansion, but it's actually just the same mansion with a better
vacuum. Oh, I guess the optional ghosts are a secret! Plus as you go through
the game you collect money. Now what does all this money get you after
you beat the game? NOTHING. It's just a record. Like an arcade game, just
another recorded score to go in the records. They definitely should have
added more secrets. Maybe now you get to play with Mario, and his mansion's
completely different from Luigi's? Or maybe that archive idea I had up
above. Come on, Nintendo.
Difficulty: 6
The game is almost
a 1 in difficulty. You'll breeze through the game because the game is beatable
in 2 hours (which means it's way too short). Now here's where the game
gets hard. You'll have to face two very hard bosses: Vincent Van Gore and
King Boo. These two bosses make the difficulty a 6 because it is so hard
to defeat them with the CONTROLS with the vacuum. I beat King Boo on my
first try, but then I faced him about 20 times after that, and only beat
him 2 out of those 20 times. So, yeah, believe me, that was beginner's
luck. You'll have a fun, harsh time at the end of the game.
Replayability:
3
This deserves
a 3 because that's all you'll want to do is beat it about three times.
Once again, how fun is a game to play again without more secrets, unlockables,
etc. You'll do the exact same thing again and again beating your money
records. Very boring.
Overall: 6
This game just
clears average. There were some great things, yet some awful things. I
would spend a maximum of $30. I already explained why the game was great
yet terrible at points. I think it's a decent game, really they just needed
to make it longer, give it more secrets... oh, but I already mentioned
these above.
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