Important Characters:
Luigi: The star of the game! He may be a coward, but you try going through a mansion full of ghosts and traps without getting scared.
Professor Elvin Gadd: The resident crackpot. Well, actually the old geezer lives in a shack near the mansion, from which he conducts research and tries to turn ghosts into paintings. He catches the first ghost that surprises Luigi and then supplies him the Poltergust 3000 and the Gameboy Horror for ghost catching, since the prof is now to old to do it himself.
Madame Clairvoya: Well, she isn't really all that important as she's just a ghost, but I'm fishing for important characters here. When you bring her the items Mario dropped she'll tell you something about the future, but I don't think she's very good at it.
Toad: Couldn't Nintendo think up another flunky to pick on? Toad always gets the lousiest rolls, and he is completely helpless in this game. The only thing he can do is save your game. The game would be possible without him since E Gadd can also save your game at certain times.
Mario: This time around, you have to save Mario. What is his fate since having been captured? You'll just have to play to find out!
Boo: Not a character really, but there are 50 of them floating around the mansion and you're gonna need to hunt a good many of them down... all of them, if you can. They all have lame names.
King Boo: He's the leader of the Boos. You know because he is wearing a crown on his head. Otherwise, he looks like all the others.
Bowser: Huh? Bowser?! Madame Clairvoya mentions this long-time nemesis of Mario in one of her prophecies. Could he be responsible for Mario's imprisonment?
I will be grading this game on a scale of 7 points, like usual. A scale of 50, for the number of Boos, might make sense, but... no, a scale of 7.
Graphics: 7
When Mario 64 came out, everyone praised its graphics. But when I look at it now, I am more critical of the polygons that it still does show. Luigi's Mansion, in every respect that I care about, is perfect. I've seen some complain about the vacuum or a couple of other little things, but everything seems to be put together flawlessly. There are no polygons. The ghosts are 3D-like but also transparent. There is a stunning amount of detail, and when you're pulling on stuff with your vacuum it looks like it probably should if it were being pulled. This game is visually amazing.
Sound: 5
First off, the sound effects in this game are great, like when you vacuum, or pound the wall, or hear Luigi hum to himself. Very nice. The music is also well done and sounds good. From a technical standpoint, a perfect score might be in order. The music sounds good and is well themed. However, the entire mansion has one theme music, which doesn't even play in cleared rooms. This is understandable considering the type of game that it is, but still, they might have had a haunted theme for each room, and kept it on even after it was cleared. Still, the music that this game does have really is nice, and I didn't get too tired of it.
Characters: 2
This game has very few important characters. Having Luigi be the main character is exciting, but can't he do anything besides save Mario? Only a few of the ghosts show much of a personality, not enough to make them attractive characters except in a few cases. With two exceptions, one being the Boos and the other a secret I'm not telling, all of the ghosts are completely new to the series. I would have loved it if the ghosts were dead forms of familar baddies... say, Goomba ghosts near the beginning, later Lakitu ghosts (well, we've already seen those), and so on.
Environment: 6
The mansion had every kind of room that you could possibly expect a huge house to have, and then some. But I couldn't give a perfect score just because it's all one mansion. Maybe the game could have gone elsewhere as well. Hm, it didn't have a pool...
Controls: 5
Mario games usually have very good control, but I never quite got the full handle of the C Stick, which you need to use to aim Luigi's vacuum. Up and down are reversed (like when flying), and left and right are from Luigi's perspective, so you need to give some serious thought in order to move the stick the right way, and often you don't have the time. Otherwise, the controls were simple and straight forward.
Gameplay: 6
Some people get tired of the game's pattern... catch the ghosts, nab the Boo, find a key, move on to a new room, repeat. I had no problem with it, and delighted in every new ghost there was for me to catch. Even so, adding a little more to the game wouldn't have hurt, although tracking down Mario's items is a nice touch.
Difficulty: 6
I felt this game was pretty good in the difficulty department. I only died three times, twice to the third boss and once to the last boss, but I had many close calls, and that says nothing for the puzzles you have to solve. A lot of ghosts aren't vulnerable until you do something secret. Technically I beat this game without consulting a strategy guide, but only because Wendy had played before me and I asked her for help I believe twice. Once I was in a hurry to go to bed and I wasn't allowed to save the game until I did something so I asked for the solution. In the other, I couldn't figure out the ghost's weakness although I was close. This game is hard enough to be a challenge, but still reasonably beatable.
Items: 4
Finding Mario's items is a nice touch, but otherwise there is not much. You need to find keys to open doors and hearts to restore your health. There are three medals you must find so you can shoot fire, water, and ice from your vacuum, a nice touch. Still, a solid adventure should have many more items to find. This game does have more, in the form of coins, dollar bills, gold bars, jewels, and diamonds, all of which contribute to your money total. Getting a lot of money may be nice, but it has little purpose. There is a purpose, but I won't say what it is and it's not worth much.
Length: 3
I don't know how many hours I played but I beat the game on the fourth day, and could have done it on the third if I hadn't been scared of the final boss thanks to Wendy. I didn't play that heavily either. This game is fairly short, much shorter than other adventure games for the N64. Some gamers call that a good thing because the pattern mentioned under gameplay gets old, but I find it a bad thing because, if those gamers are right, then I would need to add points to length and remove them from gameplay, which I consider a more signifigant category.
Replay Value: 6
There are a bunch of reasons to play again. First off, there is a Hidden Mansion, which is like the first mansion but with a few changes. There's the goal of collecting more money in order to earn the secret, trying to catch all 50 Boos, and catching all the portrait ghosts perfectly. Since the game's not that long, playing again is not a huge liability. However, a point off because the player will already know how to solve the puzzles.
Fun Factor!: 7
The bottom line is, while I was playing this game I really enjoyed myself. Catching ghosties was really fun, and the game had a very humorous style. Luigi's comments on certain things are great. I definitely don't regret playing this game.
Recommendation:
At this point, you might expect me to demand that you buy this game. However, while I am adament that this game is worth playing, I'm not sure that it's worth the fifty bucks. My suggestion is to wait until you have a free weekend and then rent the game for only a few bucks. This game should be played, but you could do it all in one weekend. That might not leave time for replaying it, but I wouldn't pay fifty bucks just to go through the Hidden Mansion. If you must, return the game late and pay extra, as you'll still be ahead of buying it.
If you are an avid Mario fan then this
game will not disappoint you, despite its departure from the rest of series,
and you should add this to your collection. Otherwise, rent it when you
have some time, and have yourself a blast.