GAME REVIEW: LUIGI'S MANSION
By Contributing Editor J. Lee

As with typical Nintendo trends, the great company launched yet another Mario game as its launch game with the GameCube. But this time the game that launched with the system starred Mario's taller and skinnier brother Luigi, in Luigi's Mansion. Although it may have been the faster selling game in Nintendo history, in this author's humble opinion, that was only because it was basically sold with the system as part of a bundle.

Although this was a launch game, it doesn't really live up to all of the hype that most launch games have. It was very innovative, I'll grant it that. But in reality, I think Nintendo created a serious flop with this game.

The graphics in this game are truly astonishing at some points, but are also tremendously annoying and bad in others. The detail that went into the rooms and the items in them were extremely well done. The part where the graphics really show their true colors, is when Luigi is opening a door and you get to see his hand slowly move up to the keyhole and knob. The lighting was also pretty well done, with how the flashlight worked and all. The colors weren't exactly all that impressive, since there wasn't exactly a wide variety, or anything really eye-catching. The motions were pretty fluid, but there were some times where it got a bit awkward. The draw distance is all right, but the perspective going from third to first person view was very badly done. In third person view, when a stationary ghost appeared and you ran from it, the distance and view of it were very realistic. But if you stopped and switched to first person view, the view would be completely blown out of proportion. The textures were very well done in this game, as there were no slow downs, or low-res graphics when multiple ghosts or fast moving ghosts appeared. One thing that was a terrible let down in my opinion, were the ghosts. I honestly thought the ghosts were a joke, and could've been done much better. They were pretty shoddily done in my personal opinion, but other then that, the graphics truly showed what the GameCube was made of.

The sound of this game proves to be fairly good as well, but there are also its downsides. This game makes use of its music when necessary. I really enjoyed the ominous humming done by Luigi when he's walking through unlit hallways and rooms. The way the ghosts pop up on him are also pretty well done, but I personally would have changed the voice to something a little different, although it did get its point across. The sudden sound of a ghost come out of hiding is very effectively done, and can be very startling at times. The lightning and skittering sounds weren't that bad, but they weren't anything special. The music was all right, but once again nothing special or catchy like those games we truly learn to love. One thing that really pissed me off, was the way E. Gadd spoke. He spoke like some retarded Ewok from Star Wars (I can see where Super Mario Sunshine got its inspiration for voices), which really annoyed the hell out of me, due to the fact that you HAD to talk to him a lot. Besides the retarded voice again, the sound of this game was pretty dang good.

Ah, the gameplay, this is where the game takes a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) dive in terms of quality of the overall game and all. Quite frankly, the gameplay of this game SUCKS! IT IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! That is my honest opinion, as it is the same with many other people I've talked to. This is ALL you do in the ENTIRE game.
1) Go into room.
2) Suck in all the ghosts.
3) Suck furniture for money.
4) Repeat for the REST of the game.
I'm sorry, but the gameplay of this game is unbearable. I mean this has probably been the most repetitive game I have EVER played. I mean if you aren't an absolute moron and know what you're doing, then you could easily beat this game in 8 hours MAX, with an 'A' ranking, AND without a guide. The first time I played through this game, it took me roughly 6 hours, and I had well over enough money to get myself an 'A' ranking. The second time through, it took me only about 4 hours. They tried to make a sad excuse of a sidequest, by making you find 50 Boos (much like the 100 Gold Skulltulas in Ocarina of Time). Although the game was incredibly short and repetitive, one thing that did pose a LITTLE challenge, was getting a 'Gold Frame' for all of the bosses in the game, by defeating them in one suck. This was a really easy and straightforward game that nobody should have a problem with. The controls were fairly good, but at times when there were multiple ghosts, it got pretty bad. Sometimes the camera would shift to a ghost coming closer to you, and turn away from the one that you're trying to capture. The ability to control the flashlight to shine on certain areas was pretty annoying at times as well, due to the fact that sometimes the game lets you move it very quickly, while other times it only lets you move it at a snail's pace. Besides from the multiple ghosts part, the camera in this game is really good, and lets you see everything very well.

The innovation of this game saved it from being a complete flop by Nintendo. The idea of using a vacuum cleaner to capture ghosts was a sheer stroke of genius. (I mean it's a VACUUM CLEANER!) I mean it was great on the basis of how it worked and all. This was something brand new and unique that no gamer had seen before. I commend Nintendo for thinking of such a great idea on how to capture the ghosts, but on the other hand, there wasn't a large variety of enemies or different things to do in the game. But the vacuum cleaner alone was a really innovative idea.

Ah, yet another letdown of this game, the replay value. Although there are a few different rankings you can have in the end, which you can get by having different amounts of money, it really isn't worth the time to do. Once you play through this game once, you'll probably never take it off the shelf where you store all of your games ever again. Although you may want to get all of the 'Gold Frames,' it isn't really worth it, nor is there anything new you can do in the game once you beat it. You COULD play the Hidden Mansion option, but there is no difference whatsoever, except the fact that you take more damage.

The storyline of this game is also so-so. It begins with Luigi mysteriously 'winning' a mansion in a contest that he never entered. He calls his brother Mario, who says he'll meet him at the mansion. Upon arrival, Luigi discovers that his mansion he won magically appeared and is haunted. Even worse, the ghosts have kidnapped his brother. You then have to go on a rescue mission to save Mario from the notorious end boss. I'll try not to give it away too much, but both the words 'King' and 'Boo' are involved in his name. (What's with Nintendo? I mean you can predict the end bosses and outcomes nowadays even easier than a spoon goes into pudding.) That's basically the story of the WHOLE game.

Overall, the graphics, sound and innovation were good, the storyline was decent, but the gameplay and replay value were right in the sewer. I wouldn't really suggest buying this game. Maybe rent it if you are REALLY bored out of your mind. I wouldn't even suggest an age group for this game, because I don't think that any age group would thoroughly enjoy it.

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