E3 2001 Hands-onLuigi's Mansion

Unless Nintendo is up to something and isn't telling us just yet, the GameCube could be the first Nintendo console to launch without a game starring the ubiquitous Mario. Instead, his green-clad younger brother Luigi is taking center stage for the first Mario Bros. game on the GameCube. For a franchise that has made its living by setting the bar in the platforming genre, the playable areas of Luigi's Mansion at E3 are surprisingly bereft of the jump-and-stomp gameplay that's synonymous with the series. But while giving Shigeru Miyamoto's latest ideas a test drive, it quickly becomes apparent that the series' gameplay has taken yet another progressive step forward.

Mario Bros. games tend to have a simple premise, and Luigi's Mansion is no exception. Upon learning that he has inherited a mansion, Luigi contacts Mario and asks him to meet him at his new abode. When Luigi shows up to stake his claim, he discovers that his new digs are teeming with spooks and Mario is nowhere to be found. Luigi quickly meets up with a paranormal researcher who arms him with a flashlight and vacuum to rid his mansion of the ghastly spirits and try to discover the whereabouts of his older brother.

Controlling Luigi is simplistic yet refined. The left analog stick controls Luigi's flashlight, while the analog C stick on the right side of the controller makes him move forward or backward and can also be used to strafe. Pressing the Z button located on the controller's right shoulder makes him crouch down. When Luigi shines his flashlight on the mansion's ghosts, it causes them to freeze from fright. While the ghosts are frozen, Luigi may fire up his back-mounted vacuum cleaner and suck them up by pressing the R button. If Luigi gets a good look at the ghosts (that is, if he waits too long to suck them up in the vacuum), he'll become petrified and backpedal wildly while sliding along the ground on his rump. Sometimes the ghosts will give Luigi a punch in the jaw, sending his life force hearts tumbling to the ground. Luigi may also use his vacuum to spray water. You may adjust the stream's trajectory and targeting by fiddling with the left analog stick. The large A button is used to talk with other characters or open doors.

As mentioned earlier, the playable levels of Luigi's Mansion do not feature a great deal of platform jumping. In fact, there is no jump button at all in the E3 demo. Instead, the gameplay is created through the utilization of the GameCube's graphical capabilities. Luigi's flashlight reacts to all the objects in each area, casting shadows that creep along the walls and roll across the ceiling while you're controlling him in a haphazard manner. The ghosts that Luigi must exterminate make excellent use of transparency effects, though they bear a striking resemblance to the ghouls found in the motion picture Casper: The Friendly Ghost. When ghosts are being sucked into Luigi's vacuum, they slowly begin to drift toward the pulling air current before turning into mist and dashing into the vacuum nozzle in a blast of particle effects. Luigi may also use his vacuum to pick up coins that are dropped by the vanquished ghosts or manipulate just about any object located within the mansion that isn't bolted down. If you take Luigi into the kitchen, opening the freezer will send frosty air bellowing into the room that he may then suck up into his vacuum. The bathroom is virtually a real-time GameCube tech demo--steam comes from behind a shower curtain, transparent ghosts fade in and out, and Luigi showers the room with real-time lighting from his flashlight while his image is being reflected in the mirror. The GameCube hardware seems to have no problem with performing all these effects simultaneously--the frame rates never falter the entire time. Luigi's Mansion also takes a unique approach to dealing with the problem of cameras in 3D games. Instead of actively controlling the camera, as Luigi goes deeper into the mansion, the walls gradually dissolve to give you a better view. Luigi's Mansion is one of the GameCube's most visually impressive games and becomes more impressive with each fleeting moment of gameplay.

Some may be surprised that Mario isn't the leading character and that the gameplay has been drastically changed. But from what little we've played of Luigi's Mansion, it's clear that it succeeds at being what all video games are supposed to be: fun. Luigi's Mansion is scheduled to ship with the launch of the GameCube on November 5. Look for more hands-on impressions of Luigi's Mansion from E3 in the coming days.