Luigi's Mansion has some fantastic ideas, but they aren't implemented in a very compelling fashion here.
In this game, Luigi discovers he's won a mansion in a contest he didn't enter. Before long we discover ghosts have shown up at this mansion and Mario was seen heading into the mansion alone. It's a very paper thin plot (but then, don't all Mario games have this issue?)
Gameplay is very much a arcade style of Ghostbusters, with no worry of crossing the streams. Using the Poltergust 3000, you will suck up ghosts using the R button, and tilting the control stick in the opposite direction. But first, in order to catch them you have to hit them with your flashlight and start sucking before they disappear. It later segments of the game, you can shoot out fire, ice, and water from the Poltergust 3000. These are used against ghosts, but also to solve some environmental puzzles. It all works, sure, and makes for some entertaining fights, but they never get very challenging. I found myself on the final level and feeling underwhelmed with my success.
That's actually one of my biggest gripes about Luigi's Mansion. The game never gets a real sense of difficulty. Sure, you can collect more money, you can collect all 50 of a certain ghost, but it's not required at all. In my mind, it
One thing the game gets down very well is graphics. It's not a technical wow like another GameCube launch title, Rogue Squadron II, but animations look very fluid and there are plenty of effects throughout the game to give it pizzazz.
As is typical for a Nintendo game, don't expect orchestral music in the game or much voiceover work. There's only a little done here and there, and the music is all the MIDI tones Nintendo has a love affair with.
Replayability is also a downside, as once you complete the game, you do have the option of playing through again with the mansion rearranged, and to get a better end "grade", but beyond that there's not much incentive to go back in.
It's certainly a fresh idea, and one I wouldn't mind Nintendo revisiting in a true Wii sequel. But in the end, this GameCube launch title failed to impress me on anything more than an ideology level.