Luigi finally steps out of his brother's shadow and shines in his own enjoyable game.
Luigi shines in his own game
Different gameplay from the Mario franchise
Cons:
Controls can be an issue at times
Too straight forward
"Luigi's Mansion" for the Nintendo Gamecube stars the other Mario Brother, Luigi, who has finally been given a chance to star in his own video game. The story starts out with Luigi winning a grand prize which turns out to be a mansion; he shows up to the mansion expecting to meet Mario there, but Mario is nowhere to be found and the mansion turns out to haunted by ghosts. With the help of Professor Elvin Gadd, it's up to Luigi to capture all the ghosts and rescue his brother Mario.
Luigi's Mansion breaks from the norm that the Super Mario games are known for. Instead of stomping on goombas and kicking around koopa troopas' shells, Luigi must investigate the haunted mansion in search of the different cast of colorful ghosts who resides there. Though Luigi won't be using his fist and feet to fight the ghosts, but instead Luigi will be using an invention by Professor E. Gadd called the "Poltergust 3000" and the Gameboy Horror (yes, Luigi does in fact use a Gameboy to help him navigate the mansion and hunt the ghosts).
The gameplay is fairly straightforward; equipped with the Poltergust 3000, Luigi is able to stun the ghosts through the use of the flashlight and vacuum them up through the use of the control stick and C-stick. Once the ghost is caught in the vacuum's suction, its life points will appear and the player must use the C-stick like a fishing pole; that is to say that the player must move the C-stick in the opposite direction of the ghost in order to decrease the ghost's life points.
The player can access the map of the mansion and the items acquired throughout the course of the game through the use of the Gameboy Horror. Since Luigi will be doing a lot backtracking, the map will come in handy throughout the course of the game. Different ghosts of importance and treasures Luigi collects can also be accessed through the Gameboy Horror.
Though not many, the game does feature puzzles for the player to solve, manly how to callout and capture different ghosts, as just being able to shine the flashlight and stunning them will not work that simply on the mini boss ghosts. Some ghosts must be drawn out into the open in some way (the Gameboy Horror comes in handy).
Luigi also has different "power ups" at his disposal, that is to say that there are different elements that Luigi can use to battle ghosts and find hidden treasures around the mansion. Fire, water, and ice are elements that Luigi can use to unlock secrets of the mansion and battle certain ghosts who adopt the properties of the elements.
The controls are simple, but can be confusing at times. The player is only given the option of "standard controls", which is that Luigi can move in all directions during the control sick, or "side step", which means the control stick only moves Luigi side to side while the C-stick controls his direction. The real problem is that the game does not allow the player to invert the X and Y axis; by default tilting the C-stick up will point the flashlight or vacuum down, and tilting the C-stick down will point them up on the screen. This could become annoying if the player is use to the other way around.
Since the game does lack true puzzles, some of the gameplay can seem too straightforward; much of the game will comprise of Luigi hunting down the ghosts and attacking them with the Poltergust 3000. This could become repetitive throughout the game.
Luigi get his chance in the spotlight and doesn't disappoint, delivering a funny and memorable experience; Luigi's Mansion offers an enjoyable ride to the player and stands out as one of the top games for the Nintendo Gamecube.