2001 Nintendo
Luigi finally makes his starring debut in an original adventure titled Luigi's Mansion. Luigi embarks on his quest after hearing of Mario's mysterious disapperance in a self-proclaimed fancy resort. On his way to inquire the whereabouts of his chubby loveable brother, Luigi stumbles upon the dilapidated haunted mansion where his brother was last seen. Armed with a vacuum cleaner and flashlight, Luigi commences the search for his brother Mario.
Features
- Explore a giant mansion with over 90 rooms
- Realistic physics, detailed animation, and superb lighting-shadowing effects
- Game Boy Horror peripheral allows Luigi to track down ghosts
- Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound
- Only for Nintendo GameCube
Expectations were high for the new flagship Nintendo title and we thought we knew its name: Luigi's Mansion. It has come to our collective knowledge that a true flagship title is under the watchful eye of the trusted chancellor of gameplay. As soon as the hype about a Mario platformer came up, one of the best designed and least understood games at E3 was quickly out of the limelight. Before we sweep our good, green friend under the rug, let's take an in-depth look at what could be a key title to Nintendo's GameCube launch.
After the demo at Spaceworld last year, the questions started coming about the mysterious title: How does it play? Where's Mario? What's with the ghosts? Having played the demo version on the floor of E3, I can tell you how it plays. Control of Luigi's foot movement is accomplished via the C stick. Movement is analog and very comfortable, despite the sticks primary function originally thought to be "touch and go" for quick camera adjustments. The stick works very well as a full-time movement device. Doors are opened, and we imagine, various interaction (switch-flipping, button-mashing, etc.) with the full-sized (that's luxury to you and me) A button. Luigi's upper body is rotated and pitched with the left analog stick. This gives it a tandem, two-stick control akin to the Midway classic Smash TV. You run with the C stick and make Luigi look around with the gray analog stick on the left. Miyamoto challenged himself to create a game with no jumping action whatsoever, so you'll notice the absence of a jump button. Wherever Luigi looks, he is pointing his flashlight, which stuns the ghosts and will have other effects as well. What are used extensively are the analog triggers. The right one controls the vacuum. You point, scare the baddie, and vacuum him up in the bag. What was not shown, was the left triggers function. It sprays a jet of water, as was seen in the pre-E3 Nintendo press conference, but was not really seen in action, so it remains a bit of a mystery. The game has great depth in the control and will take some skill to master.
The gameplay revolves mostly around capturing ghosts in the demo. You spotlight them, they freeze in terror, and you suck them up as a little counter above their heads ticks down. When it reaches zero, the ghost is sucked up into the bag. If you run the vacuum too long without a break, the dustbuster will overheat and catch fire, singing poor Luigi. As you make your way from room to room in the mansion, the goal is to clear each area of ghosts. When cleared, a chest will appear and spout coins, which are quite fun to vacuum up. Luigi can bring up his Game Boy Color with the start button to check a mansion map for which rooms need clearing. In the demo, you got a feel for the basic gameplay and some dismissed the whole game as just a ghost-collecting spree. They may have failed to see the techniques in how to catch some of the bigger ghosts. The ghost in the rocking chair, in one room, will vanish if you face him. How do you catch him? Face away and wait until he yawns, of course! Whip around and bag the booger.
There was a timer running in the demo to keep the lines moving, but its function in the game is a little hazy. It was implied by the Nintendo representative at the darkened booth that Luigi would have until 4:00 AM to clear as many areas as he was able. This served as the clock to keep anyone from hogging the display, but how exactly its implemented in the full version is still unclear.
While Luigi can't vacuum every item off of every table, there is quite a reaction in the environment to his sweeper. Dust blows, curtains ripple, vases shake, and candles blink out under the inverse wind effect. They relight after just a moment as any good candle should do in a haunted mansion. The details you have come to expect from Nintendo-quality software are intact. At one point, you must stand lengthwise with a shower curtain and pull it along the rod with the vacuum. The shadow of a ghost was visible before you opened it, but now she's gone! This may not sound like much, but from a technical standpoint, it's fascinating to see shadows of objects that aren't there.
Speaking of technical issues, the game is flat gorgeous. In fact, those who didn't stick around long enough to get a glimpse of the gameplay (understandably, since many at E3 had obviously never been Smash TV gurus like yours truly) only saw it as a tech demo, with some visitor fumbling with the innovative control. It was pretty enough to make even the coldest heart confirm that the game had looks that could stop a clock. There is dust in the flashlight beam. The chilly air condenses Luigi's breath in curls from his mouth. The flashlight beam dances across the floor and up the rafters, into every nook you spill light into. The animation is smooth and quite lively. Of course, everything appears to be at the magical "60 frames-per-second". Fear not that this game will fail to show you pretty pictures. It is a sight.
The gameplay is intact and fresh enough to offer a very new experience. The graphics and sound are top-notch and indisputably next-gen. Don't dismiss my man Luigi. As a second-born son, I can vouch for the power of an unexpected ploy to steal big brother's thunder.