Today’s all about the scares. Well, not really. But I will be briefly introducing you to one of my favorite games I’ve ever played: Luigi’s Mansion.
Never have I ever considered a vacuum cleaner to be a nice bit of weaponry until this game came along - well, it’s only effective if the victim is a ghost. That’s right, the titular Luigi has his hands full cleaning up ghosts from the mansion he “won” the deed to in the mail. His brother Mario got the same letter, only to get captured when he went to inspect his brand new piece of property.
Figures the first game where Luigi gets the spotlight happens to be one where he’s scared out of his mind the whole time, but that’s one of the things I like so much about this game. The main character is lovable and memorable, and he also has so much personality. He’s terrified, but he clenches his teeth and charges into the fray to save his brother, who he cares for so dearly that he cries tears of relief after saving him in the end. So endearing.
We see Luigi is a whole new light now that he’s not the secondary protagonist, here. Armed with the Poltergust 3000, he cleans the haunted mansion of its ghostly inhabitants and turns them back into paintings, where the originated. There’s a crazy scientist on the premises as well (who looks like an old baby) who gave you the weaponized vacuum cleaner to help you save Mario. His name is Professor E. Gadd (he’s also mentioned in Super Mario Sunshine, which I’ll be talking about tomorrow).
Impressively, this game hold up even today. I’m unsure if my nostalgia is doing the talking or if this game is just that good. I’m not talking about graphics, I’m talking about mechanics and fun. I’ve played and beaten this game over ten times, now, and I still enjoy playing it all the way through. A lot of games I loved as a kid don’t entertain me nearly as much as they used to, but Luigi’s Mansion holds a special place in my heart.
Nintendo has a way of implementing simple game mechanics into simple game ideas, and yet making a masterpiece that lasts years and years. Consoles have come and gone, and yet Luigi’s Mansion on the gamecube has remained a game not only on my favorites list, but on many other people's as well. I can’t say I’m surprised, either.