Mak-X
05-28-2002, 11:31 PM
I finally started playing Luigi's Mansion on Sunday after it had been sitting on my shelf since a few days after Christmas. (My mom had bought all the stuff on my list because some stores only had certain stuff so I ended up paying for Wave Race and Luigi's Mansion because I wanted them and didn't want to rent them. I played nothing but Smash Bros. and Rogue Leader until I finished most of those games.) I beat it tonight after playing for most of the day several hours straight. Its a fun and original game, but nothing outstanding. I'd probably give it a bronze or just under a bronze if I reviewed it for EGM.
I wasn't exactly into Luigi's Mansion at first, but as I played some more of it I got into it more. I just kinda played it I think. It was fun with all the things you could effect with the vacum cleaner and getting money and hunting down ghosts but nothing overly that great. I just kinda played it and enjoyed playing it as I progressed. Its a short game, probably takening about 5 days for the average player. It would have been nice if it were longer, but for that to happen, the game would have to have some more depth or things to do than just defeating ghosts and collecting keys. Its short, but its short enough to where when you get towards the end its good that its short and doesn't drag itself out.
The game kind of reminds me of Resident Evil 2 and Maniac Mansion because of the fact your in this Mansion with all these different rooms. You can use the Game Boy Horror to identify stuff and you can go around taping drawers and stuff. Maybe in a way its a kid's survival horror game haha.
The game really isn't that difficult but it is difficult to where you have to figure out how to catch the main ghosts that can't be caught like normal, adding a puzzle element. You have to figure out what to do in the room that will for instance get a ghost angry so they show themselves and their heart so you can suck them up (when you face them they turn invisible). You don't just blast right through the game, but it goes at a pace where you progress through the game without getting stuck.
The entire Mansion and all its rooms are used thoroughly. You end up going back to many rooms later on to track down the Boos on the loose, or some event in the game causes you to go searching through the mansion and going to a earlier area.
The game pretty much works like this. When you clear a room full of ghosts, you get a key to another room. When you get the key, the map comes up and tells you what door its for, because you can only open up a door with a certain key. Then you go to the next room and clear that room full of ghosts, and get a key. But is more than just that because you have to draw the ghosts out of hiding, use elementals (fire, water, ice) to attack ghosts, and figure out how to suck up the invisible ghosts. At the end of each of the 5 levels you fight a boss.
The gameplay revolves around Luigi using a flash light and a vacum cleaner to suck up ghosts. The flash light is used to stun ghosts when they show their heart so you can start sucking them with the vacum cleaner, other wise you can't grab them with the vacum. When the vacum grabs the ghost, you must use the control stick and push it in the opposite direction that the ghost is trying to escape in or you'll loose the hold on the ghost. The ghost has a number life meter that ticks down to 0 as you continue to suck it with the vacum. When the life is at 0, the ghost gets sucked in. A combination of the Control Stick and the C Stick is used. The Control Stick is used to move Luigi while the C Stick turns Luigi around where he's standing, so the player can move Luigi around with one stick while aiming the vacum or flashlight with the other, which becomes essential in playing this game.
I died 2 times on the last boss. I didn't fully realize what I had to do because the spike balls didn't come to the vacum when I sucked it from a distance, instead of me going right up to them. The second time I was down to 3 hit points and the King Boo was at 5 and all I had to do was suck it with the vacum a little more. But I got stuck in tight area when I launched the spike ball bomb at the boss and the explosion killed Luigi. 5 hp left on the ghost.
The ending was good and I actually smiled and laughed from it. I've been playing Mario games and watching Mario and Luigi since I was young. It was just funny when Mario goes through the machine to the SMB theme and then the underground theme plays. I liked the part in the credits where it goes to the SMB underground theme and has Luigi voice samples "Luigi!" "Mario!".
Overall, the game is enjoyable to play through, but not good enough as a must have launch title. Most people could just rent it if they wanted to play it. It is short, but with its gameplay the shortness of it may actually be a good thing. After beating the game you have access to a hidden mansion which apparently has somethings changed and the game is tougher but I think your basically playing through the game again. You also get ranked by the amount of money you collect in the game, but its not really worth it to play it again to collect all the money to get the highest rank. (I got a B Rank btw). It would have been nice to see something else to do or maybe make it a little longer somehow than just a more tougher mansion. Its a nice unique and original game worth playing if you want something new, something short, and your gaming tastes aren't so dependent on the same old same old. We need more games like this and Pikmin. Bring on Doshin, Animal Leader, and Animal Crossing (Animal Forest +)!
I wasn't exactly into Luigi's Mansion at first, but as I played some more of it I got into it more. I just kinda played it I think. It was fun with all the things you could effect with the vacum cleaner and getting money and hunting down ghosts but nothing overly that great. I just kinda played it and enjoyed playing it as I progressed. Its a short game, probably takening about 5 days for the average player. It would have been nice if it were longer, but for that to happen, the game would have to have some more depth or things to do than just defeating ghosts and collecting keys. Its short, but its short enough to where when you get towards the end its good that its short and doesn't drag itself out.
The game kind of reminds me of Resident Evil 2 and Maniac Mansion because of the fact your in this Mansion with all these different rooms. You can use the Game Boy Horror to identify stuff and you can go around taping drawers and stuff. Maybe in a way its a kid's survival horror game haha.
The game really isn't that difficult but it is difficult to where you have to figure out how to catch the main ghosts that can't be caught like normal, adding a puzzle element. You have to figure out what to do in the room that will for instance get a ghost angry so they show themselves and their heart so you can suck them up (when you face them they turn invisible). You don't just blast right through the game, but it goes at a pace where you progress through the game without getting stuck.
The entire Mansion and all its rooms are used thoroughly. You end up going back to many rooms later on to track down the Boos on the loose, or some event in the game causes you to go searching through the mansion and going to a earlier area.
The game pretty much works like this. When you clear a room full of ghosts, you get a key to another room. When you get the key, the map comes up and tells you what door its for, because you can only open up a door with a certain key. Then you go to the next room and clear that room full of ghosts, and get a key. But is more than just that because you have to draw the ghosts out of hiding, use elementals (fire, water, ice) to attack ghosts, and figure out how to suck up the invisible ghosts. At the end of each of the 5 levels you fight a boss.
The gameplay revolves around Luigi using a flash light and a vacum cleaner to suck up ghosts. The flash light is used to stun ghosts when they show their heart so you can start sucking them with the vacum cleaner, other wise you can't grab them with the vacum. When the vacum grabs the ghost, you must use the control stick and push it in the opposite direction that the ghost is trying to escape in or you'll loose the hold on the ghost. The ghost has a number life meter that ticks down to 0 as you continue to suck it with the vacum. When the life is at 0, the ghost gets sucked in. A combination of the Control Stick and the C Stick is used. The Control Stick is used to move Luigi while the C Stick turns Luigi around where he's standing, so the player can move Luigi around with one stick while aiming the vacum or flashlight with the other, which becomes essential in playing this game.
I died 2 times on the last boss. I didn't fully realize what I had to do because the spike balls didn't come to the vacum when I sucked it from a distance, instead of me going right up to them. The second time I was down to 3 hit points and the King Boo was at 5 and all I had to do was suck it with the vacum a little more. But I got stuck in tight area when I launched the spike ball bomb at the boss and the explosion killed Luigi. 5 hp left on the ghost.
The ending was good and I actually smiled and laughed from it. I've been playing Mario games and watching Mario and Luigi since I was young. It was just funny when Mario goes through the machine to the SMB theme and then the underground theme plays. I liked the part in the credits where it goes to the SMB underground theme and has Luigi voice samples "Luigi!" "Mario!".
Overall, the game is enjoyable to play through, but not good enough as a must have launch title. Most people could just rent it if they wanted to play it. It is short, but with its gameplay the shortness of it may actually be a good thing. After beating the game you have access to a hidden mansion which apparently has somethings changed and the game is tougher but I think your basically playing through the game again. You also get ranked by the amount of money you collect in the game, but its not really worth it to play it again to collect all the money to get the highest rank. (I got a B Rank btw). It would have been nice to see something else to do or maybe make it a little longer somehow than just a more tougher mansion. Its a nice unique and original game worth playing if you want something new, something short, and your gaming tastes aren't so dependent on the same old same old. We need more games like this and Pikmin. Bring on Doshin, Animal Leader, and Animal Crossing (Animal Forest +)!