Product Description

Luigi's Mansion for Gamecube

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2064 in Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: 45496960018
• Released on: 2006-06-15
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: GameCube
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 5.25" w x 7.25" l, .20 pounds

Features

• Luigi is off to check out a haunted mansion full of howling ghosts & spirits
• Help Luigi vacuum up ghosts in over 90 rooms
• When you capture ghosts, trap them in paintings to get points
• Watch Luigi creep, cower and cry in fright as he encounters spirits
• Great object animations and cartoony fun for everyone!

Amazon.co.uk
When Luigi's Mansion was first announced, many assumed it would follow in the legendary footsteps of Super Mario World and Super Mario 64. The game doesn't approach the epic scale of either of those titles, but once you get used to its smaller scale, the various charms of this game do become obvious.

The game involves you, as Mario's brother Luigi, trying to exorcise a haunted mansion of ghosts by sucking them into a vacuum cleaner. It sounds easier than the previous cinematic attempts by the Ghostbusters and the Catholic Church, but it's not. The complications and cleverness of the game manifest in the use of light and shadow. Many ghosts cannot be seen unless you reveal their shadows or manipulate the objects in a room to make them appear. These imaginative--but never frustrating--puzzles add to the otherwise simplistic process of catching the smaller ghosts by freezing them with a beam of light and sucking them up with your Hoover backpack.

It's only a minor classic, but Luigi's Mansion does show off some off the GameCube's graphic effects and provides a game the whole family can enjoy. If only it were a bit longer. --David Jenkins.

Amazon.com E3 Game Preview
While it won't win many points for originality, Luigi's Mansion is great fun to play, and it's a perfect showcase for the GameCube's graphics horsepower. In the game, Luigi--Mario's younger brother and costar of several games through the years--has inherited a spooky old mansion provided he can summon the courage to spend the night within its haunted walls.

Luigi arrives prepared to clean house using a Ghostbusters-like device that stuns the ghosts with light and then vacuums them up safely. The gameplay gets tricky when some of the bigger light-shy ghosts vanish before you can put the Hoover on them. And, should one of the spectral pests sneak up on Luigi, he loses courage and the common currency of all Mario-inspired games: gold coins. Graphically, the game is amazing for its translucent ghosts, mirrored images, and particle effects (Luigi's vacuum device will also suck the dust off a chair and the mist out of a freezer). The game's campy visuals are more cute than spooky, so even jittery Mario fans will love this one. --Porter B. Hall

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Customer Reviews

Tons of fun, until you beat it.
Don't be fooled that Luigi's Mansion, a game that is only good, serves as the Nintendo Gamecube's star title. By now, that honor belongs to Super Smash Bros. Melee, and at launch it was held by the likes of Rogue Squadron 2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Here to give you the word on Luigi's Mansion is Nintendorks' Eric Denney.

"It's been very difficult to come to a decision on just what to rate Luigi's Mansion. Luigi is the closest thing to a Mario Flagship title that we saw for GameCube launch, and the bar has been set almost impossibly high after Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64. In the end, while still a solid game, Luigi's Mansion doesn't deserve a spot next to the predecessors.

Now that the ugly comparison is out of the way, lets examine the merits and faults of Luigi's Mansion in its own right. What we have in Luigi's Mansion is a fun, solid adventure title with little to no replay value.

While the game concept is hardly fresh (and indeed been nearly beaten to death by Capcom), Nintendo still manages to pull it off with characteristic grace. Using the Poltergust vaccum to suck up the ghosts, and mastering the timing of using the flashlight (or other objects) to make the ghosts vulnerable injects a breath of fresh air into the game. At the same time, it proves to be a good example of how to properly program a game for the GameCube controler. Every button is put to good use, and it isn't hard to believe that the game was designed to make the most out of the controller. It wouldn't surprise me at all if future games in the haunted mansion genre start to pick up on some of the controller ideas in future installments.

Luigi's Mansion is a fun game, but hardly worth the full retail price. You can rent it once, twice, or even thrice and have a great time with it. A rental time, however is about all the time you need for it. I'm no game wizard (in fact, I rather suck at figuring out game puzzles), but I breezed through this game effortlessly. I wouldn't call it easy, but it isn't more than moderately challenging even at its best. Rent it, and you take it back satisfied. But there are just too many great GameCube games out now to spend the full $on Luigi's Mansion."

Luigi's Mansion: Luigi's Solo Debut!
After playing this game on my imported Gamecube (review posted on this website), I have quite a lot I'd like to tell you, the consumer. So without further to do, here I go:

After being Mario's sidekick for more than a decade, Luigi has finally been given the chance to star in his own game! Starring in his very own 3D game for the first time, Luigi has become the Peter Venkman of the 21st century by taking up the mantle of a ghostbuster in Luigi's Mansion. An extreme departure from what Mario Bros. games have been in the past, Luigi's Mansion features some refreshing ideas but fails to match the classic status of Mario's adventures.

The story in Luigi's Mansion is adequate enough, but there are few if any twists or turns. After receiving a strange letter from his brother Mario, Luigi heads out to meet him thinking he's won a mansion in a contest he doesn't remember entering. Upon reaching the mansion, Luigi is greeted by a short, bald scientist named Professor E. Gaadd, who explains that the mansion only appeared a few days earlier and is overrun with ghosts. Professor Gaadd goes on to explain that he met a fellow with a red cap shortly after the mansion appeared and hasn't seen him since. Luigi, realizing the fellow in the red hat is Mario, sets off for the mansion after Gadd equips him with a flashlight and the Poltergust 3000, a modified vacuum cleaner that can be used to trap the ghosts.

Controlling Luigi is fairly simple, but it takes some time to get accustomed to it. The left analog stick controls his movements, while the C stick controls the direction he points his flashlight and vacuum cleaner. It's the same control scheme that is found in most modern first-person shooters, and after a few awkward moments you'll be swinging Luigi's vacuum around with precision. Opening doors and examining objects is done with the large A button. The Z button is used to check inventory, the X button is used to view Luigi's ghost-sensing Game Boy, and pressing the Y button brings up a 3D map of the entire mansion. Learning to accurately aim the vacuum is one thing, but sucking up stalwart ghosts with it is another. To catch a ghost, it must first be stunned with Luigi's flashlight. Once stunned, its heart will appear, which is the cue to start with the vacuuming. Pressing the R button will make the vacuum suck air and begin to bring the ghost in for capture. But it won't be snared without a fight. Ghosts will pull Luigi around the room as he attempts to snare them, but holding the analog stick in the exact opposite direction of the ghost will make the process easier.

The Poltergust 3000 has more than one use. It can also be used to shoot objects or spray a variety of ammunition such as fire, ice, and water by pressing the L button. If you press the left shoulder button all the way, the vacuum will fire a projectile. As mentioned earlier, a ghost's heart must be seen before the ghost can be captured. But it's not always as easy as illuminating the ghost with a flashlight. That works for the majority of drone ghosts located in the mansion, but there are 23 special ghosts in the house that must be snared in different ways. This is where the puzzle elements of the game come into play. Some ghosts require Luigi to perform special tasks before showing themselves. One particularly buff ghost must be drubbed with a heavy bag before being captured, and another must be struck with billiard balls before it's vulnerable. It's essential for Luigi to search every last nook and cranny of each room, because items can be hidden virtually anywhere. At the end of the game, you are rewarded for how much money has been collected, so finding every last coin, gold bar, and jewel is worth the time. Luigi's Mansion progresses in a completely linear fashion. Once Luigi exterminates a room of ghosts, the lights will come on, and more often than not, a chest will appear with a key inside. The 3D map will then automatically appear to show you which door the new key opens. This same process repeats until the end of the game. If Luigi's Mansion were as long as most Mario Bros. games, the lack of gameplay variety would be an issue. But just when things start to become tiresome, the game ends.

There are a few problems with the graphics that should be mentioned. The GameCube has been heralded for its texturing abilities, but most of the textures in Luigi's Mansion are low resolution and look muddy and pixelated when viewed up close. This is understandable considering the impressive variety of textures in each room, but it can be distracting nevertheless. In true Nintendo form, the graphical emphasis is placed on the lead character. Luigi is made of plenty of polygons and is expertly animated right down to his vacuum hose, but it doesn't leave many stray polygons for other things. The result is cramped environments filled with angular objects. When the game engine does happen to draw a lot of polygons, the textures have a tendency to shimmer. Other slight issues include an occasional flickering shadow and glitchy reflections when entering rooms. These graphical issues wouldn't be nearly as noticeable if the rest of the game didn't look so consistently good, and the last thing those who play Luigi's Mansion will complain about is its visual prowess.

Luigi's first solo excursion has flashes of brilliance and is fun while it lasts, but the short amount of time it takes to complete it makes it a hard 5 star recommendation. There is some incentive to play through the game a second time, but even that can be done within an average rental period. However, if you're a serious video game collector or just want a game that will adequately show off your new console, Luigi's Mansion is worth picking up.

I hope this review assisted with deciding which game to purchase for your Nintendo Gamecube. (...)

Better than walking through pipes!
Don't be fooled by the appearance of this game. Luigi's Mansion is the best choice for a launch game for the Nintendo Gamecube. Its intuitive gameplay and supurb lighting effects makes this game a sure hit for fans of all ages. The controls are a bit tricky at first but it provides you with a better handle over your main character, Luigi. I played this at my local Cubeclub and it was fantastic. I came in thinking that the game would be fun but nothing too extraordinary, after playing it I was blown away by its unique scenario and its ability to mix puzzle, action, adventure, and comedy in equal amounts throughout the game. This game simply has the best lighting effects I've ever seen, and it IS very original.(It's not Ghostbusters with Luigi thrown in.) Whether you're a long time Mario Bros. fan or a newcomer to games, Luigi's Mansion is all around fun and a soon to be classic in gaming history.

quote:"Yeah! All right!"