Vital Stats
System(s): GameCube
U.S. Release Date: November 2001
Current street price: $49.99
Size: 4 areas in the Mansion
Players: 1
Rating: K-A
In a Nutshell
Nintendo's launch title for the GameCube and Luigi's first title game in which you help Luigi fight his way through a creepy mansion full of ghosts to save Mario.
Story
Note: This story come straight from the LM instruction book.
One day, Luigi received an unexpected message:
You've won a huge mansion! Naturally, He got very excited and called his brother, Mario. "Mario? It's me, Luigi. I won myself a big mansion! Meet me there and we'll celebrate, what do you say?"
Luigi tried to follow the map to his new mansion, but the night was dark, and he became hopelessly lost in an eerie forest along the way. Finally, he came upon a gloomy mansion on the edge of the woods. According to the map, this mansion seemed to be the one Luigi was looking for. As soon as Luigi set foot in the mansion, he started to feel nervious. Mario, who should have arrived first, was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but there were ghosts in the mansion!
Suddenly, a ghost lunged at Luigi! "Mario! Help meee!" That's when a strange old man with a vacuum cleaner on his back appeared out of nowhere! This strange fellow managed to rescue Luigi from the ghosts, then the two of them escaped...
It just so happened that the old man, Professor Elvin Gadd, who lived near the house, was researching his favorite subject, ghosts. Luigi told Professor E. Gadd that his brother Mario was missing, so the Professor decided to give Luigi two inventions that would help him search for his brother.
Luigi's not exactly known for his bravery. Can he get rid of all of the prank-loving ghosts and find Mario?
Gameplay Overview
Well, to make it simple, Luigi has two main attacks to fight ghosts. He can suck and he can blow. Literally. By using his flashlight, he can first scare ghosts. Then, he can use the vacuum to suck the ghost up. Luigi's Mansion uses every single button on the GameCube controller fully, except for the sadly neglected D-pad. When you suck up ghosts, you hold down the R button to activate the vacuum then use the joystick and the C button to reel it in like fishing. Later in the game, Luigi is able to blow the elements fire, water and ice out of the vacuum in order to fight ghosts or solve puzzles. He also has the useful Gameboy Horror which has many features:
Map - Pulls up a map of the entire mansion while showing places Luigi has been and doors that are still locked.
Investigator - Opens up a camera like view with target hairs. Luigi can then select different things around the room and get some information on it.
Inventory - The big list of all of the stuff you have found in the Mansion, including ghosts, money and items that Mario has dropped.
The game consists of four different areas in the Mansion. Each area is made up of many rooms that are full of ghosts. Luigi fights his way through by clearing each room of the Mansion of ghosts and getting a key to the next room. While looking for Mario he also has to find and trap all of the special picture ghosts that Professor E. Gadd lost and collect the 50 Boos that are hiding in the Mansion.
What's the big deal?
The neglected: It's Luigi's First Title Game!!! LUIGI!!! It's Luigi!!! I'm sorry, but I, Jay Resop, have waited my entire life for such a game. Luigi has been "second player" during the entire history of Mario games. Nintendo tried to solve that a long time ago with a game called "Mario is Missing" but failed horribly. This time they did it right. Luigi has deserved this game for a long time now. This is Luigi's Game.
Notes of interest
Luigi's first title game!
Attacks range from suck to blow.
Secret Mansion to play in after you beat the game.
Gameboy Horror. Nintendo makes a funny pun for once.
Professor E. Gadd. Nintendo makes a horrible pun once again.
Boos are back and cooler then ever.
Quote
"MARIO!!!!!!!"
-Luigi's desperate cry for his brother
Ending
After opening the last locked door, Luigi finds himself facing the King Boo who has Mario captive inside of a painting. The game ends after a quite humorous but tricky final boss. Luigi takes the picture of Mario back to Professor E. Gadd and the old man returns Mario back to his original self. After a kinda funny scene with Mario, Luigi has a good, much needed laugh and the credits run.
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Vital Stats