bit-tech Shopping: Nintendo Luigi's Mansion (GC)

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: Good story, nice controls

Weaknesses: too short

Summary: A pretty good game for a gamecube launch title, but it is not a Mario brothers title. Catching the ghosts is fun, but this game is short. overall the game is good but is short.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 1 Years

Strengths: Beautiful, fun, Ghostbusters-like game using Mario characters. Great for kids.

Weaknesses: Gameplay gets old quickly.

Summary: Make no mistake -- this is not a Mario game. It's a different kind of experience, with Mario characters, and it's fun, at least for awhile. If you're looking for Mario (and you don't want to be Luigi or the fifth Ghostbuster) go find Super Mario Sunshine.Luigi's Mansion shows off many of the Gamecube features that have been relied upon and expanded in later games, like dynamic lighting. The game is very pretty, with appealing graphics. It strikes the right balance between cute and slightly spooky.You are Luigi, and it's your quest to rescue Mario, who has disappeared into a haunted house. You use a vacuum-cleaner to suck up ghosts and clear the mansion room by room. Trap all the ghosts in a room and the lights come on. You might get a key to unlock another room, where more ghosts and more treasure are waiting for you.The only problem is that the above description pretty much says it all for the rest of the game. Trap ghosts to turn on the lights. Move on to the next room. Trap some more ghosts. Move on to the room after that. There's not a lot of variety. Eventually you add fire, water, and ice to your sucking powers, but this seems more like an attempt to stretch out the already thin gameplay than to add something really innovative or different to the mix.There are some puzzles, and you have to figure out what to do with the bosses. Sometimes it makes sense and is quite clever. Other times it seems so esoteric or arbitrary that it seems designed to sell hint books. The game is *very* linear, with rooms being unlocked in a set order, so if you get stuck on something that doesn't make much sense to you, you're pretty much stuck.But these are minor complaints. The game is rewarding and fun, even if it isn't very long or very deep. Since this was a launch title, it's in plentiful supply and quite cheap nowadays. If you're looking for something different and fun, give Luigi's Mansion a try. You won't be blown away, but you will smile.

Rating: 4

Time with product: 5 Months

Strengths: Simple concept, easy to learn, bright graphics

Weaknesses: Simple gameplay, little challenge

Summary: Luigi's Mansion was one of the "launch" titles with the Gamecube - the first games that came out for the console. In the years since then, the graphics haven't faired well compared to the games later released. It looks outdated to even the untrained eye. This wouldn't be a problem if the gameplay was well-developed ... sadly it's not and it harms the game significantly. The game is likely acceptable for very young players, but not for anyone else.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Nice and cute graphics, easy gameplay

Weaknesses: Somewhat short, more of a kids' game, no replay value

Summary: Luigi's Mansion is a game where Luigi needs to go through a haunted house, suck ghosts into his vacuum cleaner, and rescue Mario. Gameplay is pretty straight forward, and easy for kids, though older gamers might find it a bit too simple. The graphics are nice, though a bite "cute", more towards kids. Once through, there isn't much else to do save go through it a second time. It's a decent enough game, though more of a kids' game than an "adult" game.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 2 Years

Strengths: Acceptable launch game, engaging ghost story.

Weaknesses: Very short, easy, does not hold up well.

Summary: With Mario Sunshine still well over a year away when the Gamecube launched, Nintendo set sail with the brother often relegated to the shadows: Luigi. While not a terrible game, Luigi's Mansion was a letdown when it initially came out and has not aged too gracefully. At root is a Ghostbuster game, where you move Luigi around a mansion finding ghosts and then sucking them up in the vacuum (which does get . It fully takes advantage of the gamecube controller, even the analog shoulder buttons and c stick- in fact it almost seems designed as a tech demo to showcase what the controller is capable of. The game itself, though, is a bit of a subpar effort for Nintendo. It is quite short, with maybe 8 hours of gameplay and little replay value unless you just want to play again. You do get scored based on how well you suck up ghosts and how much treasure you can uncover, but there are no extras to unlock or multiple paths to choose. Fighting the ghost minibosses at each turn is entertaining as they are unique and require strategies. But there is no jumping, and the overall mood is fairly kid friendly (Resident Evil this most certainly is not). While it can be fun to rent or if the price is similarly low, or for a younger gamer who may still be frightened by ghosts and enjoy playing as Luigi, seeing Toads and rescuing Mario, Luigi's Mansion ranks far below other Mario launch games from Nintendo's past consoles.