As you may already know, for the month of October, we’re going to be covering spooky games.  While the Duck enjoys things of the spooky variety, if this post concerning Half Life 2’s Ravenholm is anything to go by, I like my spooky on the mild end of the spectrum.  (Unlike my salsa.  Make it spicy, baby!)  One of my favorite “spooky” games is the not-really-so-spooky Luigi’s Mansion, which, as it turns out, I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed before!

Many years ago, when I was saving up my allowance for a GameCube, the top games I wanted at the time were Super Smash Bros Melee, Pikmin, and yes, Luigi’s Mansion.  Though this game really needs no explanation after all these years, I’ll do so anyway because this is a review, and that’s what you do in reviews.  Even so, I’ll try to be brief.

Luigi (the super Mario bro we all secretly like best…) wins a mansion in a contest he never entered.  Mario, being the good older brother that he is, decides to check out this suspicious mansion, but ends up going missing, and it’s up to Luigi to find him.  In fact, the only prior game where Luigi is the main character is Mario is Missing, but that game made you learn stuff and mustn’t ever be spoken of again.

Luigi’s Mansion consists of puzzling elements and some pretty unique gameplay as you explore the mansion’s various rooms, eliminate ghosts, and just generally try to delve ever deeper into the mansion on your hunt for Mario’s whereabouts.  One thing I always loved about the game was how fun it is, despite the fact that Luigi’s arsenal consists merely of a vacuum cleaner.  Okay, it’s not merely a vacuum cleaner, it’s the Poltergust 3000, a truly extraordinary device that can suck up ghosts!  And shoot fire, ice, and water later on when you receive the appropriate medal for it.  And boy, is the Poltergust fun to use!  In other games, I sometimes get bored of fighting enemies.  But there’s just something about fighting ghosts with the tag team of a flashlight and a vacuum cleaner that just never gets old.

While the game is rather short, it’s filled to the brim with charm and just general good times, with silly spooks, an interesting and detailed mansion, and Luigi’s constant search for, not just Mario, but loads and loads of cash.  Seriously, I’ve played this game countless times, and I never get bored of trying to collect as much money as I possibly can.  This game is incredibly replayable for that reason, as the better you play, the less you take damage, and the more hidden money you find, the more gold you’ll rack up by the end of the game and the better the mansion is that Luigi can build (this time, not of the haunted variety, I assume).  Each portrait ghost even has three levels of paintings you can get depending on how well you do when you capture them.  The game is also filled with secrets, with two hidden rooms, a few optional portrait ghosts, and various gems, secret mice, and money ghosts to watch out for.

I don’t know what else to say.  Luigi’s Mansion is just one of those rare spinoff titles that manages to be about as much fun as the series from which it spawned.  Not to mention it had just the right level of spookiness for a Duck who enjoys ghosts, but doesn’t like being scared out of my skin.  And clearly I’m not the only one who thinks so, considering Luigi’s Mansion 3 is on the way!  I am so planning on getting that game on its release date….