The original Luigi’s Mansion was, I believe, the first game that I saw images of for the Nintendo Gamecube. Because this was during a dark age before I discovered video game websites, I didn’t really follow the game closely, and for one reason or another I assumed that it was basically just a Mario platformer, but starring Luigi in a mansion for some inexplicable reason. That seemed neat enough to me. Yet that it was not; Luigi’s Mansion was a different beast entirely. The game released to decent but not amazing reviews, I skipped over it at launch, and when I finally played it a half a year later, my impression of the game was that the reviews were pretty accurate. It was fun for what it was, but it did not stick with me in any lasting way.
However, when the 3DS sequel was announced, it instantly caught my attention. I can’t really explain why, other than the fact that I liked the
idea of Luigi’s Mansion, I just felt that the execution of the original game had left a bit to be desired. Twelve years later and with a completely new development team behind it (Next Level Games, the developer behind the Punch-Out!! revival on the Wii, among others), this seemed to me like a good chance for the Luigi’s Mansion concept to finally meet its full potential.
Luigi is not exactly your typical alpha male, but he gets the job done.Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon kicks off with Luigi getting an unwelcome contact from his old friend Professor E. Gadd, who is having some ghost troubles. Apparently E. Gadd had been living in relative harmony with the ghosts in Evershade Valley due to something called the Dark Moon, which can be thought of as Ritalin for ghosts; it calms them down and keeps them from acting out. The dark moon has been shattered, however, and the ghosts are running amok. E. Gadd tasks Luigi (somewhat against his will) with seeking out the various pieces of the Dark Moon to restore order to the valley. But what to do about the ghosts he runs into along the way? Suck them up with a modified vacuum cleaner called the Poltergust 5000, of course! It’s not the most amazing story ever, but the dialog is fun and even clever at times, such as when E. Gadd decides to call Luigi’s DS a “Dual Scream”, or when he mentions to Luigi that if ghost hunting doesn’t work out, Luigi may have a future as a plumber. You gotta love the self-referential humour.
The controls are pretty straightforward at first, although once you acquire a few of the attachments to your vacuum cleaner they can get a bit tricky. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon uses the x button both to aim up and for various context sensitive commands, and it can be a bit annoying when you are trying to aim up and Luigi opens a drawer or shakes a vase instead. It’s also a bit odd to me that you can’t turn and use your vacuum cleaner at the same time, which may or may not be due to the lack of dual analog controls, although once I got used to it I didn’t mind the more focused approach to busting ghosts. And any minor complaints aside, boy, is busting ghosts ever fun! Nothing feels more gratifying than popping a strobe to stun the ghosts, getting them hooked in your beam, and fighting hard (pulling away from the ghosts) to drain their power before sucking them in. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon nails the ghostbusting controls, creating a smooth and satisfying core mechanic at the heart of the game.
Come on Luigi. Let a ghost have some privacy, will ya?Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is a beautiful game, although, due to the theme, the environments can be a bit overly dark at times. One area in which the game particularly excels are the animations. The characters are chock full of charisma, especially the ghosts, where the movements and facial expressions capture the vibe of playful mischief perfectly, such as when Luigi gets the water running and they ride down a wave of water like a waterslide. The 3D effect is nicely done and even helps out a bit at times (especially during a certain boss with hanging spiders that must be avoided), although due to the dark environments, there can be a bit of (no pun intended) ghosting at times, and there are some tilt mechanics in the game that can ruin the 3D effect. These are generally either optional or rare, so this isn’t a huge deal or anything, but it can be a slight annoyance.
The soundtrack fits the mood perfectly, bouncing between what I can only describe as light-hearted scary music and, at times, not so light-hearted music that could almost find a home in a more serious horror game. The sound effects are pretty spot-on as well, with plenty of creaks and groans that help add to the feeling of being alone in a creepy mansion. There are some neat little touches here, such as when Luigi nervously hums along to the music playing in the background.
Although Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is still similar to the original Luigi’s Mansion at its heart, it has been enhanced and expanded upon in many ways. Two of the most noticeable changes are that there are now multiple mansions to explore (five, to be exact), each with their own unique theme or environment, and that exploration now takes place within the confines of distinct missions at each mansion, with Luigi rendezvousing at E. Gadd’s bunker at the end of each mission to recuperate and plan for the next one. Personally I enjoyed the mission structure, as it gives context to your actions, helps with pacing, and allows for the mansions to change significantly while you are away (for example, you may leave at the end of one mission and come back to a spider infestation or plant overgrowth), but there are some annoyances connected to the mission structure as well. Not only does it limit exploration a bit, but the missions are fairly long without any way to save your game until completing them, and they often end abruptly, with no option to explore further, which can get in the way of discovering all of the extras your first time through a mission. A simple “are you ready to come back yet?” from E. Gadd that lets you choose to return or keep playing on a bit at the end of each mission would have been a great addition, but alas, it is not present. Furthermore, although most of the missions are pretty distinctive, there are a handful of weaker missions that involve chasing a ghost dog through places that you have already been, and these missions don’t really add too much to the game.
Remember that game "Ghost in the Graveyard"? Yeah.You can view the core gameplay as consisting of two interconnected parts; it is both an exploration / puzzle game (figuring out where to go and how to get there), and an action game (busting ghosts and other assorted creatures along the way.)
On the exploration / puzzle side of things, you will generally (but not always) be given a specific task to do in a specific room in the mansion that you are currently exploring. However, it is a rare case that you can just walk straight to that room. Oh no. Not only are the mansions a bit obtusely designed with plenty of secret paths to find and puzzles to solve along the way, but the ghosts are often working their hardest to obstruct your progress. One thing I loved about Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is that, contrary to my expectations coming into a Nintendo title, there is little to no hand holding involved. You may have an idea of where to go next, but figuring out the path to get there and solving the puzzles along the way are generally left up to the player.
Most of the puzzles are self-contained in a single room, although this is not always the case, especially in the later mansions. Some of these puzzles fall under the umbrella of what you may think of when you hear the word “puzzle” in the context of a video game; placing items on switches to open doors, watering plants to make them grow, melting ice to get past it, etc. Not to make these puzzles sound derivative, they definitely have their own little twists to them. However, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon also has many puzzles that fall more into the environmental / observation category, which is where I think it stands out a bit more. The game will often play visual tricks on you, and sometimes the way to progress requires springing some trap door, seeing through a fake wall, or utilizing your Dark-Light device (an attachment to the Poltergust 5000 that lets you see objects that have been made invisible), among other things.
There is never a bad time for a good thumb-wrestling match!Additionally, there are several Toads that you must rescue across the mansions and guide back to safety. Although these kind of escort missions can be annoying in some games, they work in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon by changing up / adding to the way that you interact with the environment and solve puzzles. For instance, you will run into a patch of ice that can only support the weight of one body at a time. This would be easy enough to cross with just Luigi, but how do you get the Toad across? This is just a simple example, and the game takes the escort dynamic quite a bit further at times.
There are a couple of neat ways that you can use the Poltergust 5000 in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, but as these are limited in number, I’d prefer not to spoil them all. Suffice to say, you will be doing a bit more than just sucking up ghosts with it, and at times it will help you move around the environment in some very creative ways.
And of course, running parallel to the exploration and puzzles is the action element, the ghostbusting. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon has a variety of ghosts that you will encounter along the way, each of them with their own unique traits. One type of ghost focuses on possessing whatever it can find in the room and using it to attack, another hides in items and pops out to throw things at you, etc. As I stated above, the ghostbusting is very fun, due to the smooth controls at the center of it, and it is rarely overly difficult, although missions can be long and health can be sparse, so I still found myself struggling to survive at times. There are also a few other creatures in the mansions who can cause you harm, including rats, spiders and crows, among others. And of course, there are boss fights to cap everything off. I felt that the boss fights were pretty unique and generally well done, although I think that they start off a bit weaker and get better as the game progresses.
Everything in life is better with a friend! Or two, or three.If you want more beyond merely completing the missions, there are all kinds of secrets to be discovered across the various mansions. Most secrets will result in acquiring cash (to be used to upgrade the Poltergust 5000) or health, but there are also a few warps to some timed treasure grabs, thirteen collectable gems scattered about each mansion (often found by solving unique puzzles), as well as a single hidden Boo in each mission. If you find all of the Boos in any given mansion, you will unlock a bonus mission for that mansion, although these bonus missions essentially all come down to the same thing; run through the mansion busting a large amount of ghosts as fast as you can. Still, it’s a nice change from the slower paced regular missions.
The biggest addition to Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, however, is the ScareScraper, which contains three unique modes (Hunter, Rush, Polterpup) that can be played with 1-4 players either online or locally (single-cart or multi-cart). Each of these modes has its own focus, whether it be ghostbusting, speed, or exploration, and they can be played at various lengths and difficulty levels, but they all involve rushing through multiple floors of a randomly generated tower, culminating in a boss fight at the top. I have been very pleased with the ScareScraper so far, and it manages to capture a nice mixture of competitive and cooperative play. And if you want more challenge that the main mode of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon can provide, expert difficulty level is
tough, even with helpers! Oh, and unlike many local multiplayer games on Nintendo’s handhelds, the single-cart mode has practically everything that the multi-cart and online modes have, which is very much appreciated.
I may not have been the biggest fan of the original Luigi’s Mansion, but Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon has made a believer of me. This is a sequel that surpasses the original on nearly every measurable level, including the humour and charm, the variety of environments, the quality of the puzzles and exploration, the more satisfying ghostbusting, and the increased amount of extras to be found. And let’s not forget the ScareScraper, an entirely new set of modes that can be played either locally or online, greatly increasing the replay value. Next Level Games is now two for two on Nintendo franchise revivals in my eyes (Punch-Out!! for the Wii being the first) and I can’t wait to see what Nintendo ropes them into next!
And this is why my review is so late...URL to share (right click and copy) 
It's certainly giving FE: Awakening a run for its money as best 3DS release this year so far!
