OVERVIEW

Luigi has won a house in a competition he didn't even enter?!? Mario, without any thought, makes his way to the mansion. Mario never returns so Luigi gathers his courage and enters the mansion looking for Mario. After you meet with Professor E. Gadd, you will be given the vacuum cleaner and its ghostbusting time. You must make your way through the mansion sucking up an array of ghost, collecting keys and hidden treasure. Awaiting you will be several bosses and 50 boo's that have escaped. Although the boos are easy at first, they get stronger and faster therefore making your job much harder. In the final battle you will face a common foe that you had no idea was behind these shenanigans.

The sound is another of the games strong points. The crackling of thunder, Luigi's footsteps and calls of anguish are all great. The music is fun to listen to although it stops and starts a lot. It never seems to keep on going but I think it depends on whether you have 'finished' the room or not. The speech is a disappointment, I would love to hear Luigi talk to the professor instead with have words and annoying sounds seen in games such as Banjo - Kazooie. Thankfully, it doesn't happen near as much. The sound in this game is good when there is sound. There could have been improvements but overall it is a pretty decent job.

Obviously this game isn't Mario 64, nor was it meant to be. You cannot jump, hang from ledges etc but the game is still very fun. The controls are brilliantly designed to get used of the GameCube controller. The C - Stick is used to suck in ghost why you maneuver with the analogue. X and Y bring up the GameBoy Horror and the Map. R is used to suck in ghost, L to expel elements (fire, water, and ice). A calls out for Mario and B opens doors. The responsiveness it perfect. Now that you no the controls it is time to go throughout the mansion sucking up ghost and the like. The gameplay can get tedious but most of the time it is really fun. The rumble feature further enhances the games experience.

I finished the game in about 7 or 8 hours and had a blast. You can play it again and try and get more treasure in order to get a better ranking but this seems pointless. Although adventure games lack lastability compared to most other genres, some are so brilliant and fun you will want to play it again. You get hidden mansion mode when you first finish it which is exactly the same but backwards and much harder. I started to finish it again but got Smash Brothers and was, of course, distracted. This game will not last that long but despite that you wont regret buying it as it is a 'Nintendo Classic".

· 1 Player
· Hidden Mansion mode
· Tons of Treasure
· Luigi's First Major Role

FINAL THOUGHTS

Its seem Nintendo are showing a lot of innovation with new styles of play and new graphics (cel-shaded). I accept innovation but innovation must accept criticism. This game is no 'killer app' but it certainly has the Nintendo warmth that, despite its faults, makes this game worth to be placed in your collection.