In the caves of the retrogaming there is a ghost, or rather more than one, and it is the ghosts that “haunt” Luigi’s Mansion. The first noteworthy adventure of the “loser” brother of the legendary plumber in overalls
That’s right, you read that right, today’s special dedicated to retrogaming intends to do justice to the good old Luigi’s Masion twenty years after his appearance on that “strange” console that was the Nintendo GameCube. Sure, it was obviously packed with titles like Super Mario Sunshine or The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but why not give the plumber in green what’s rightfully his?
Also and above all because, nowadays, despite the two decades on the shoulders and the chapters landed on Nintendo 3DS e Nintendo Switch, this little Halloween parenthesis of our favorite tall boy is still playing which is a pleasure! So take your Poltergust 3000 and always keep an eye on the Game Boy Horror, always and only ask for original products from Professor Strambic, and we leave for a haunted villa to save Mario.
Brother, where are you?
We are in the “far away” 2001 and the Nintendo GameCube has just received the baton passed to it by the legendary Nintendo 64, a console that has revolutionized the very concept of gaming with one of the first massive uses of the three dimensions, also giving it the responsibility of having to carry on its most iconic series. Super Mario (including automotive and sports versions), Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Samus Aran. But what about our hero “confined” to the role of eternal shoulder? Well, it was a real surprise for fans since, at the launch of the console, many were expecting a sort of “sequel” to Super Mario 64 and being faced with the “Wrong brother” it’s not that he really liked it.
Before that, our plumber in green had appeared as the protagonist in the disappointing educational game Mario is Missing! to then reappear intermittently in other “Mariesque” chapters such as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (here in a child version like his famous brother), Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., Mario Golf, Mario Party, no seas play a role from hero or in any case of the highest order.
Here, with the title in question, however, the cards on the table are not simply shuffled, but rather messed up in the most striking way possible (including the overturning of the table itself) with a protagonist in a green suit! Think then that the game, initially, was designed to be included in the Nintendo 64 title park, but due to the limitations of the machine in question, this did not happen. A phenomenon similar to that of Final Fantasy VII, but without the “war” that ensued between the Big N and Square Enix.
A horror story – Retrogaming: Luigi’s Mansion
On a dark and stormy nightfurrowed by mournful verses and thunder, a frightened Luigi heads towards a sinister villa which, strange to say, looks very different from the flyer he is holding. Our hero, in fact, seems to have won a villa in a competition in which he has never participated, but he still wants to see clearly. Watched by a pair of creepy crows, he climbs the stairs leading to the front door, our funny hero will find himself in front of a real haunted mansion complete with ectoplasmic phenomena, flying objects, strange apparitions and a funny old man.
These others are but the sympathetic Professor Strambic, the same one that will create it Splac 3000 for the summer Super Mario Sunshine, who today is faced with stronger ghosts than ever since the Professor is affected by the ailments of age and a life spent doing the Ghostbuster. The latter therefore reveals two facts not just. The first is that Mario also passed by there, without even having a chat with our elderly ghost hunter, and he has been lost track. The according to instead, perhaps even more worrying, is that the villa itself appeared a few days ago created by the same ghosts. And Professor Strambic knows this well since that place, for years, has been the base for his laboratory where he studies ghosts.
It will therefore be up to our hero to arm himself with Poltergust 3000, practically a kind of modified Kobold vacuum cleaner, to catch ghosts, of a Game Boy Horror to orient yourself among the various rooms that make up the house, of one torch electric to get light, but above all by much, much, courage! Therefore, what will stand in front of the player will be a nice big villa with many rooms, secrets, bonuses, but above all ghosts of all types and sizes. In short, there really is something for everyone and then, just to name one, it will be discovered that behind the kidnapping of Mario there are good old Boos led by their King who is really tired of always being beaten by the plumber in red. But we will talk about this in more detail shortly.
Be that as it may, our mission will be to save Mario who has been kidnapped by the Boos (sorry Princess Peach) and catch as many ghosts and Boo (in total there are) 50 so best wishes to find them all) possible. Furthermore, we must not forget that the exploration, even if in this case it is more “restricted”, will play a fundamental role since it will be necessary to find all the other ghosts and other ectoplasmic presences that haunt the villa.
Catch them all Luigi! – Retrogaming: Luigi’s Mansion
However, another small note must be inserted! It is indeed necessary look for and retrieve some objects dropped by Mario, like a shoe or a letter for example, to give them to the seer ghost which will give us some more clues to understand where our brother has gone. But how exactly do you catch these ghosts? Let’s start with the general concept. Timing and surprise are very important since, with a quick shot, it will be necessary to illuminate them with the torch and then, once the heart appears, give us Poltergust 3000 trying to always pull in the opposite direction to the one in which they are running away. Beware that some of them will drop mushrooms that will make you shrink or will head towards obstacles to interrupt the flow (the mentions to Ghostbusters are wasted).
You will find plenty of ghosts and all divided by type of skill, some will throw bombs, others will grab you from behind, others will come looking for you and still others are present in the form of annoying mice and bats in ectoplasmic version. But not all ghosts are so bad as, as you progress with the game, you will also be able to capture the spirits of water, fire and ice that will help you solve puzzles, unlock bonuses (here present in the form of precious stones, gold bars , coins and banknotes) e battere i boss.
These deserve to be discovered because they are extremely crazy and different from each other, there are a pair of nasty twins, a melancholy butler, a creepy musician and so on, and as you go on it will be more and more difficult to capture them. After a while, however, your Poltergest 3000 will fill up and you will need to go back to Professor Strambic to “unload” it and transform your prey into paintings for his personal art gallery. During your entire crossing of the villa, always pay attention to when turn the on and off torch, but most importantly don’t forget to tap on objects to get more bonus points or recover some energy in the form of a heart.
Small colorful note. With the same action button, when there is no object to move, our hero in green will perform funny exclamations which, as a basis, will always have a sort of Mario declination. He will also be himself a humming the game soundtrack nervously which, apparently, is the result of the collaboration between Kazumi Totaka e Shinobu Tanaka who have also worked on other games such as various chapters of Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy.
The characters of our story – Retrogaming: Luigi’s Mansion
I would say that we know more than enough about our hero and the other “little ghosts” while, so as not to spoil the flavor of this little horror adventure, we will leave you the pleasure of catching the mid boss ghosts. But not just ghosts! In fact, along our entire path, it will not be difficult at all to come across gods more than terrified Toad to be rescued which, in fact, will allow us to save the game. Just remember where you met them and watch out for false door (they will squash you along the wall) or to the mirrors (they will teleport you directly to the entrance).
The Professor Strambic, on the other hand, in addition to directing us a minimum in research and providing us with good advice, he will always be ready to update us throughout our little home adventure and to transform the captured ghosts into paintings to put in his art gallery. Some just collect stamps, but they are tastes! With i Boo, on the other hand, it is a whole other story. All gifted with a name that is a play on words (some are quite cringe to be honest) have unmatched stamina and energy. They also play really dirty and hide in the various rooms so, watch out for the indicator on the Game Boy Horror and get ready to return often to the environments you have already visited.
And now, by popular demand, a little spoiler moment! Even if we are talking about Mario’s “loser brother” it is thought that, especially after hearing some characters speak, the culprit par excellence is the evil dragon Bowser. But no! It is in fact King Boo who disguised himself as Bowser and, with a quote worthy of the best Jabba the Hutt referring to one Han Solo put under graphite, it shows us how he locked Mario in a painting and he likes it where it is! In any case, guess who will have to change his mind …
The legacy of the brand today – Retrogaming: Luigi’s Mansion
From the “distant” 2001 until today, 2021 almost 2022, 20 years have now passed and this title is still there that shines in the catalog of must-see games to be recovered on GameCube, but not only! Indeed the series saw a remake of the first chapter and a second sequel its Nintendo 3DS (not bad to have ghosts in your pocket) while the third episode landed on Nintendo Switch. At this point we could say that we are fine, but even in this case it is a mistake.
The fright trilogy was in fact mentioned both in the set version of LEGO and in other video games including Mario Kart Live Home Circuit in the form of a kart like Polturget 3000, Nintendo Land for Wii U where one of the playable levels was precisely the haunted villa and then even in the games room in the form of a cabinet, in a vague Time Crisis style, which the “historic rival” SEGA also took part in its creation.
Final considerations (and scares)
Arrived at …