Luigi's Mansion (Nintendo GameCube, 2001)

In his 1st starring role, Mario's brother Luigi steps to the forefront..when he learns he has won a mansion...he agrees to meet Mario at the house, but when Luigi arrives at the place the map says, he finds that his mansion is haunted!! And Mario is missing...Armed only with a flashlight and a customized, ghost sucking vacuum cleaner, he must make his way through the mansion, capturing poltergists, solving puzzles and gathering valuable objects...all the while, searching for his missing brother Mario...this game ROCKS!! It is so much fun, (can be played on the Wii also with a gamecube controller)..brilliant special effects make the ghosts and spirits come to life in this fun-filled adventure...highly recommended!!

I purchased this game for myself for the GameCube as I had heard it was a good puzzle solving / adventure game, and Mario & Luigi are classic characters we have enjoyed in the past. I prefer this type of game to racing or 'blow 'em up' games also available. This game is a ton of fun with challenges, puzzles and some very unexpected surprises. Initially I wasn't sure about how appropriate the game was for our seven year old, but there is no gore - just a scared and shaking Luigi who is looking for his brother - trapped in the mansion. After playing for a bit, we saw no problem with it and since the kids were begging to play and we had no objections to the graphics, soon everyone was trying to solve the puzzle.

The game is more difficult as you go, which is great - less of a bore factor. It is not too advanced for the kids, though - they did better in a few areas than I did... shameful to admit! There are also virtually no instructions. There is an initial training session, however afterwards you are pretty much on your own. There are a few clues along the way, but trial and error exposes ghosts and how to 'vacuum' them up (treasure, too!). Instead of being hand-held, both adults and children have to figure things out as they go. Trial and error, and puzzle logic are all tested in a fun way. There are little bits of information that are given to you throughout the game. They are not 'in your face' explanations, just nudges in one direction or another to help with an upcoming ghost or event.

Remember to save your game often! There are prompts to save after each "Boo" you vacuum up, but other times you must seek out the method to save your game at this point.

The only thing that has been frustrating is with a few of the ghosts and some discussions with the Professor (who speaks Japanese, I think!!), some 'conversations' can seem to take FOREVER. If you lose at one of these crucial points, you have to go through the lengthy text explaination all over again. It doesn't happen often, fortunately.

This has been one of our family's favorite GameCube games. I would highly recommend this game for any family member!

We bought this item to use it on our new WII System, but the NEW Wii Systems are not compatible with GameCube games. However, Nintendo's new Wii Systems still adverstise the use of GameCube games....when you start up the system it gives you an option to either play GameCube games or Wii games. Not happy about that! So I wanted to warn others. I ended up buying a GameCube system for my 12 year old on Ebay and solved my problem. The game is fantastic!

My son is crazy about Luigi! A game starring his favorite character is the new house favorite. The best part is that not only is it colorful and fun like all of the Mario Bros games, he finds it challenging as well. Often he asks his older brother for help and they get to play it together.. priceless.

The Basics:
You play Luigi in this game. You discover that you have won a mansion and discover that your brother (Mario) has been captured too. Your job is to get rid of all the ghosts and Boos in the mansion then battle the final boss - "King Boo". You do that through the use of a device that vacuums them up.

My Take:
It plays fairly easy and the hardest one to defeat it the "King Boo" at the end. Game play is done by pressing the right button and using the control stick to vaccum up the monsters. Like I said - easy.
This game is perfect for younger players who have difficulty with other games. Of course, it was designed for the younger player, but for more experienced players it becomes boring very quickly.
The game isn't bad but if you want something more challenging I would reccomend another game.