The 'Shroom:Issue LI/Review Corner

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So, this month, I am reviewing a popular spinoff released for the Gamecube in 2001. It was so popular that it has won the Favorite Spinoff award in all four Mario Awards shows. (But will it win a fifth? You can decide here!)  Luigi's Mansion was originally designed for the Nintendo 64 but it was postponed to the Gamecube because the N64 was ending its run as Nintendo's newest console while the game was in development. It is a 3D action-adventure game, something rarely seen in the Mario series. A sequel, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, has been announced for the Nintendo 3DS.

Plot
Luigi receives a mansion, but when he arrives there, he finds that it is haunted. He meets Professor E. Gadd, who gives him a device called the Poltergust 3000 to suck up the ghosts so the professor can turn them into paintings (WTF). Luigi learns that Mario was kidnapped and sets off to rescue him.

Overall, this game has a much darker plot than many of the others in the Mario series. It's still rated E, but it can be a bit scary for younger audiences. Older players welcome the change from chasing fluffy bunnies to catching ghosts.

Gameplay
I like the learning curve for this game. It gets progressively harder at a reasonable rate. While the controls take a bit of time to learn, the early enemies are easy enough that it's not really a problem. The later enemies are tougher to defeat, as you cannot suck them in until you find their weakness. Almost all of the enemies in this game are original, which is a welcome change from many of the other Mario games.

Overall
This is a great game for a number of reasons. It's 3D, it strays away from the main plotline of the Mario series, has a reasonable learning curve and introduces lots of new characters. I give this game a 9.5/10. The one area it could improve would be graphics. If you look carefully, you can tell that this game was originally intended for the N64.

I feel that this game was a great step for Nintendo because it strayed from the traditional Mario series games. By waiting ten years between the original game and a sequel, they aren't overusing the series and using all its potential too quickly. I am looking forward to the sequel and I hope you all are too. See you next month and don't forget to vote in the awards!