Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, known internationally as Luigi's Mansion 2 (ルイージマンション2 Ruīji Manshon 2, lit. Luigi Mansion 2), is a Nintendo 3DS game that serves as the sequel to Luigi's Mansion, a Nintendo GameCube launch title. The game was released on March 20th in Japan, and North America on March 24, and will be released in Europe and Australia on the March 28, 2013, but on March 27 in other selected countries in Europe. The game is also being planned for release in Hong Kong.

Story
Professor E. Gadd has been researching ghosts in Evershade Valley, with some assistance from his friendly Greenies. When King Boo appears and shatters the Dark Moon, breaking it into six pieces and scattering them to each Mansion of the valley, the once friendly ghosts become aggressive.

Luigi, who is at home sleeping with his TV on, wakes up when E. Gadd suddenly appears on his TV screen. He informs Luigi about the situation and asks for his assistance. E. Gadd uses his Pixelator to teleport Luigi through the screen, much to Luigi's objection, into E. Gadd's Safe Room in the Evershade Valley to search for the scattered pieces of the Dark Moon and solve this problem.

After Luigi obtains four of the Dark Moon's five shattered pieces, King Boo appears and captures Luigi as he's pulled in to another dimension. He then reveals that his brother, Mario has been captured and put in a painting once again. King Boo is willing to trade Mario for the Dark Moon pieces which King Boo wants in order to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi refuses and battles him again. He succeeds and returns to his dimension. Mario is freed by Luigi's Dark Light. Luigi and the Toads then rebuild the Dark Moon. The ghosts in Evershade Valley are nice again. A Greenie takes a photo of Luigi and his allies, then Luigi says goodbye to Professor E. Gadd. Luigi is then seen hanging the picture on his wall, and a Polterpup comes and sits on him.

Gameplay
In this game, the Dark Moon has shattered and Luigi needs to find the Dark Moon pieces. So far six mansions have been confirmed (with one mansion being exclusive to multiplayer mode), which will each have multiple missions in them. This game also introduces the Poltergust 5000, an upgrade to the 3000 model. Shining light via flashlight is no longer sufficient to stun all the ghosts in the game; players now need to activate the Strobulb to stun ghosts. Luigi is also now able to jump while capturing a ghost to dodge incoming projectiles. The Flash Light has another feature called Dark-Light, which will shine a rainbow colored light to find things such as the path of Boos or invisible objects. Luigi will also be given the Dual Scream, which is an original Nintendo DS. It will act the same way as the Game Boy Horror and will display a map on the 3DS's bottom screen. Cash and gems help with the mission score, as well as with upgrades to the Poltergust 5000. There is also an "extra life" system. The Gold Dog Bones will serve as extra lives; this will cause a Polterpup to take the bone and revive Luigi just by licking his face when Luigi loses all of his HP. Luigi can still yell using the D-pad, as well as hum with the music if standing still for a while. The various Toads that are trapped in paintings each have a different phobia which requires more problem solving. There is a Boo in each mission that when captured works towards additional missions. The game is said to be a lot more puzzle-oriented.

ScareScraper
Unlike its predecessor, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon includes a multiplayer mode called the ScareScraper (known as Thrill Tower in European and Australian versions), a series of floors where up to four players can play. The ScareScraper can be set to have 5, 10, 25, or infinite rooms. There are also three difficulty settings: normal, hard, and expert. The game mode is compatible with both local multiplayer and online multiplayer. There are at least four modes confirmed, including:
 * Hunter Mode - Players will need to capture all the ghosts in order to advance to the next floor.
 * Rush Mode - Players will need to reach the hatch within the allotted time.
 * Polterpup Mode - Players will need to chase down and capture all the Polterpups.
 * Surprise Mode - A combination of Hunter, Rush, and Polterpup modes.

Protagonists

 * Luigi

Supporting

 * Professor E. Gadd
 * Toad
 * Toads
 * Mario

Species

 * Boos
 * Ghosts
 * Polterpups

Locations
Unlike the first game, where there was only one mansion, Dark Moon features different themed mansions that Luigi can explore, thanks to E. Gadd's Pixelator teleport system. The game has six mansions in total (one mansion is exclusive to Multiplayer), each with a theme in a similar fashion to the mainstream Mario games, as well as a various number of missions within each mansion.

Mansions

 * Gloomy Manor - A standard mansion similar to the mansion in the first game. (Plains)
 * Haunted Towers A greenhouse mansion built around a giant tree. (Forest)
 * Old Clockworks - A clockwork mansion in a desert environment. (Desert)
 * Secret Mine - A snowy mansion built near a abandoned mine. (Snow)
 * Odoro Palace (オドロ～宮殿, Odoro ~ kyūden) - The fifth and longest mansion in the game, where King Boo resides in, it has a museum themed style where it contains parts of Gloomy Manor, Haunted Towers, Old Clockworks and Secret Mine on the 1st floor.

Other

 * ScareScraper (Thrill Tower in European and Australian versions) - A Multiplayer-exclusive mansion.
 * Safe Room - E. Gadd's Lab.

Items and Treasures

 * Coins
 * Bills
 * Treasure Chests
 * Keys
 * Gold Bars
 * Hearts
 * Dark Moon pieces
 * Gold Dog Bones. They will serve as extra lives and a Polterpup will take one and revive Luigi when his HP is depleted.
 * "New Amethyst"
 * "New Sapphire"
 * "New Star Gem" Found in Gloomy Manors fish tank.
 * "New Triangle Gem" found in Old Clockworks.

Enemies
(Some Ghosts have sunglasses which protect them from the strobe light. The sunglasses must be vacuumed before capture.)
 * Greenie (ルノーマ, Runōma) - A green ghost with 10 HP. (May appear in different forms. Examples are, one has a pan on its head and is holding a rolling pin and others may appear with sunglasses)
 * Slammer (ルブリー, Ruburī) - A red, burly ghost with 30 HP.
 * Hider (ルハイド, Ruhaido) - A slim blue ghost with 15 HP. It will throw anything it can find at Luigi.
 * Gobber (ルゴーバ, Rugōma) - An obese yellow ghost with 100 HP. It will spit paranormal goo at Luigi, and if Luigi gets too close to it, it will body slam Luigi.
 * Super Greenie (スーパールノーマ, Sūpārunōma) - A green ghost with white stripes across it's body, it has 30 HP. A more powerful version of a Greenie.
 * Super Slammer (スーパールブリー, Sūpāruburī) - A red, burly ghost with white stripes across it's body, it has 140 HP. A more powerful version of a Slammer.
 * Super Hider (スーパールハイド, Sūpāruhaido) - A slim blue ghost with white stripes across it's body, it has 45 HP. A more powerful version of a Hider.
 * Super Gobber (スーパールゴーバ, Sūpārugōma) - An obese yellow ghost with white stripes across it's body, it has 300 HP. A more powerful version of a Gobber, it will spit paranormal goo at Luigi and body slam Luigi if he gets too close, just like any ordinary Gobber will do.
 * Trapdoor
 * Boos
 * Polterpups - White ghost dogs. One will revive Luigi, if his HP is depleted, and take one Gold Dog Bone from Luigi, if any at all. Some also appear as enemies in Scarescraper.
 * Mummy-like ghosts which rise from the ground and attack Luigi by charging into him, when it hits a wall it falls onto it's back, pull on the bandage to uncover it. When uncovered, they are just a Greenie in disguise.
 * Suits of armor which attack with their swords, maces or spears if Luigi goes near them, some can be defeated by sucking up the carpet while they are on them to trip them over and uncover them. They are a Greenie in disguise, but many of them including the ones in the first corridor of the Gloomy Manor cannot be uncovered since they stay put in their positions.
 * Rich Greenie (リッチルノーマ, Ritchirunōma) - A gold ghost, which is the golden version of a Greenie. This ghost is hidden in furniture or objects and will spring out at Luigi when he shakes the furniture or object and then will run away in the same manner as Speedy Spirits from Luigi's Mansion. In the E3 2012 Demo, some appear to be playing hockey then attacking Luigi and one is found in a mirror, which are both not found in the final version of the game. Yields a large amount of money when vacuumed in similar to Gold Mice and Speedy Spirits.
 * Spiders (red, gold, purple, and brown) - When using the strobe on Spiders, they will yield out a coin or bill. However a Gold Spider will yield a Gold Bar, but Gold Spiders do disappear after a short while and often appear when Luigi shakes certain furniture.
 * Bats (Black or Gold) - Black Bats will circle around Luigi and attack him if he activates his Poltergust 5000, using the strobe may make them drop a bill or nothing at all, they sometimes are hidden inside furniture. Gold Bats on the other hand will fly in a certain direction before disappearing for good, they will yield 5 bills if the strobe is used on them.
 * Crows (Purple or Gold) - Purple Crows will swoop down on Luigi and attack him if he goes near one, using the strobe on them may make them drop a bill or nothing at all. Gold Crows will fly in a certain direction before disappearing, when the strobe is used on one, it will drop 5 bills
 * Mice (Gray or Gold) - One Gray Mouse first appeared at the entrance of the Gloomy Manor holding the key to the door of the mansion, which Luigi had to chase the Mouse to grab to snatch the key from it. Mice can appear in corridors or rooms inside a mansion from small holes in the wall, the gray ones will often run around inside a room. Gold ones can appear after either walking to a certain location in the room or by defeating all the gray mice coming out from their holes, Gold Mice will drop a Gold Bar when the strobe is used on one.
 * Gates that are similar to the vines that block doors from the original Luigi's Mansion. Unlike the vines, though, the gates block not just doors but also paths like the middle of a stairway.
 * Robotic-like bombs. Can be activated and deactivated by the strobe light
 * Carnivorous plants that resembles Venus flytraps.
 * Purple gelatinous ghosts that can engulf Luigi inside. It has infinite HP.
 * Pink ghosts that will sneak up behind Luigi.
 * Beds that will jump and change their place.
 * A ghost that stays invisible to Luigi, requiring him to locate it by watching for moving objects.
 * Gold versions of the robotic bombs.
 * Spirit Ball

Bosses

 * A giant, purple spider which is possessed by Unos (ウーノス, Ūnosu) the White Horned Ghost, that has multiple layers of "skin", each a different color. First layer is white, second is yellow, and the last is reddish-pink. (Gloomy Manor)
 * Stairs that are possessed by Torres (トーレス, Tōresu) the White Horned Ghost. (Haunted Towers)
 * A clock possessed by Douhet (ドゥーエ, Do~ūe) the White Horned Ghost. (Old Clockworks)
 * Big Monster of ice possessed by the White Horned Ghost (Secret Mine)
 * A Big Boo who resembles Boolossus in battle style.
 * Knights and Giga Knight possessed by White Horned Ghosts
 * King Boo

Sub Bosses

 * Poltergeist (Gloomy Manor)
 * The Three Sisters : Jīti (ジーティ) the fat purple one, Nōti (ノーティ) the small yellow one and Rēti (レーティ) the slim light-green one. (Haunted Towers)
 * Blue Poltergeist (Old Clockworks)
 * A Super Greenie, Super Slammer, Super Hider and a Super Gobber (Secret Mine)
 * Super Poltergeist (Odoro Palace)

Nintendo eShop Description
''This action-filled follow-up to the original Luigi's Mansion for the Nintendo GameCube launches for the Nintendo 3DS this holiday. Players can expect more haunted mansions to explore and new ways for Luigi to take on a wild assortment of ghosts in this new adventure. In addition to using the strobe function of his flashlight to stun ghosts, Luigi must solve various puzzles and reveal hidden details in the environment to unlock new areas in the mansions.''

References to Other Games

 * Luigi's Mansion: The map featured in the this game can be seen behind him on the wall during the opening. Luigi's house bears a strong resemblance to the Rank D Mansion from the ending. In the first Mansion, Luigi opens the main door and says "...Hello?" in a scared voice. This is a tribute to the first game's opening sequence. The Toads trapped in paintings is very similar to Mario's situation from Luigi's Mansion; Mario himself is again trapped in a portrait.
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: The Safe Room is shaped like E. Gadd's head on the outside, much like his lab on Thwomp Volcano.
 * Mario Strikers Charged: In the 3DS Software Showcase at E3 2012 trailer, an arrangement of pause menu BGM of Mario Strikers Charged is heard at the last elevator scene. Both games were developed by Next Level Games.

Trivia

 * The game features some references and Easter Eggs, most of which appear in the intro sequence:
 * There is a trophy over the fireplace which has a plunger and a wrench on it, suggesting that Luigi does work as a plumber from time to time.
 * The scene when Luigi inspects his TV is a reference to a scene in the movie Poltergeist.
 * This is one of the rare Nintendo games that is not scheduled for a Friday release in Europe. The game is scheduled for release on Thursday, March 28, 2013, because Friday, March 29, 2013 is Good Friday. In some European countries, the game is released on March 27, 2013.
 * For a limited time, players in Europe can purchase the retail version of the game with a glow-in-the-dark cover, and a Boo stress ball as a pre-order bonus.
 * Luigi keeps his flashlight out even in a lit room, unlike in the previous game.
 * A Swapnote message regarding this game was sent by Shigeru Miyamoto prior to the game's release. According to the note, the Polterpup is Miyamoto's favorite ghost in the game.

Official Sites

 * Japanese website
 * North American website
 * European website
 * Australian website

Videos

 * E3 2011 Trailer
 * New Luigi's Mansion 2 gameplay
 * Luigi's Mansion 2 TGS Trailer
 * Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon Gameplay
 * Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon Overview Trailer
 * Luigi's Mansion 2 Commercial (Japanese)
 * Luigi's Mansion 2 Commercial (European)
 * Final Boss Battle + Ending