Luigi's Mansion

Luigi's Mansion was a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube, released in November of 2001. The game started its developement cycle as a Nintendo 64 title, but the N64 version was eventually canceled near the end of the system's lifecycle. It also marks the second time where Luigi is the main character, with Mario playing a supporting role, the first being Mario is Missing!. Professor E. Gadd and King Boo are also introduced in this game.

The Study of Ghosts
Professor Elvin Gadd, informally known as E. Gadd, had been researching the paranormal from his lab since he was a young man. As a result of his research he discovered methods of capturing and containing previously invincible ghosts. Using the Poltergust 3000, a vacuum-like device, was Gadd's preferred method for capturing ghosts. After capturing them, he was able to use the advanced containment equipment in his lab. The most powerful of these methods was called portrification, made possible through the Ghost Portrificationizer. Portrification locks spirits inside portraits. In his younger years Elvin traveled Mushroom World finding rare or troublesome ghosts to study and add to the Gallery in his lab.

One such spectre was Boolossus, a massive beast formed of many individual Boos. Gadd was able to turn him into a painting. When news of this occurance reached King Boo, the leader of King Boo's Gang set out to exact revenge on the professor. Although he waited many years, King Boo finally attacked the lab, releasing all of the Portrait Ghosts. E. Gadd remained unharmed during this attack. The king then realized that he could exact revenge on two other people who had been fighting against the Boos for years: Mario and Luigi. King Boo created a mansion from thin air next to E. Gadd's lab and sent a message to Luigi, telling him he had won the mansion. One of the portrait ghosts, Vincent Van Gore, began painting small, less powerful ghosts and bringing them to life in order to assist King Boo.

Traveling to the Mansion
One day, Luigi was surprised to receive a message informing him of the results of a contest. The note read, "You've won a huge mansion!" Despite the fact that he had not entered the contest, Luigi was so excited he decided to claim the prize. Calling his brother, Luigi said, "Mario? It's me, Luigi.  I won myself a big mansion!  Meet me there and we'll celebrate, what do you say?"

So, Luigi and Mario set off independently of one another into Boo Woods. Mario arrived at the mansion first, where he was quickly kidnapped by the ghosts. King Boo forced Mario through the Portrificationizer and hung the painting in the Secret Altar deep within the mansion. Having seen Mario enter the mansion, E. Gadd entered with his Poltergust 3000 on his back in order to investigate.

Luigi left for the mansion with only his flashlight and the map that arrived with the message, completely unaware of his brother's fate. Although the map showed a highly idealized version of the mysterious forest, he pressed onward and followed the path shown, which proved to be accurate. Eventually, he arrived at the spot circled on the map, which had an image of a beautiful house. Looking up, he saw his new mansion, a horrifying, menacing building illuminated by two bolts of lightning.

Luigi's Mansion
Gathering his wits about him, Luigi walked through the gate and up the steps of the mansion, shining his light through the door and meekly asking, "Hello?" before entering. Arriving in the Foyer, Luigi found the door on the first floor to be guarded by a strange grate and the two on the second floor to be looked. As he turned to leave, a Gold Ghost appeared, leaving a key for Luigi. Terrified, Luigi used the key to open the second story door to the Parlor. Suddenly, a Gold Ghost appeared in the room and slowly advanced on Luigi, who screamed and fell backwards onto his backside. Suddenly, Professor Elvin Gadd burst out of hiding and began sucking up the ghost with the Poltergust. The ghost resisted, dragging the aging professor around the room before turning around and sending him into a backwards somersault with a punch. Fearful, the ghost disappeared.

As E. Gadd recovered, he and Luigi introduced themselves, but were interrupted by the reappearance of the Ghost with two of his gold comrades, who advanced. Luigi followed E. Gadd at a run back to his lab.

The Plan
Following the professor out of the house, they entered E. Gadd's underground lab, where Luigi introduced himself and his situation. The professor responded, "So your name's Luigi? I think our paths were destined to cross.  Well met, Luigi.  Hmm?  Where's this, you ask?  Why, these cozy quarters are where I do my ghost-studying.  Professor E. Gadd's Ghost research laboratory!  The Lab, if you're of a shortening mind.  You won this mansion in a contest you didn't even enter?  Sounds pretty fishy to me...  So, you believe the mansion actually exists, then... Strange.  I've been living here since I was a lad of twenty or so, and I'll tell you: that mansion appeared just a few days ago!  The spirits have fooled you!  I don't know if it's a dream, an illusion, or what-all, but I surely wouldn't be too happy winning a haunted house!  Now that I get a look at you, I just recalled... A guy with a red hat kind of like yours went up to the mansion without even stopping to chat...and he never returned.  Was he a dream, too?  What? That guy was your brother? Oh no! That's horrible! He wouldn't stand a chance against those ghosts without my help! You have to go after him! Here's the plan: I'll teach you to deal with ghosts so you can rescue your brother, Luigi."

Agreeing, Luigi began his training. Elvin lent him the Poltergust 3000 and the Game Boy Horror, a device with a variety of communication and ghost tracking functions. To catch ghosts, E. Gadd instructed him to shine his flashlight at the ghosts when they came in close, scaring them stiff momentarily. At this point, the ghosts' hearts appear, and Luigi can begin sucking them into the nozzle of the Poltergust. In order to win the tug-of-war that follows a ghost being pulled in by the slipstream, Luigi would have to wear out the ghost by swinging it around until its energy, or HP, depleted. At this point the ghost would be pulled effortlessly into the vacuum. To test Luigi on the concept, E. Gadd placed Luigi in an enclosed room where he slowly released ten of his captured Gold Ghosts from their prison. Luigi saw that ghosts had methods of fighting back beyond running away, and would attack him if he did not petrify them with his light fast enough. After this, E. Gadd allowed Luigi to view his Gallery before sending him on his way towards the ominous mansion.

Area 1
Luigi stepped from the lab, shaking and shivering with every pace as E. Gadd waved encouragingly. When he arrived at the front door of the mansion, he cautiously opened the door and entered the Foyer. To his surprise, he found one of Princess Peach's Toads sitting on the floor crying, "Boo hoo hoo! Where did you go, Mario?  Waaaaaah! Wah!" Luigi walked forward, and recognizing him, the Toad stood up, relieved and cheerful. "Huh? Luigi?  Waa... Wow!  It's Luigi!  You finally made it!  Oh, joy!  Thank goodness!  Me?  Well, Princess Peach asked me to come here to look for Mario.  He left when he heard that you'd won a mansion, and he never returned!  Th...then when I arrived here, the mansion was full of ghosts and I didn't see Mario anywhere, and I kind of freaked out a little, and I didn't know what to do!!  It's been awful!  Please, please, please, you HAVE to help me find Mario!  If he doesn't get back, you have no idea how upset the princess will be!  She'll flip!"

With enthusiasm, Luigi responded, "Leave it to me!"

The Toad exclaimed, "Yay! Thanks, Luigi!  You made my dark and stormy night!" when the electric lights in the room suddenly turned on. "I wish I could do something to help you... Talk to me for help anytime!"

Luigi again found the Parlor to be the only unlocked room, so he entered it again. When no ghosts jumped out at him, Luigi began to explore with his Poltergust 3000, snuffing out the six purple flames coming from the candles in the process. With the room pitch-black, the portraits surrounding Luigi began to shake and emit voices.

Controls
Luigi's Mansion has some interesting controls that shaped the Nintendo GameCube controller (according to interviews in the Nintendo Players' Guide) The Poltergust 3000 is controlled by pressing and holding the R button. When the ghost(s) are being sucked, the player must tug the control stick in the opposite direction of the nozzle to take away HP. The player can move only the Poltergust but not Luigi with the C stick, most helpful in capturing the sneaky Boos.

The A button examines objects or makes Luigi call out for Mario (he'll sound increasingly distressed as his health goes down). The B button controls Luigi's flashlight in dark areas. Ghosts are naturally afraid of the light, and will freeze for a short time when Luigi points the flashlight at them. The trick to capturing ghosts is holding the B button to turn off the flashlight, then allowing the ghosts to come close, then releasing B. The ghosts stop right in front of the Poltergust, where the player can now suck them up with R. Finally, the L button emits an element once an Elemental Medal is collected. The X, Y, and Z buttons bring up the Game Boy Horror's different modes.

There is also the option to switch the control stick to either "standard" or "sidestep" mode. In standard mode, Luigi will turn to face a direction before walking in that direction. In sidestep mode, Luigi won't turn to face a direction before walking that way. In both modes, the c-stick is then used to change the direction he's facing manually. No matter what mode the player chooses, Luigi uses sidestep mode controls while vacuuming.

Portrait Ghosts
In Luigi's exploits, Luigi captures up to twenty-three gallery ghosts (four are optional). These ghosts (excluding the final boss), have 100 HP, but their hearts are not automatically shown like other ghosts: Luigi must find each ghost's weakness before he can suck them up. The following are listed in order of appearance appear in the game:

Area Two
Note: Although Madame Clairvoya first meets Luigi in Area Two, he captures her after he begins Area Three.

The Boos


There are fifty Boos that hide in the various rooms of the mansion. Thirty-five of these are named to differentiate between them, and the remaining fifteen make up the third Boss of the game, Boolossus. The magic of the King Boo's spells increase based on the number of his minions nearby. Because of this, Luigi needed to capture twenty Boos to break the seal designed to block Boolossus from him. After capturing twenty more, the seal separating Luigi from King Boo was broken. If Luigi catches all fifty Boos, he will be rewarded will the extremely valuable Gold Diamond. Each of the Boos' names are puns. For example, "Booigi" is a pun on "Luigi" and "Game Boo" is a nod to the Game Boy.

Common Ghosts

 * Bat
 * Blue Blaze
 * Blue Mouse
 * Blue Twirler
 * Bowling Ghost
 * Ceiling Surprise
 * Flash
 * Flying Fish
 * Garbage Can Ghost
 * Grabbing Ghost
 * Gold Ghost
 * Gold Mouse
 * Mr. Bones
 * Purple Bomber
 * Purple Puncher
 * Shy Guy
 * Spark
 * Speedy Spirit
 * Temper Terror
 * Waiter

Other Spooks

 * Bogmire Shadow
 * Fire Elemental Ghost
 * Ice Elemental Ghost
 * Trapdoor
 * Water Elemental Ghost

The Money

 * Gold Coin - 5,000G
 * Bill - 20,000 G
 * Gold Bar - 100,000G
 * Blue Jewel - 500,000G
 * Green Jewel - 800,000G
 * Red Jewel - 1,000,000G
 * Blue Diamond - 2,000,000G
 * Gold Diamond - 20,000,000G
 * Red Diamond - 5,000G
 * Small Pearl - 50,000G
 * Medium Pearl - 100,000G
 * Big Pearl - 1,000,000G
 * King Boo's Crown - 5,000G

Gallery
Professor E. Gadd had trapped the Portrait Ghosts into paintings during his past ghost adventures and put them for display in his personal gallery--until King Boo released each of them! As Luigi recaptures gallery ghosts, they will be framed in three colors: bronze, silver, or gold. The color depends on how much HP (out of 100 for each non-boss gallery ghost) Luigi sucks in one try, which produce pearls:


 * Bronze. Only small pearls, which Luigi earns one for every 10 HP sucked at once. The portrait ghost itself is poor in quality.
 * Silver. At least one medium pearl, which the ghost gives up for every 50 HP sucked and every 10 after. So for 60, 70, and 80 HP at once, Luigi earns another medium pearl. The portrait ghost is shown in better quality. 90 is reserved for...
 * Gold. The only big pearl possible is given up if Luigi can suck 90 HP in one turn. The quality of the portrait ghost is most often just what it looked like when Luigi captured it.

If Luigi sucks all 100 HP at once, no extra pearl is awarded, but he made capturing a Portrait Ghost a lot easier. The max amount of money to be gained per Portrait Ghost is 1,600,000G: 4 small pearls, 4 medium pearls and 1 big pearl.

Boss gallery ghosts' (Chauncey, Bogmire, Boolossus, and King Boo) frames and quality are determined by how high Luigi's health is after capturing the ghost. Luigi must enter the battle at full health (100) if he wishes to have a chance to receive a gold frame, it won't do if he doesn't take damage but started out at 50 HP (that's a bronze frame). To gain a gold frame Luigi's health must not decline below 90.

Luigi's New Mansion
All the money Luigi collects in his adventure is used to build a new mansion on top of the old one. The more money he collects from treasure rooms, watering plants, catching Portrait Ghosts and examining furniture, the better the mansion will be (it will be a large / small house in the lower ranks). The house will become a painting at the front of the Gallery, with Luigi's total money on the bottom-left corner. The message will be "Welcome to Luigi's NEW Mansion!" unless Luigi achieved Rank A or H. The requirement to achieve Rank A was increased significantly during localization for PAL regions, hence the two values given for Rank A below.


 * Rank A: Finish the game with over 100,000,000G or 150,000,000G. + Message: Congratulations! Your mansion is complete!
 * Rank B: Finish the game with 70,000,001 to 100,000,000G.
 * Rank C: Finish the game with 60,000,001 to 70,000,000G.
 * Rank D: Finish the game with 50,000,001 to 60,000,000G.
 * Rank E: Finish the game with 40,000,001 to 50,000,000G.
 * Rank F: Finish the game with 20,000,001 to 40,000,000G.
 * Rank G: Finish the game with 5,000,001 to 20,000,000G.
 * Rank H: Finish the game with 5,000 to 5,000,000G. + Message: And the Mansion disappeared without a trace...

Oddly enough, it may be considered more difficult to achieve Rank H than Rank A, as Luigi will usually collect more than 5,000,000G without actively trying to get money. Thus, the player must work to avoid money if he or she wishes to achieve rank H.

It should be noted that the Rank A Mansion appears at the side of Luigi Circuit in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Hidden Mansion
Once the player beats the game once, the quest can be tried over again in the normal mansion or the "Hidden Mansion". It is the same gameplay, except for two things: a) Ghosts (including Boos) give double the damage to Luigi, but b) The Poltergust 3000 has 1.5 times more power. This can help get more pearls, which means more money and nicer frames.

PAL Differences
The PAL version of Luigi's Mansion (Europe and Australia) increased the number of changes for the Hidden Mansion than the NTSC (Japan and US, the first countries to get the game) version:


 * The PAL Hidden Mansion is mirrored from left to right when compared to the Normal Mansion. The NTSC version keeps the layout the same.
 * There are more normal ghosts around the mansion.
 * Bosses are harder, having different attacks (Chauncey's rocking horses, for example, are much bigger, and swerve left to right instead of going straight). A major change in the Boolossus battle is that the player rides around on the vacuum cleaner while trying to pop Boolossus, making movement more slippery.
 * Rooms are much darker in the PAL version; this, however, is only as dark as in the NTSC version of both mansions, the normal PAL mansion being lighter.
 * Most Boos have more HP in the PAL version, although some have less.
 * Fewer hearts. Locations that always had hearts in the Normal Mansion no longer have them. Hearts that heal 50 HP no longer exist.
 * Speedy Spirits and Gold Mice always give up a Blue Diamond when caught, raising the maximum possible amount of money from 142,390,000G to 192,390,000G. Since the requirement to achieve a Rank A mansion in PAL regions is higher than the amount of money in the normal mansion, it is necessary to play through the hidden mansion to receive Rank A in those regions.
 * Possibly (not confirmed) up to five times more power for the Poltergust in the PAL version.
 * 45 rather than 40 Boos are required to fight the final boss.
 * Boos are, in general, more agile.

These changes were made after American and Japanese gamers complained that the Hidden Mansion offered virtually no changes. Shigeru Miyamoto himself thought up some things to add to the PAL version's Hidden Mansion. Strangely, most of the changes made seem to make the PAL version harder than the NTSC version.

Quotes
For a full list of quotes, see here.

Trivia

 * Some rooms of this game have cheese in them; this cheese is used to summon Gold Mice. Nintendo published the Rare, Ltd. game Perfect Dark, in which wedges of cheese also appeared.  These were easter eggs rather than elements of gameplay.
 * The ending of this game is similiar to the endings of the Wario Land series; The more treasures collected, the more beautiful the prize at the ending (in this case, the mansion).
 * The start of the music played on the press start screen is a remix of the tune that plays when the game is started in Donkey Kong.
 * If Luigi walks into any dark room the player can hear monsters. Pausing or using the Gameboy Horror in a dark room, one can hear that the monsters are singing the Luigi's Mansion theme song.