Luigi's Mansion

Luigi's Mansion was a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube, released in November of 2001. It also marks the second time where Luigi is the main character, with Mario playing a supporting role. Professor E. Gadd is also introduced in this game.

Storyline
Luigi had always been accustomed to Mario being in the spotlight for a long time. That's why he's surprised when he wins a free mansion in a contest he didn't even enter! Letting Mario enter first to check it out, Luigi follows behind and enters to find a dark, creepy foyer. Soon an orange spirit drops a key...could it be a ghost? Upon entering the parlor, Luigi finds E. Gadd and three ghosts! Gadd explains that the house appeared just a few days ago and Mario must have been captured by the spirits. With Gadd's Poltergust 3000, Luigi must now take center stage to save his brother!

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 (how he says it depends on Luigi's health). 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 let the ghosts come close, then release 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 you get an Elemental Medal: Fire, Water or Ice.

There is also an option to move Sidestep. In this mode, Luigi won't face in the direction he's moving. To change what he's facing, the player will have to use the C stick.

The Y button brings up the Game Boy Horror.

Portrait Ghosts
In Luigi's exploits, Luigi captures up to twenty-three gallery ghosts (four are optional). These ghosts have 100 HP, but their hearts are not automatically shown like other ghosts: Luigi must find each ghost's Achilles heel when he can suck them up. The following are listed by when they appear in the game:

Area 1

 * Neville, The Bookish Father
 * Lydia, The Mirror-Gazing Mother
 * Chauncey, The Spoiled Baby (First Boss)

Area 2

 * The Floating Whirlindas, The Dancing Couple
 * Shivers, The Wandering Butler
 * Melody Pianissima, The Beautiful Pianist
 * Mr. Luggs, The Glutton (Optional)
 * Spooky, The Hungry Guard Dog
 * Bogmire, The Cemetery Shadow (Second Boss)

Area 3

 * Biff Atlas, The Bodybuilder (Optional)
 * Miss Petunia, The Bathing Beauty
 * Nana, The Scarf Knitting Nanny
 * Slim Bankshot, The Lonely Pool Shark (Optional)
 * Henry and Orville, The Twin Brothers
 * Madame Clairvoya, The Freaky Fortune Teller
 * Boolossus, Jumbo Ghost (Third Boss)

Area 4

 * Uncle Grimmly, Hermit of the Darkness
 * Clockwork Soldiers, The Toy Platoon
 * Sue Pea, The Dozing Girl (Optional)
 * Jarvis, The Jar Collector (Optional)
 * Sir Weston, The Chilly Climber
 * Vincent Van Gore, The Starving Artist
 * King Boo (Final Boss)

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 Stone - 500,000G
 * Green Stone - 800,000G
 * Red Stone - 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

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 you 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!).

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 your total money on the bottom-left corner. The message will be "Welcome to Luigi's NEW Mansion!" unless indicated:


 * Rank A: Finish the game with 100,000,001G +. 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: The mansion disappeared with no trace! (Just a tent)

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 (EU and Australia) increased the number of changes for the Hidden Mansion than the NTSC (Japan and US, the first to come out with the game) version:


 * The PAL Hidden Mansion is mirrored from the Normal Mansion. The NTSC version keeps the layout the same.
 * There are more ghosts to capture in the PAL version. Bosses are harder.
 * Rooms are much darker in the PAL version.
 * Boos have more HP in the PAL version.
 * Fewer hearts.
 * Rank A is acheived at 150,000,000G in the PAL version, an ultimate challenge.
 * Possibly (not confirmed) up to five times more power for the Poltergust in the PAL version.

Too bad these changes weren't implied in the NTSC version, where the Hidden Mansion would have been more interesting to complete.

Trivia

 * The max amount of money in the NTSC version is 142,390,000G. The minimum amount is 5,000G, only (automatically) collecting King Boo's crown.