Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#14: Luigi's Mansion

Rating: E

Players: 1

Price Range: ~$61 USD

A launch title for the system.

Now this is a system classic and arguably the best game in the subseries.

First of all, it is just a dang good time, one that is simple, but doesn't overstay its welcome.

The simple act of ghost busting with a vacuum cleaner is just such a great premise that fits in with Luigi as a whole to the point that he is arguably the more memorable brother compared to Mario.

Searching the whole place to get treasures and the gameplay physics are just simply superb, with the graphics holding up very well for 2001. Playing with the environment to get coins, bills, and gemstones is just such a great time and really gets you to search through every nook and cranny, with even some hidden, special, speedy ghosts giving you a lot of cash at the cost of easily being lost forever.

Music is also very catchy, with the theme of the Mansion and the credits being really great. The dust and light effects are actually quite impressive for the time as well.

The game is just a vibe, y'know? You can just get on and understand it with the superb controls of the GameCube controller.

There are just so many little things that are very charming, like Luigi's in-game map being on the GameBoy Horror, being able to scan many things with it, and mirrors take you back to the entrance when you scan one. Really cool.

Bosses are...simple, but fine enough for what they are. Chauncey is okay for an introduction boss and Bogmire is...a bit easy. Boolossus is one of the better ones, as you have to vacuum the massive Boo a bunch of little ones have conjoined into to pop it on a unicorn statue and freeze them with the ice element to suck them up before you do it again, with the Boos running away once they are in low numbers. The fight against King Boo in a Bowser suit is also a bit uncanny and really good, even if it is clear that it isn't the actual Bowser.

And now, let's talk about some things that could be considered problems.

The clearest one would be the game's length, which is pitifully short for its price today. You can beat the game within only a few hours in a single sitting provided you have some knowledge of what to do.

This is both a good and a bad thing, as while the game's runtime is shockingly short, it does prevent the game from overstaying its welcome and it makes it a great one and done deal when you just want to have a playthrough and have some time to kill in an afternoon.

This would be mitigated by the replay value, which the game unfortunately has very little of.

Outside of getting the A Rank Mansion from all your money and getting the gold frames and best pictures of the portrait ghosts by vacuuming them very quickly when you encounter them, there isn't really anything to do except the the main game. If you get most of the gemstones and get the two gold diamonds from capturing all fifty Boos and watering a plant after the end of each of the "Chapters" ended by boss fights outside of the kitchen, and some rummaging around the mansion, you should get it, which is rather easy if you are very experienced on the game.

Speaking of Boos, they are okay in concept, but they quickly drag on your nerves by the end of the game. You see, in every lit room, they hide in one of its objects. However, the problem is vacuuming them up, as some of the later ones have absurdly high hitpoints, upwards of about three hundred, which is just ridiculous. It doesn't help that they can escape and go to either a hallway or even another room. While the Boos with fewer hitpoints don't have this issue, the ones in the higher floors and the basement are genuinely irritating as it drags you back and forth between rooms, some of which aren't even accessible yet or having a door somewhere else.

If it goes out of a wall that is outside of the mansion, where does it go? Who knows? Even if I did know, it isn't very clear to the player where they go once they exit the mansion through one of the outer walls.

Also, calling this game a Metroidvania is completely ridiculous as it doesn't even qualify as one. You are railroaded pretty much the entire game, with your only choices being the optional rooms with Boos, which Boos you collect, and treasure hunting. That's it.

And then there is my other observation, the Hidden Mansion.

Beating the game once gives you access to the Hidden Mansion, which, much to my detriment, is arguably worse in the States than it is in Europe. You see, the Hidden Mansion in the U.S. is the same exact game except that enemies deal twice the amount of damage, and the Poltergust does 1.5x damage, and that's it. All of the core issues are pretty much still present.

The only reason why I choose it over the normal Mansion is because the game goes by faster, and nothing more, which is incredibly disappointing.

Sure, it is the most speedrunable version of the game, but that is all unfortunately.

The PAL Hidden Mansion has a mirrored layout, some different boss patterns and attacks, different enemies in rooms compared to the normal Mansion, treasure ghosts and mice giving diamonds, and darker rooms, and increased enemy health among other things.

Well, at least you arguably have the better Hidden Mansion DragonsDwelling...

Oh, and don't even consider the 3DS "remake". Not only is the system essentially dead, but there is absolutely no reason why you should play the "remake". Sure, graphically it is improved and multiplayer is a good concept, even if story-wise it doesn't make the most sense, but the game is arguably worse than the original. The game's framerate is hilariously bad with another player, with Download Play taking ages and requiring another copy of the game to play co-op in the Mansion, which is just laughably poor on their part, and while the Hidden Mansion has many elements from the PAL Hidden Mansion, which is good in theory, is ruined by the fact that enemies don't drop hearts anymore. The only way you can heal is to drop $13+ on lifeless pieces of plastic to use what is known as an amibo, save and then die to respawn to get full health, or capture multiple ghosts at once, which is much harder than it may seem, especially since much more powerful ghosts in ludicrously high numbers appear earlier. Also, the controls are just whack since you need either a New 3DS or a Circle Pad Pro to have any semblance of the original timeless controls, which is just a scam. The 3DS Hidden Mansion also increases enemy health by 50%, including Boos who already had hitpoints of three-hundred, meaning that people in the Hidden Mansion has to go through the optional rooms to avoid this since forty-five are required to beat the game, defeating the whole purpose of them being "optional". Just an underwhelming version of the game all things considered.

I recommend the original the whole way through though.

Overall, Luigi's Mansion is a GameCube classic that has aged quite well and is one of those games you can just pop in, sit down, and beat in a day and feel satisfaction from such a unique game. While Dark Moon has more mechanical complexity, albeit with a mission structure that is a mixed bag, and 3 retains that design creativity with the most content, the simplicity of the original is simply great. However, I will say that the price point and the amount of content leaves a lot to be desired despite how fun and iconic the game is.