Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD Preview - I Ain’t Afraid Of No Boo

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, previously known as Dark Moon when it first released on the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo 3DS, has a funny definition of the titular abode, because a bunch of places you explore aren't really mansions. Across the game’s five distinct locations, that are themselves split up into a variety of levels with different objectives, you hoover up the dead from the dusty carpets of abandoned manors to the underground mazes of a forgotten mine. There’s plenty to do in this unexpectedly returning sequel, and most of it is good fun.

It’s a very simple game, never hesitating to hold your hand like the majority of Ninty titles from this era tend to. Instead of his trusty Game Boy Horror, Luigi now carries around a Nintendo DS complete with ‘Dual-Scream’ technology that allows him to contact Professor E. Gadd at any moment, or vice versa, since I swear the grumpy old coot calls me every other second to explain something obvious. Yes, I know my torch can stun ghosts. Yes, I know my hoover can suck them up. Yes, I know all of these ღmansions you’re sending me to without my consent are filled with creatures of the night that can kill me in seconds. Thanks for that...

If You Come Down To The Woods Today...

Luigi’s Mansion 2 wastes absolutely no time throwing you into the thick of things. Given that it first launched on a portable platform, it instead opts for multiple level-based excursions set in the same location instead of allowing you to freely roam them to complete objectives. It takes some getting used to, but there it’s rewarding to dive into a mansion time after time, knowing that you are bound t🌟o unlock new rooms, encounter new𓂃 ghosts, and earn new rewards each time. But it also ruins the mystique of taking your time and never knowing what awaits around the next corner. It also means most levels demand a bit of backtracking.

The remastered visuals are well presented and attractive, but enhancing a portable game like ꦕthis also serves to highlight the lack of detail and personality in many of its tight environments. On the 3DS, these were obscured by blurry textures and jagged edges.

Luigi being chased by a giant plant monster in Luigi's Mansion 2 HD.

You start in the Professor’s hideout, are fed some exposition, and then are swiftly teleported to the level of your choosing. It’s a perfectly amiable system, until you have to repeat all the narrative preamble when replaying a level. I would have loved a free-r✱oam mode of sorts to collect all the optional gemstones and other rewards I might have missed. Either way, the level-based structure here isn’t always working in its favour, and serves to pull you♚ away from a game that is otherwise delightful.

If you played the original Luigi’s Mansion, the general aim of its sequel is quite similar. Our hero is armed with a magical vacuum cleaner that can be used to suck up ghosts and transport them to the Professor’s hideout. Before that, however, you need to stun them with your torch, then pull the thumbstick in a certain direction and avo♏id bumping into obstacles to hoover them up without issue. It isn’t very challenging, but i⛦t’s just precarious enough to make bigger ghosts a triumph to capture. You will often be gated into specific rooms when ghosts show up and forced to eliminate them all before progressing, or figure out exactly where or how they are hiding within the environment.

… You’re In For A Remastered Surprise

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD Preview - Luigi sucking off a big brained ghost

Puzzles can range from𝓡 blowing air into a record player to produce music or making a creaky old rocking chair move on its own accord. When a ghost is found, they will appear before you and engage in a scrap. Luigi might walk around each mansion humming along to pieces of music like a big baby, but he ain’t afraid of no ghost. Or Boo, in this case. Your flashlight is also upgradable, and after a few levels you’ll unlock an attachment that can be used to reveal hidden doorways and objects in the world, giving you a reason to revisit older levels even if you can’t exactly roam them however you like.

I might just be a terrible person with bad taste, but I really dislike Professor♕ E. Gadd. I think we should put him in a home so he stops playing around with ghosts all the time.

There are also plenty of random things to collect, mostly 🃏in the form of coins, notes, and gold bars that burst from opened furniture or sit hidden behind parts of the environment. They are meant to be found by intuitively scooping out each room for clues, or if you’re like me, maybe you can get by simply hoovering in every single direction until something happens. There’s a moreish pleasure to collecting everything in Luigi’s Mansion 2, and doing so also leads to cool upgrades to your hoover and other🗹 abilities that are well worth saving up for.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD feels like a strange addꦉition to the Nintendo Switch library, considering we have already received a third, ultimately superior instalment, but revisiting it and catching ghosts still puts a smile on my face. Time will tell whether that charm can last the full length of the game, but right now, this is a fun return for the supernatural sequel.