Hey all! Tish here, resident non-gamer. This week I wanted to share one of my recent favorite games with you all. If you’ve been in-store lately, you’ve probably heard me recommend it. I might be a little obsessed.
When I heard this game was coming out, I actually sat down and tried to play the original on GameCube, but I really struggled. I really am not a gamer, I didn’t grow up playing anything other than Tetris on a GameBoy Color. The first couple sections of the mansion were managable, but I struggled with the difficulty and some of the puzzles were just discouraging.
CJ and I played the new one together, with some help from our CEO. The co-op feature with Luigi and Gooigi (Slime Luigi, as we call him around here), made it really, really fun for me. I tend to prefer playing with someone rather than alone. The controls were easy to learn, and each level had some slightly different mechanic or puzzle to figure out.
I primarily played as Gooigi (player 2), basically a green Flubber version of Luigi. Because of his Jello-like body, Gooigi can only interact with certain objects: he can’t do ladders or open doors. He also dissolves if he gets wet. But he can go through grates and pipes into areas that Luigi can’t access. The complexity of this mechanic made using Gooigi necessary (even if you are just playing single player, you have an option to control him, and will need him to beat certain levels.)
The other thing I really loved was the level design. The setting is this huge and haunted hotel that you explore floor by floor. The first few levels are very typical hotel layouts: bedrooms with bathrooms and balconies, a restaurant, the lobby, some shops. But then things start getting crazy: a medieval castle, a natural history museum complete with dinosaur skeletons, an ancient pyramid, a magic show, and more. It was really fun to not know what to expect when you got off the elevator.
I recommend this game more for the long haul than for quick pick up and play. There are some mini-games and an online game where you link up with others and clear random hotel levels. Those are okay, but not really my style. If you are looking for a game to play with a friend, significant other, or with a younger child, come on in and give Luigi’s Mansion a try.
Here is some footage of us playing together.
