Game review 04 July 2024, 03:00

author: Giancarlo Saldana

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD Review: Still Spooky

Luigi is back for another ghost-sucking adventure whether he wants to or not in this sequel that first came out on 3DS back in 2013. Is this remaster worth playing or replaying after all these years?

The review is based on the Switch version.

Since it came out in 2013, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon has been overshadowed by the original game that started it all and introduced us to Luigi’s ghost-busting skills back on the GameCube. Then after Luigi’s Mansion 3 came out, it was even more forgotten as this Switch installment offered even more than the first two combined. As it turns out, the second Luigi’s Mansion has never really gotten the same attention as its other installments—until now, that is.

Updated for Switch, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD ditches its “Dark Moon” subtitle, but it’s essentially the same 3DS adventure with some much-needed visual enhancements. The game still very much feels like a portable entry due in part to how it plays, but there is no denying it offers some fun puzzles and unique environments that make it a thrilling journey for fans and newcomers alike.

New console but same familiar game

Because it started off on the 3DS, the game has a distinct on-the-go format to it that makes it perfect for quick gaming sessions. Instead of the more large-scale environments of the other Luigi’s Mansion titles, this sequel features bite-sized levels with objectives for you to complete before you move on to the next one. This time around, Luigi must help the eccentric Professor E. Gadd restore pieces of the Dark Moon that shattered and has caused all the previously friendly ghosts to go crazy. This means exploring various haunted buildings such as a plant-infested tower, dusty clock factory, and others to find all the missing pieces and vacuum up some rowdy ghosts in the process. Each level can last around 10-15 minutes and has its fair share of exploration, but the more levels you unlock in a particular building the more you get to explore of its rooms and ultimately fight off against a big bad boss at the end.

The story develops as you play as does how much of each building you get to explore. For example, you won’t be able to enter every room of a building in a particular level because the game just wants you to focus on a few rooms. Also, because each level has a specific objective, the professor will warp you back to his bunker each time you finish meaning you can’t explore more than you’d want to after you complete your mission.

You eventually get used to this restrictive aspect of the game, but it still feels frustrating this Switch version didn’t improve things to make the story feel less segmented. While you do learn more about the Dark Moon and other bad ghosts as you play, you always have to go back to the bunker and sit through similar cutscenes after you complete each level. It’s time-consuming but you can thankfully skip the repetitive ones.

Enhancements bring your surroundings to life

Exploring each spooky building, however, is still a blast as the game visually looks better than ever with updated graphics and lighting effects that make all the unique environments simply come alive. It’s not as good as Luigi’s Mansion 3, which was made specifically for Switch, but the visuals are years better than what you could make out on the 3DS’s smaller screens. Plus, you can now notice all the impressive details found in rooms such as bathrooms, offices, and living spaces that look spooky but also appear to have their own story to tell.

The environment also helps in creating the kind of game that balances being part puzzler and part action-adventure since you’ll be exploring rooms with your Poltergust 5000, one minute sucking up curtains to reveal a secret opening and then revealing and capturing mischievous ghosts the next. Each level gives you a score based on how much health you lost, the time it took you to beat it, and how much treasure you found so you can get competitive with yourself to truly perfect each level. There are also hidden Boos out there for you to find and special jewels to discover making each level short and sweet but also highly replayable.

While the game isn’t particularly hard, its finicky controls can make navigating through the various rooms a bit frustrating. With an added stick that the 3DS never had, the game is easier to navigate and explore, but it still feels very much like a clunky 3DS game. These flaws occasionally make aiming difficult as Luigi can’t always get the right angle to flash and stun a ghost or to suck up some treasure that falls on the floor before it disappears. It takes some getting used to, but controls could be better.

Final Thoughts

Besides just completing and perfecting each level, the game also includes a multiplayer ScareScraper mode that adds a touch of local and online co-op to its usual puzzle and ghost-hunting mechanics. It’s a fun escape from the more structured single-player version, but you do need to play more of the main game to unlock the mode in the first place and its subsequent levels. The real replay factor, of course, is nabbing all the treasure in the game and perfecting each level’s score, which can boost the game’s total play time from about 15 hours to however long it takes you to discover everything.

While it may not be perfect or add more to what the original came with, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD lets those who never had a chance to play it experience it in a whole new light. Its bones may still scream 3DS handheld game, but you can appreciate how much went into making the game shine on Switch. Its updated visuals simply add to the fun gameplay and enticing levels of the original that were and still are a joy to play.