Luigi’s Mansion 3 Isn’t Just A Haunted Mansion Ride, It’s the Whole Damn Park
For many gamers, the idea of a Nintendo theme park is a dream come true. Real life Mario Kart? Exploring the Mushroom Kingdom? A terrifying Bowser’s castle? Mamma Mia!
That dream is soon to become a reality at Universal Studios Japan, with the opening of Super Nintendo World in 2020, followed by more parks in Hollywood, Orlando and Singapore.
The thing is, we already have a Nintendo theme park in virtual form. Luigi’s Mansion 3 is an absolute thrill ride of a video game. Not just the haunted house ride, but the whole damn park.
A sequel to the Gamecube original released in 2001 that was a short but sweet adventure inside a haunted mansion, Luigi’s Mansion 3 gives us a whole hotel’s worth of levels to explore and secrets to find. Yes, the premise is essentially the same: defeat King Boo and save your friends who have been trapped inside paintings, by hilariously sucking up ghosts with a vacuum cleaner. But to do so, you must collect the missing lift buttons that provide access to each floor of the hotel.
What begins with typical Art Deco hotel facilities – bedrooms, bathrooms, restaurants – soon develops into a bizarre haunted fantasy. And it’s hear that Nintendo’s designers get creative.
There’s an overgrown garden, seemingly inspired by Little Shop of Horrors. There’s a medieval castle level, complete with jousting knight boss. There’s a pirate ship in the ocean, an Egyptian pyramid, and a basement plumbing facility in a nod to the Mario Bros’ origins. Best of all is a movie set level that features an intricate multi-room puzzle and a hilarious Godzilla-inspired climactic battle.
All of this in a hotel? That’s right. Each floor works like a theme park area with its own puzzles, ghosts and bosses to defeat. Half the fun of the game is reaching a new floor just to see what crazy ideas Nintendo will come up with next, each inspiring the same awe and amazement as a kid in Disneyland.
It’s also a game about a man and his (ghost)dog. Luigi is joined on this hotel adventure by Polterpup, first introduced in the 3DS sequel Dark Moon (2013). A loyal companion, he leads the way through the hotel, popping up in unlikely places to offer hints, and saving the day with a hearty lick should Luigi lose his health. You can even pet the dog. How, when he’s a ghost? Don’t ask.
It also cements the fact that dogs are better than cats. Where Polterpup is a trusty friend, Polterkitty is the biggest setback to your enjoyment of the game, forcing you to needlessly backtrack as you chase the evil, three-tailed little thief. I hate her. Don’t @ me.
Polterpup is a testament to Nintendo’s animators. Despite being a ghost (with no ears!), his big eyes, lolling tongue, wagging tail and love for belly rubs make him an adorable and mischievous little sidekick. Not only is he one of the best video game portrayals of a canine, he’s the heart and soul of Luigi’s Mansion 3 – frightening, cute and hilarious in equal measure. A very good boy indeed.
That goes for Luigi himself too. His terrified, shivering facial expressions, his waddle as he runs, the way he exits the lift on each floor in a different manner that gradually becomes braver. It’s a masterful job by Nintendo that rivals the best of Pixar. The opening alone is a cute short: almost entirely wordless, it depicts Luigi, Polterpup and the gang arriving at the hotel for a well-earned vacation. From the Toad driving the bus and Mario’s jumps, to Luigi and Polterpup’s companionship and his little “oohs” and “aahs”, it’s a stunning piece of visual storytelling buoyed by slapstick humour.
And like the best Nintendo releases, it’s a game where simply moving around is fun. Few items are as satisfying to use as the Poltergust G-00 – I defy anyone to play this game without pointing the vacuum in every corner and sucking up every bit of junk and detritus you can see. Who knew video games could make vacuuming so fun? There’s also that room in the garden level where you suck up a saw blade and proceed to destroy everything around you, which is immensely pleasurable.
The Year of Luigi was back in 2013, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Luigi’s debut in Mario Bros., but 2019 was the year Luigi was cemented in our hearts as Nintendo’s most endearing character. He may be fierce on the racing track, but watching him grow from scaredy-cat to the saviour of his friends is the wholesome journey we needed this year.
