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GAMING FEATURE

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Ghost -erm, guest - appearances… From characters to settings, Luigi’s Mansion has spread its tendrils into several other Nintendo games since it first arrived, including

This time out our guy wasn’t restricted to one haunted mansion, there were five in Evershade Valley to conquer. To this end, Luigi was aided by an updated Poltergust 5000, which also helped

the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. series, as well as many of the Mario sports outings.

in solving the many puzzles

that abounded. This was necessary, as King Boo escaped his painting prison and shattered the Dark Moon, which had kept the ghosts of the area in a chilled-out state. With spooky mansion mayhem busting loose, Luigi had to suck it up and get his Ghostbuster on to find the five chunks of the Dark Moon to restore peace to the valley. He was helped by further upgraded tech from the good professor, and while going about his business was also tasked with rescuing numerous Toad helpers. Cooperative multiplayer joined the world of Luigi’s Mansion in this sequel, which is reborn this month on the Switch as Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD .

Mario’s little bro Luigi may usually play second fiddle to Nintendo’s superstar tradie mascot, but in the Luigi’s Mansion games, it’s all about him – and ghosts! With an HD Switch update of Luigi’s Mansion 2 set to spook up our lives this month, let’s take a look back at the series. We ain’t afraid of no ghosts! Words Amy Flower LUIGI THE LEAN GREEN GHOSTBUSTING MACHINE!

Haunted house! It was May of 2002 when Australian GameCube players finally got to dip their toes in the original Luigi’s Mansion , which had started life as a GameCube tech demo. The action adventure was a launch title, and the first main

Game Boy based comms device. Mario must be found, so it’s time to explore the four main areas of the residence, taking on all of the spectres that the dastardly big daddy of ghosts King Boo can throw at him, thanks to his new equipment, and his trusty torch. While the GameCube itself wasn’t a massive success, Luigi’s Mansion was, becoming the fifth highest selling

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Hotel hell! That wasn’t it for Luigi’s supernatural shenanigans, though, for in 2019 along came Luigi’s Mansion 3 for the Switch. It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation, but those pesky ghosts had to ruin everything! Luckily, Luigi was courageous enough - kind of - to take them on in order to rescue Mario, Princess Peach, and their Toad companions from all manner of ghoulish calamities throughout an entire hotel. The hotel manager, one not-at-all-dodgy sounding Hellen Gravely, is in cahoots with big, bad King Boo and, as is his art connoisseur wont, he quickly traps the visitors in paintings. Well, save for our hero, Luigi, who manages to make good a whimpering - but successful - escape. Ah, but what about saving the others? He very much is afraid of those ghosts, but hey, this is family! While familiar, the stakes were upped, with new abilities for our haunted host that included slam, suction shot, burst, and the totally wild-looking ‘Gooigi’ - a gooey, slime green clone of the big guy, who enters the fray for co-op play, as well as being able to be called upon in solo sorties to help solve puzzles.

Luigi first appeared in the 1983 Game & Watch Mario Bros. , before teaming with Mario again for the arcade game of the same name soon after.

game release to have the green-clad Luigi as its star, after the educational game Mario Is Missing! , and the Luigi’s Hammer Toss Game Watch. In other words, this was a big deal. It all starts when Luigi receives a letter telling him that he’s won a mansion – in a contest that he never entered. Rather than setting off alarm bells, Luigi and his big bro agree to meet and check

title for the machine over its lifetime.

Boo Moon! A long-awaited sequel entitled Luigi’s Mansion 2 – also known in some parts as Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon – arrived in 2013, taking the franchise portable on the Nintendo 3DS.

out the abode, which is situated in a creepy forest. When Mario doesn’t show, Luigi reluctantly enters the mansion alone, and is beset upon by a ghost. Luckily for our kind of brave, very terrified protagonist, he encounters Professor E. Gadd, who hands him a ghost-sucking

• Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is out on Jun 27

vacuum, known as the Poltergust 3000, and a

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