Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD review: Solid, if not spooktacular
Offering the best way to play Luigi’s Mansion 2, but falling short of the crown of best game in the series thanks to its superior supernatural sequel, this HD remake is an ideal pickup for any Switch owner who didn’t own a 3DS.
Offering the best way to play Luigi’s Mansion 2, but falling short of the crown of best game in the series thanks to its superior supernatural sequel, this HD remake is an ideal pickup for any Switch owner who didn’t own a 3DS.
Images via Nintendo
As we edge ever closer to a full reveal of whatever the Switch’s successor is, Nintendo is showing no signs of slowing down its rollout of games from prior consoles you may not have got the chance to play.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD may not add a whole host of additional features from its 3DS-bound original version like something along the lines of Super Mario 3D World did, but it still offers a timely reminder of why even titles from Nintendo’s darker times warrant another look.
GGRecon Verdict
Offering the best way to play Luigi’s Mansion 2, but falling short of the crown of best game in the series thanks to its superior supernatural sequel, this HD remake is an ideal pickup for any Switch owner who didn’t own a 3DS.
Haunted Halls
It’s worth noting right off the (vampire) bat that Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a straight remaster of the original, with a fresh lick of paint and a new control scheme to bring it kicking and screaming into the modern age like a ghost caught in the Poltergust 5000.
That means Mario’s brother is tasked with calming the restless ghosts of Evershade Valley by collecting pieces of the Dark Moon that King Boo has shattered. It’s a nice, basic setup that’s essentially just an excuse to explore a series of spooky areas, each with its own cast of Casper-alikes.
After Luigi’s Mansion 3’s huge hotel-themed setting, with new challenges on every floor, a return to five distinct regions feels like less of a step backward than I’d imagined it might. Gloomy Manor and Haunted Towers may blend a little too much together, but moving between each filled me with excitement as to what would come next - especially since I didn’t play the original.
In fact, given the game debuted in 2013 and on a device with two screens, Nintendo has done a great job of forcing the whole thing into a single display without losing any of the fun ways the game plays with shadow or catches your eye with something in the background. In literal terms, it’s likely one of the company’s darkest games, but even playing portably at 720p it felt just as easy to read as its sequel.
Old ghost, new tricks
Luigi’s Mansion 2, like its predecessor and sequel (where is that Luigi’s Mansion 1 remaster, Nintendo?) plays out like a series of dioramas.
Each is impressively detailed and packed with objects that can be sucked up into Luigi’s Poltergust, including the ghosts themselves. With this being a remaster, the same gameplay principles apply here as they did 11 years ago, but the way in which you liberate each area of its coins and apparitions has been modernised with a new control scheme.
If you’ve played the third game you’ll know what to expect, with a twin-stick layout that somehow fits perfectly despite essentially redefining Luigi’s moveset from the original. No longer will you need to choose between aiming and moving, and while the 2013 version was hardly played with tank controls, the difference for anyone returning will be liberating. As it turns out, bustin’ feels real good - or words to that effect.
That’s amplified by solid rumble support, making Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD feel like a much more modern game despite its ageing bones.
The Verdict
Offering the best way to play Luigi’s Mansion 2, but falling short of the crown of best game in the series thanks to its superior supernatural sequel, this HD remake is an ideal pickup for any Switch owner who didn’t own a 3DS.
3.5/5
Review code provided by the publisher.
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