While Nintendo may have missed a golden opportunity to release Super Mario Sunshine in September, during Mario's 40th anniversary celebration, their October offering was never in question. From the moment Nintendo announced the GameCube titles coming to the Nintendo Classics app, everybody knew that Luigi's Mansion would come out right before Halloween. And here we are. That was easy to predict, but is this game actually worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Game Informer and more classic magazines that reviewed this game back when it first came out. I sure hope you brought the right vacuum accessories, because we're going to be busting ghosts in this bone-chilling episode of Nintendo Classics Review Crew!


While the Super Mario franchise has never been frightening, it has dipped its toe in the horror genre. As far back as Super Mario World, our favorite plumbers had to navigate their way through haunted houses, something that was expanded on in both Super Mario 64 and the Mario Kart franchise. But while those were brief moments of spooky in otherwise light-hearted games, Luigi's Mansion decided to fully embrace the horror theme. While we can quibble about the execution, this was an excellent way of setting Luigi's game apart from his more famous brother. It also allowed Nintendo a chance to play inside of the darker confines of the horror genre, something they hadn't really had the opportunity to do. I've already alluded that this game isn't as universally loved as Mario's various outings, but let's see where the critics landed on Luigi's Mansion.

Normally, I like to start with Electronic Gaming Monthly, because they are usually right in the middle of the scale. However, in this case, they are at the absolute bottom, giving Luigi's Mansion a surprisingly low 7.5 out of 10. That said, this is one of those times where the score doesn't tell the full story, because there was a HUGE disagreement in the EGM offices. Shoe gave the game a 5 out of 10, confused why his fellow critics liked the game: “It's cute. Adorable, in fact. But cute and adorable don't make a game. Luigi's is just interesting enough for me to see it through to the end, but it doesn't provide that Mario level of dooziness that I was hoping for. Capturing ghosts really isn't that fun or challenging. Just figure out the secret or pattern, then hold your should button down for as long as it's needed (which eventually cramped up my index finger).” Chris, on the other hand, gave the game a 9, concluding that “any disappointment I felt over the GameCube launching without a Mario game was gone after playing Luigi's Mansion. It's so different from any other 3D character-driven action title I've played in the last five years. Every room is just like an Easter Egg hunt filled with surprises that'll make you tingly all over. Uncovering little details like discovering thing you didn't see before in mirrors, etc. make you realize how finely crafted this game really is.”

As we climb up the review scale, we see Nintendo Power give the GameCube launch title a solid 4 out of 5, which is the exact same score we saw from Next Generation. Across the pond, Next Gen's sister magazine, Edge, went with a similar 8 out of 10, arguing that “fears Luigi's Mansion was going to have a short lifespan have been put to rest. Though it's no epic, it will take longer than you expect to complete. Thankfully, the number of times that you laugh, flinch and have your breath taken away are numerous enough to warrant at least another jaunt through the creaky house.”

When it comes to high scores, we have a three-way tie. NGC Magazine gave Luigi a 90%, which is basically the same as GamePro, who went with a 4.5 out of 5. Game Informer gave the game a 9 out of 10, with Reiner making the important distinction that “the premise is light-hearted and goofy, as opposed to the fear element of survival horror.” Just in case there was any confusion. He followed that up by explaining that he “didn't have the highest expectations for this release, but Luigi's Mansion turned out to be the surprise hit of the year. Even though it's a departure from the Mario lineage, it still harbors the classic feel that we all know and love.”

While the reviews were certainly good, the scores were down compared to Nintendo's more established franchises. The overall average sits at 84%, which is still good, but not at the level of a Mario or Zelda game. That said, people have really come around on this game in the past two decades. When you're not expecting it to be the next Mario game and can accept it for what it is, Luigi's Mansion proves to be a lot of fun. Give it a try.