Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD review

It’s always the mark of a good remake where the visuals trick you into wondering if you’ve played a game before. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a visual remake of Dark Moon, with an aesthetic upgrade that brings it in line with how Luigi’s Mansion 3 looks, but it’s safe to say if you’re here looking for new additions, extra content, or much other than a Switch HD redo, you might be disappointed.

That said, it’s a terrific game. Luigi is, as usual, bothered while resting to go and help Professor E. Gadd with a ghostly situation. This time around the Dark Moon has been shattered to pieces, and this has disturbed the otherwise peaceful ghosts of the Valley that E. Gadd is investigating. Calling upon Luigi, he has to find the Poltergust 5000 ghost-hoover, upgrade it with some bits and bobs, and set about discovering all manner of secrets throughout mansions and other spooky locales.

If you’ve ever played a Luigi’s Mansion title before, you’ll be at home pretty quickly with how it all plays out. You control Luigi, and have to wander slowly around the areas on offer, hoovering up pretty much anything that isn’t nailed down. You’ll either find a ghost, some cash (and let me tell you, people in these places keep their hidden cash in some strange places), keys, gems, and all manner of hidden things to make you jump. Ghosts will play tricks on you at every turn, whether it’s turning a set of stairs into a slide mid-climb, or having a door slam in your face: you will never be able to rest for long.

Once you find a ghost, you flash it with your flashlight and then hoover it up. You can use motion controls to aim, or just the right stick, though it’s often easier to just move Luigi and face up the enemy before flashing and hoovering. Greenies might start out easy, but even the simplest of ghosts like them will eventually wear glasses, or buckets to shield from the torchlight, and as you progress they will even have swords and shields that you’ll need to bait attacks from before stunning them. There’s a good variety of enemies throughout Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, and there’s always that one that’ll make you let out a moan when they appear.

Each region has levels with objectives, ultimately culminating in a boss level, and some of these are the more disappointing sections. It’s not that they’re bad, so much, it’s that they change the feel of the game from an investigative puzzle experience with some light action, and veer more towards the action side of things. The first boss, for example, is awkward. It’s not hard, it’s just awkward to control Luigi efficiently. The second boss is very simple, but the lead up to it is frustrating and long. Again, none of them are “bad”, but I just find the rest of the game more enjoyable.

Speaking of which, if you do tire of either speed-running the levels, or finding gems or the hidden boos, you can turn to the Scarescraper multiplayer. This is an absolute blast. There are multiple variants of the multiplayer, but all of them are terrific fun. The simplest mode is Hunter, in which you and up to three additional players can clear ghosts out of areas. Polterpup mode sees you searching the environments for the famous ghost doggy, and then grabbing them. You’ll need to use the dark light torch to look for paw prints, or marks that give away what room the pup is hiding in.

Rush mode is perhaps the pick of the bunch, as you’re on a strict timer, and have to search items and cupboards for extra time, or catch ghosts to grab a precious extra few seconds. Here you have to find an exit room which will require all players to stand on the exit buttons, and it feels more frantic and exciting than you’d expect. All the modes can be combined for Surprise mode, which mixes them up, and at the end of each round of any multiplayer you have to run around and collect red coins, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are bonuses awarded between rounds, too, giving you a stronger Poltergust, or special vision that reveals hidden objects.

To be clear, then, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a remake with a modern look, and no real bells and whistles to speak of otherwise. But that doesn’t make it a bad game, far from it, in fact. And if you’ve never had a chance to experience this fairly lengthy experience before, you’re getting the best version along with a multiplayer offering that’s easy to access, and a great amount of fun. Arguably the best of the three Luigi’s Mansion games, whether you think it’s overpriced, or a strange choice for a remake doesn’t change the fact it’s a hugely enjoyable game with loads to do. Go in knowing that there isn’t any extra content and that this is an opportunity for those that missed it on 3DS to experience it at its best and you’ll be just fine.