Retro Game of the Week, Week 8

CiDeRmAn

So, this weeks game for abuse and adulation is
Luigi's Mansion on the Gamecube!








Links to the Past!
Week 1 SoR2
Week 2 Myth
Week 3 SF2
Week 4 Doom
Week 5 Sonic 2
Week 6 Duke Nukem 3D
Week 7 FFVII

Retr0gamer

I remember when this came out. People moaned and complained that the game was great but only 6 hours long. It got rated down in many reviews because of the short length and many called it a tech demo.

I only played it very recently and I was hugely impressed by it. The attention to detail with how the vacuum interacts with the environment is so charming and all the ghosts have their own personality as well as the mansion itself. There's lots of little secrets to discover and the combat is a lot of fun, much more so than the Ghostbusters game that got released last year. Graphically it still impresses with some gorgeous ghost effects.

I also felt the game was the perfect length, packing a wealth of variety and ideas into those 6 hours that most bloated open world games can't manage in 80. It's a game that is the perfect length and doesn't out stay its welcome.

I remember Miyamoto at the Gamecube launch wanted to make shorter games that packed a lot of gameplay into 6 hours and the product of that idea was Luigi's Mansion and Pikmin. People went nuts over how quickly they beat them but in retrospect Miyamoto was right. Playing it now Luigi's Mansion is refreshing in how it doesn't waste the players time and Pikmin 2's random dungeons bogged the game down and weren't as much fun as the over world stuff.

It's a classic and one that got unfairly slated at release.

Better than Halo!

CiDeRmAn

I bought it with my launch GC and loved it.
Every scene and room were like a solid little diorama you could play with, sucking away dust sheets and table cloths became a game in itself.
The pleasure of taking it easy with a game, experiencing it rather than rushing to the next check point, that's what Luigi's Mansion did for me.
Listening to the in game music as hummed or whistled by Luigi was priceless, as was his fear as he met the various remaining inhabitants of his new home.

But it was unfairly maligned, I've told the story before of the Irish games magazine borrowing my GameCube to review, alongside the Xbox and PS2, and the reviewers, make and female, just didn't "get" Luigi and the rest of the titles I provided, Monkey Ball and Waverace, and failed to appreciate them entirely, instead being dazzled by the cheap thrills of PGR and Halo The fools!

CiDeRmAn

Hmm, I honestly thought this one would be more popular, is it that obscure?

Steve X2

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Hmm, I honestly thought this one would be more popular, is it that obscure?

I'd prefer a slightly more obscure "Game of the week" myself. Nothing crazy rare or unheard of, just something less mainstream or much older that people might remember and need to go re-check/re-play etc and then discuss.
The last few games picked have been discussed to death on a million other forums and sites. Not knocking the games, they're awesome, but they don't pull me in.

Then again, I'm a weirdo, so ignore

Also, on subject, Luigi's Mansion is a fantastic game.

CiDeRmAn

Steve X2 wrote: »

I'd prefer a slightly more obscure "Game of the week" myself. Nothing crazy rare or unheard of, just something less mainstream or much older that people might remember and need to go re-check/re-play etc and then discuss.
The last few games picked have been discussed to death on a million other forums and sites. Not knocking the games, they're awesome, but they don't pull me in.

Then again, I'm a weirdo, so ignore

Also, on subject, Luigi's Mansion is a fantastic game.

Sure, you can call next weeks title so, I'm just such a sucker for Luigi's Mansion, it really did blow me away at the time.
Where Halo felt very much like an evolution in a genre, and a decent one at that, Luigi's Mansion managed to create something new and unexpected, a decision that upset some, some who were awaiting Super Mario 128, but delighted others, like me!

Steve X2

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Sure, you can call next weeks title so, I'm just such a sucker for Luigi's Mansion, it really did blow me away at the time.
Where Halo felt very much like an evolution in a genre, and a decent one at that, Luigi's Mansion managed to create something new and unexpected, a decision that upset some, some who were awaiting Super Mario 128, but delighted others, like me!

I've already picked one a few weeks back(Myth).
I'll let someone else have a bash as I'd only end up picking something unpopular from the 8bit tape loading generation

Retr0gamer

Some 8-bit selections from me. Creatures on the C64 would be my choice. Or maybe Beach head for something older.

CiDeRmAn

Loved Creatures, but never understood the attraction of Beach Head, I had it on both the C64 and Spectrum.
Green Beret/Rush'n Attack, that was a great game!

o1s1n

Barbarian!

Barbarian is one of those games everyone played as a kid and has a decapitation burned ibo their memory.

Dr Bob

...we need a certain poster and his love for the diamond collecting ,boulder dodging, tunnel digging game...AND NOT F*&KING REPTON CIDEY!!