Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD Review

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire may have flat-out smashed at the box office, but thankfully there’s another specter-stalking adventure to enjoy this year – even if it’s a very familiar one. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD – a remaster of the 2013 Nintendo 3DS original also known as Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon in the US – has arrived on Nintendo Switch looking better than ever, but almost entirely unchanged when it comes to its happy ghost hunting gameplay. concerned. So this is the best way to experience Luigi’s second foray into capturing the cheeky Caspers, but it’s no longer the best entry in the series since this Dark Moon-based adventure was later eclipsed by Luigi’s Mansion 3 in 2019 .

Here’s what our reviewer said in his review of the 2013 original:

That sentiment still rings true, and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD remains an entertaining journey that’s as scary as it is silly, its dual-screen setup seamlessly integrated into a single panel and honed to a visual level that falls just short of Luigi’s Mansion 3. The team of developer Tantalus, who was also responsible for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD in 2021, has not only improved the resolution of this remaster, they have also added noticeably more detailed textures, up to to the reflective shine of the suits of armor and the threads of Luigi’s overalls. Additionally, vastly improved lighting means this Switch version’s haunted dioramas were given enough depth that I didn’t really mourn the absence of the original’s stereoscopic 3D. (Although, to be honest, I’m not sure I used stereoscopic 3D in the first place.)

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD Review Screens

It’s unlikely to win Best Visual Design in 2024, but compared to the 2013 original, the difference is night and day. I remember Luigi’s Mansion 2 having a cast of charismatic characters and pleasantly creepy settings to explore, but it was a shock to revisit the 3DS original 11 years after its launch, only to have my eyeballs assaulted by enough irregular edges for grating cheese. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, however, has been polished to a level that allows the playful nature of its phantom threats and numerous beautifully designed corridors to truly shine on screen.

However, these enemies and environments are still the same as they were ten years ago. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD doesn’t feature additional ghosts to eliminate, levels to research, or bosses to point your Poltergust 5000 at. None of Luigi’s moves from Luigi’s Mansion 3, like his piston-powered suction shot or his ability to summon the gummy bear-like Gooigi has only been incorporated into this adventure, making it a ghost-hunting, puzzle-solving experience that preserves the clever level design of the 3DS original, but which noticeably lacks the expanded variety of interactions enjoyed by the third installment in the series.

It does, however, feature dual-stick controls similar to those in the third game. For some reason, the original did not support use of the Circle Pad Pro, the bulky Nintendo 3DS peripheral that added a second stick to the system while still making it much more likely to break a seam in your pants pocket. This meant that in Luigi’s Mansion 2 on 3DS, Mario’s bigger brother was stuck in one direction every time you needed him to aim his flashlight or suck up a surprised soul. This is no longer the case in this remaster, which allows Luigi’s aim to be rotated with the right stick. It definitely feels a lot more flexible and intuitive, and while the difficulty curve here remains fairly gentle – the goofy ghost enemies are more silly souls than dark souls – I was relieved to find that the control scheme never got me frustrated like he did in the original.

However, I wish more was done for Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD’s multiplayer. Unlike Luigi’s Mansion 3, which allowed two people to play on the same system, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is strictly one player per console, whether you play online or locally on a LAN. The multi-level multiplayer mode, Scarescraper (known as Thrill Tower in the original version), still offers plenty of frenetic, ghost-fighting fun, but it’s the kind of fun I wish I could share with my children without having to buy several. Additional switches and copies of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD to enjoy. Unfortunately, there is no support for split screen here.

That said, I certainly still had a good time chasing ghosts during the dozen or so hours I spent with Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. While I prefer the sprawling, unique hotel structure of the third game, I appreciate that the more compartmentalized levels of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD’s five distinct environments make it easier to find missed collectibles once the main story is completed . Plus, there are some fantastically spooky moments that I’d forgotten about in the decade since I first played it, from the wonderfully puzzle-heavy first boss fight with an oversized spider, to ‘ to the fall down a long, haunted staircase later that feels like a more G-rated version of the climactic sequence from John Wick: Chapter 4.