It has been over a decade because the launch of Luigi’s Mansion 2 (2013) on 3DS, which went on to promote almost twice as many copies as the unique Luigi’s Mansion (2001) on GameCube. With the gargantuan set up base of the Nintendo Swap (lately surpassing the DS to turn into the best-selling gaming console of all time in Japan), Luigi’s Mansion 3 (2019) additionally managed to double the gross sales models of its predecessor, making the action-adventure collection extra well-liked now than ever earlier than. For the hundreds of thousands who had been launched to the world of Luigi’s Mansion with the threequel, Nintendo is bringing the 3DS sequel to Swap, now enhanced with spiffy HD graphics. Eradicating the North American “Darkish Moon” subtitle from the unique, more likely to stop any confusion with extra informal shoppers, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is launching later this month, however is the Swap remaster a adequate substitute for the 3DS model?
3DS unique video games being ported over to Swap have been fairly few and much between, because the dual-screens of the 3DS had been typically utilized in such a manner that may make it troublesome to transform right into a single-screen expertise. Luckily for Luigi’s Mansion 2, the underside display screen was solely used to view the map, well being factors, and forex whole, subsequently not having any main gameplay significance. For the Swap model, the map has been diminished to a mini-map within the high proper nook of the display screen (though it fades away whereas utilizing the Poltergust 5000 in order to not impede your view) that may be maximized with the push of the ‘-’ button. Upon doing so, the edges of the display screen resemble the format of the underside half of a DS, which is a pleasant reference to the in-game “twin scream” system. Well being factors are actually seen within the high left nook of the UI always (in addition to necessary gadgets like keys), and forex whole seems within the backside left nook solely briefly after you accumulate treasure.
Other than these minor adjustments and some slight menu changes, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is just about the very same sport because the 3DS unique, with the principle promoting factors being, in fact, the graphical leap, up to date controls, and the power to now play on the TV by way of the Nintendo Swap dock. Though I used to be solely in a position to play the primary 7 ranges for the aim of this preview, I wouldn’t get your hopes up about there being something new right here. A minimum of with the Swap technology, Nintendo has sometimes used the phrase “Deluxe” when a port consists of extra content material (i.e. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe, and Pikmin 3 Deluxe), whereas Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is, because the title suggests, Luigi’s Mansion 2 however in HD; nothing extra, nothing much less. The one semi-notable factor that has truly been eliminated from the unique is the stereoscopic 3D, however that’s an inevitable omission contemplating the Swap {hardware} doesn’t have the required know-how to make that attainable.
Though it’s instantly obvious that Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD isn’t fairly on par with the visuals of Luigi’s Mansion 3, which was constructed from the bottom up for Swap and is likely one of the finest trying video games on the platform, Nintendo (and subsidiary developer Subsequent Degree Video games) put much more work into the remaster than merely upscaling the decision. Textures, lighting, character fashions, and even a number of the animations have all been drastically improved, with Luigi himself typically showing rather more expressive and noticeably extra scared by the atmosphere than earlier than. Whereas it’s not a full-blown remake like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Yr Door, there are greater than sufficient graphical enhancements to make Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD really feel like a contemporary launch (particularly when taking part in on the nonetheless spectacular display screen of the Nintendo Swap OLED mannequin).
For the reason that announcement of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD on the September 2023 Nintendo Direct, a giant subject of dialogue has been concerning the unlucky pricing. When the sport initially launched for 3DS, it was priced at $39.99/£39.99, dropping all the way down to $19.99/£19.99 a number of years later when launched as a part of the funds Nintendo Selects line. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is being priced at $59.99/£49.99 (the identical as Luigi’s Mansion 3), which is a fairly hefty enhance contemplating the sport is over a decade previous at this level. When in comparison with Metroid Prime Remastered, which obtained an identical graphical overhaul and solely prices $39.99/£34.99, the issue turns into extra obvious. A remake of the unique Luigi’s Mansion was launched for 3DS in 2018, so it could have been very nice to see an HD port of that sport bundled with Luigi’s Mansion 2, offering much more worth and making all the trilogy obtainable on Swap, however I suppose that concept is simply too good to be true. Sport improvement has been getting an increasing number of costly as time goes on and costs have been growing throughout all the trade.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a greater than welcomed inclusion to the Nintendo Swap library of video games. First impressions already present that it’s undoubtedly the definitive strategy to play the sequel to the family-friendly comedy/horror collection that places Mario’s typically underappreciated brother within the eerie highlight. Though it’s not fairly as graphically spectacular as Luigi’s Mansion 3, the visible variations between the 3DS and Swap variations will make it definitely worth the double-dip for a lot of, even with the rise in value over the unique. Whereas there doesn’t appear to be something new when it comes to content material, the remaster will certainly be an additional particular deal with for many who by no means owned a 3DS and haven’t performed the critically-acclaimed sport earlier than. Be certain to maintain a watch out for our overview to listen to our last ideas earlier than Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD launches for Swap on 27 June 2024.
A replica of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD for preview functions was supplied by Nintendo UK.