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Luigi's Mansion
by Julius Bautista
Monday, December 25 2000
Luigi "returns" in 'Cubed 3D glory. Despite its "tech demo" label, it has more significance than you might think. What does the future hold for our "Mario Bros."? The little cube knows.
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Title:
Luigi's Mansion
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Platform:
Gamecube
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Publisher:
Nintendo |
Developer:
Nintendo |
#
of Players: 1 |
Genre:
Adventure
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Origin:
Japan
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Expected
Release:
November 2001 |
Grapevine:
Luigi's Mansion is significant in two ways: it's an example of GameCube's graphic capabilites -- everything shown was produced in real-time -- and it provides hints about the next Mario adventure. |
The last time we saw Mario's little brother take part in an adventure was Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo. That was nearly a decade ago... Luigi's numerous appearances in kart racing, partying, golfing, fighting, and tennis on the N64 were friendly to him at most; the painful fact that he was totally absent from Super Mario 64 was a big disappointment to Nintendo fans the world over (hell, they managed to put Yoshi in without a problem...). On top of that, the sequel to Mario64 slated for the 64DD, which was supposed to feature cooperative Mario/Luigi gameplay, was canceled. In acts of "sympathy," Miyamoto teased us on several occasions saying he'd like to see Luigi star in his own game; that he's "running around" in his development room; and that Luigi doesn't mind being Mario's sidekick for another adventure. So what's he talking about? The answer showed before our eyes during Spaceworld 2000, in the form of the tech demo, "Luigi's Mansion."
Luigi's Mansion is significant in two ways: it's an example of GameCube's graphic capabilites -- everything shown was produced in real-time -- and it provides hints about the next Mario adventure. The tech demo starts off with the camera flying towards a dark, cartoony, and detailed haunted house that lit-up with a brief flash of lightning. The view becomes panoramic, scanning a part of the mansion's interior, showing shelves, swaying curtains, candles, furniture, falling paintings, and flying chairs, all of which are fairly detailed with a great touch of lighting. Light cracks in from an opened door, with the shadow of a character standing in the doorway. A shadowy mustached-man takes a step inside, turns his head to the camera, his face lights up -- mustache, green cap, a fat "L" above the bill -- it's the one-and-only Luigi, and he's made a practically flawless transition into the next generation (graphically, of course). His face, round and cartoony as always, is unbelievably smooth (no jaggies!), with lighting and shadows in all the right places. Luigi was lacking in textures (if he lacked anything at all), but I don't think that's something he ever really had. His overall image is accurate to the CG renders we frequently see in Nintendo artwork today.
After revealing his identity to us, Luigi turns his attention away from the camera when all of sudden a pale blue ghost pops up in front him, scaring him silly. Here, Luigi does one of the most interesting things I've seen out of ALL the GameCube demos: as he screams his lungs out, his mouth stretches.
Luigi can now add "three-dimensional cartoon character" to his resume. Taking a polygonal object and moving it around from Point A to Point B is one thing; pulling and stretching that object as if it was Silly Putty is a whole other story. How's that for polygon power?
The next few camera shots go by pretty fast. More ghosts, who all look very similar to "Slimer" from the Ghostbusters cartoon show, pop up around the mansion. A couple come around to take a peek of our plumber, while another bunch is playing a game of cards at a table. It's obvious Luigi entered a "ghost house" of some sort, but these ghosts aren't the usual Boo Buddies we've grown to love. Upon closer look, we discover that each ghost has its own unique face/model. In addition, besides their pretty blue glow, they're all transparent; nicely, fluidly transparent. GameCube's special effects are being put to good use here.
The remaining seconds of the demo were all fun-and-games. A ghost chases Luigi down a bannister; Luigi dashes for his life to escape a falling chandelier; and several ghosts have a high-speed session of "Ring around the Plumber". The camera zooms away from the mansion, and the demo comes to a close.
Considering the amount of detail put into Luigi, the ghosts, and the mansion, I wouldn't be surprised if this demo is a working prototype for the Ghost House in the next Mario adventure. Sure, Nintendo didn't show us one bit of gameplay, but c'mon! This demo has all the ingredients of a gameplay environment! We've got a Mario brother, enemy ghosts, and a house full of goodies to break/interact with. That little clip where Luigi slides down the bannister may indicate you'll be able to do a whole lot more than just run/jump/swim/fly. Everything is shouting, "Play me!" And all that Miyamoto talk about Luigi? Well, assuming GameCube does give him the freedom to create practically whatever he wants, there's no reason *not* to have Luigi as "Player 2" in the next Mario game. Why bother to make a highly detailed 3D Luigi model? To set it aside and neglect him for another 4 years? You've got to be kidding me...
Luigi's Mansion is merely a peek into the next Mario world. The whole concept of Mario64's sequel has been in the works even before The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released. Who knows what crazy (by that, I mean fresh and innovative) ideas Miyamoto's come up with since then? One thing's for sure: E3 2001 will be special.
It's about time we got our hands on another "Mario" game -- wait, scratch that... a "Mario Bros." game.
--- Julius Bautista, VGLN Nintendo
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