After years of lurking in the shadows of his brother Mario, Luigi finally has his own adventure to embark on. But does Nintendo's flagship Gamecube title cut the mustard? Let me enlighten you…

The first Gamecube title to emerge from Nintendo's EAD department is quite unlike any game I've played, or experienced before. Essentially a 3D action/ adventure title, it also throws a bucket-load of head-scratching puzzles into the mix; and on the whole is a tremendously enjoyable game. Luigi's adventure begins as he makes his way to the main entrance of the moonlit mansion.
Maarrriooo!?
Once inside the mansion, you meet up with a strange professor named Dr. Oyama, who equips Luigi with a vacuum cleaner, with 'blow' and 'suck' functions; and a handy little device called the 'Game Boy Horror', which displays a map of the entire mansion, and in some cases using the 'look' function, reveals secrets, enemy weak-points and hidden items. Nice touch, that.

Your objective is to rid Luigi's recently acquired mansion of its ghoulish residents, and hopefully track down his missing brother in the process. With the aid of the vacuum/ flashlight combo, Luigi must first stun lurking phantoms, and then finally dispose of them using the vacuum's suck function. Capturing ghosts is rather like fishing. Ghosts will desperately struggle to escape from Luigi's powerful vacuuming force, and in turn you will have to pull rigorously back on the analogue stick until all of the ghost's energy (represented by numbers), has been depleted; thus making for an easy catch. Sounds simple enough; however, some ghosts require a slightly more tactical approach, and just a little extra brainpower can do the trick. Take the baby ghost's bedroom, for example: You will have to manipulate a certain object in the room (which I won't spoil for you), in order to make him vulnerable to your attack.

There are four levels within the mansion, each requiring you clear a number of rooms, and ultimately face the dreaded boss, before you can advance onto the next area. Upon entering one of the mansions many themed rooms, it appears decidedly empty, even as you as you shine Luigi's torch around the darkness. That is until you begin jostling nearby furniture and light fixtures; it is then that everything springs into life, and the giggling ghosts come out to play. Once a room has been cleared of its ghostly inhabitants, invariably a chest will appear which contains a key to the next room.