Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD gives a 3DS classic the treatment it deserves

I got into Nintendo games during an era that’s considered to be the company’s weakest. In retrospect, the 3DS and Wii U era was poor for Nintendo, serving as a low point between the successes of the Wii and Switch. Despite that, this is when I went all-in on playing almost every new Nintendo game after getting both a 3DS and Wii U. And looking back, Nintendo was still putting out some great games during this era. One such title was Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, a sequel to a GameCube launch title that took the series to portables and added 3D. It was the flagship game in the now infamous “Year of Luigi” and positioned the series for success with Luigi’s Mansion 3.

Ahead of an end-of-generation blowout for Switch, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon is getting rereleased as Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. I’ve been replaying the game on Switch over the past couple of weeks and comparing it to my time with the 3DS version. It’s less robust of a refurbishment than the one Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door received last month, but if you skipped out on the 3DS era of Nintendo and never checked Dark Moon out, then Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is worth your attention — especially now that it’s no longer possible to easily get the original.

Bite-sized ghosts

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD follows Luigi as he recovers pieces of the Dark Moon that gave the 3DS game its namesake. The McGuffin kept ghosts calm, but that peace ended when King Boo shattered it. Professor E. Gadd recruits Luigi (somewhat against his will) to explore the mansion, capture ghosts with an upgraded Poltergust 5000, and recover pieces of the Dark Moon. While the originalLuigi’s Mansion was all set in one mansion, this sequel was designed for a handheld platform, so its structure is a lot more segmented.

There are five different mansions to explore across several levels, each of which has its own specific objectives and modifies the look of the mansion in unique ways. This approach is somewhat divisive for Luigi’s Mansion fans as it means