So many of the Nintendo's new releases pay homage to classics from the past that comparing them is inevitable – we take what we see in today's screenshots, videos and promotional art and naturally want to evaluate them in the light of yesterday's similar adventures. This year offers us a unique opportunity, too, since many of 2012's upcoming first-party releases are direct sequels – Paper Mario, Pikmin and two installments of New Super Mario Bros.
We'll get to those three soon enough. Let's kick off this new wave of visual comparisons by first heading back into Luigi's Mansion.
"He . . . hello?" Luigi slowly, cautiously peaks through the front door of the mansion, flashlight shining. Both the GameCube original Luigi's Mansion and upcoming 3DS sequel Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon begin our hero's ghostbusting adventures with this iconic introductory image, so it serves as a good starting point to begin comparing both games.
Before he could open the front door, of course, Luigi had to approach the mansion from outside. The GameCube game only had one spooky manor to explore – as seen above – but the 3DS sequel is promising at least three different haunted houses. There's the exterior of one of them. The first? The second? The third? We don't know quite yet.
Our scaredy-cat protagonist will also be getting assistance again from sidekick scientist Professor E. Gadd. You can catch a glimpse of his new laboratory just above, along with the latest device he offers to assist Luigi – a Nintendo DS. The first Luigi's Mansion game had our hero using a "Game Boy Horror," which was an homage to the Game Boy Color. Amusingly enough, the developers paid attention to the Professor being a bit behind the times with an equivalent outdated tech reference – the Game Boy Color had been replaced by the Game Boy Advance by the time Luigi's Mansion 1 came out. Likewise, the Nintendo DS (in its 2004 form factor, even) is last-gen tech here in 2012.
Luigi's other supporting character in his first Mansion excursion was Toad, who showed up at various points throughout the house to offer encouragement and serve as a save point. He'll be back again in Dark Moon, and that seems to please Luigi. Thumbs up!
It seems that Toad may play a more active role this time around, though, as the screenshot above makes it look like he's actually following Luigi around rather than just staying locked in one spot. The environment they're exploring is part of the new ice-themed mansion Dark Moon will feature, so, for comparison, there's a look at the Cold Storage room from the GameCube original.
Though the mansions in the 3DS sequel are all-new, some rooms are just a standard part of a house design – so it's easy to find more equivalents and set them side by side. For our next example, here's a look at the dining rooms from both games. (Both complete with vacuum-able tablecloths.)
Every home has to have a bathroom too, of course, and it looks like Luigi will be encountering at least one more vacuum-able shower curtain as well. In the first game there was a key hidden behind the curtain. In this one, you'll interrupt a ghost just trying to bathe.
A little less standard for normal homes – but perfectly normal for haunted houses – is the on-site graveyard. Luigi had a boss battle to fight in the cemetery space just outside the GameCube mansion's walls. What spooks and specters will await him among the 3DS headstones?
The basics of combat will be the same in the upcoming sequel, as you'll once again flash ghosts with a burst of light to freeze them in place, then activate your Poltergust vacuum cleaner to suck them up. Dark Moon will make the process a bit more involved, though, adding timed button presses along with extra button icons flashing above Luigi's head to help you out. You'll also be able to suck up more ghosts simultaneously in the sequel.
Last of all, a look at what may be Luigi's new best friend – an as-yet-unnamed ghost dog. The first Luigi's Mansion had its own spectral pooch named Spooky, but he only served as an opponent in a small battle sequence. This new haunted hound looks like he may actually become a companion for Luigi, especially since the screenshot just above shows him retrieving a key for our hero. That gets me excited, as a Luigi fan – a new, loyal dog character just for the green-capped brother to command would help further distinguish him from his big bro Mario.
And that's all for now, aspiring ghost hunters. Use the comments box below to let us know what you think of the visual similarities and differences of the first Luigi's Mansion and the new Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, along with your thoughts on how the 3DS sequel will play. Then come on back to IGN in the days ahead as we put together more visual comparisons for 2012's other upcoming Nintendo sequels.
Lucas M. Thomas can't wait to get his hands on Luigi's latest headlining adventure. "Mario? Maaaariiiioooo!" Classic stuff. You can follow Lucas on Twitter.
Source : ign[dot]com
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