Luigi's back embarking upon another ghost-hunting mission for the Nintendo 3DS.

User Rating: 8.5 | Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon 3DS
When Luigi's Mansion came out for the Nintendo GameCube, we got to experience how the other half of the Mario Bros. lives. Basically by inspecting a haunted mansion after his brother Mario mysteriously vanished.

Twelve years later, Professor E. Gadd needs Luigi's help again as paranormal chaos occurs, sending him back searching several mansions in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.

The story goes something like this, while conducting research in Evershade Valley, E. Gadd has been studying the peaceful spirits residing there. This is thanks to the mysterious artifact, the Dark Moon, which constantly remains suspended in the skies. That is, until a mysterious being (okay, not that so mysterious), comes and shatters the Dark Moon.

As a result, the ghosts rebel and become violent, causing E. Gadd to retreat to his bunker. Elsewhere, Luigi is resting peacefully, until he is awakened by the television. Contacting him, E. Gadd uses his Pixelator to transport the plucky plumber to his bunker, and thus the adventure begins.

LM: Dark Moon basically operates similarly to its predecessor: locate spirits and vacuum them into the Poltergust, while also locating treasures and dispatching bosses in the process. However, the similarities end there as LM: DM does have some subtle differences.

Originally, Luigi used to snag ghosts by shining a flashlight, stunning them, then using the Poltergust to vacuum their spirit energy away, and cleaning out the room.

But that was then, and this is now. E. Gadd has updated the Poltergust 5000 with some new instruments for Luigi to better fight against this paranormal panic. First off, Luigi now can use something called the Strobulb, which can emit a bright flash, that blinds the ghosts. The Poltergust 5000 also has a new ability: a Power Gauge which fills when Luigi pulls back. As it fills up completely, when you press A, Luigi performs an 'A-Pull.'

Besides helping Luigi pull stuff up with it, the A-Pull enables him to rapidly reduce a ghost's spirit energy with a quick yank. This is great when Luigi deals with more powerful spirits like Slammers, Poltergeists, Boos and Bosses. It also helps with the puzzles as well.

Another new function happens to be the Blacklight. Apparently you'll discover missing items, strange dead ends, or shadows without objects. The Blacklight can bring back concealed items by ferreting out Spirit Orbs which are being used to make things invisible. By vacuuming them you can restore missing objects (and also perhaps bring out a Boo in the process).

Speaking of Boos, you can also use the Blacklight to reveal them out of hiding and then deal with them accordingly.

Treasure hunts now also play a critical role in Dark Moon, than just getting a better reward. When you complete a mission, E. Gadd will store your collected treasures, ghosts and gems into his vault. But when you collect treasure, E. Gadd uses it to help upgrade your equipment in the process. Meaning Luigi will have a better chance for dealing with more powerful spirits in later missions.

Fangarian Paranormal Tip: Whenever you collect 200 G or more in treasure, immediately search about the place, you'll find a gold bone. The gold bone serves two purposes: (1) If Luigi survives a mission, it adds 200 G more to your collection, and; (2) If Luigi doesn't survive, it summons the Polterpup to instant revive you in exchange.

Now that we've dispense with the basics, we'll cut to the chase of the game itself.

Dark Moon spans over five mansions. That's right, Luigi now has to investigate five, separate, haunted mansions than just one. The investigations are broken up into smaller missions. Usually either hunting down a vital component for E. Gadd, or just ridding a section infiltrated with ghosts.

For the most part, Luigi can usually explore these mansions within reason. And your efforts don't go without rewards, usually discovering new paths and new enemies. In fact, when you catch all the Boos and obtain a Dark Moon piece, you unlock a bonus mission.

Here, you get to see your navigational skills at work as you general hunt down ghosts in random spots. These bonus missions are great for helping you hone your catching skills as well as improving your treasure collecting and rating points.

But as well as all these great points are in Dark Moon, there are some dark shadows in the game as well.

One of the problems in the game happens to be the limitations of the Strobulb. When usually dealing with certain ghosts this can be a pain, esp. when you're trying to dispatch Hiders or Greenies equipped with items your Poltergust can't extract.

Then comes the learning curve problem: in the original Luigi's Mansion, the game allowed you to figure out problems. Dark Moon, the situation isn't so forgiving, specifically when your either dealing with an unusual situation or a boss battle.

For instance, when my friend was playing a level where Luigi has to cross a beam, nowhere does it inform the player that you have to tilt the 3DS to keep his balance, except for the obscure symbol in the lower-right corner.

The other problem happens to be the severe lack of checkpoints and/or manual saves. One reason is when you're playing the game, you can't simply end it (in case of interruption, or low-battery) and pick it up later until you complete the mission.

Another comes from the boss battles, which are broken up in stages. Meaning if you end up losing mid-way, or almost finishing the battle, you have to start over from the beginning. This can immediately become infuriating, if not completely frustrating, making you want to simply let the phantoms take over.

Other than that, there is the Scarescraper which you can play with other ghost-hunters on several missions, that can help you collect treasure and distract you from difficult missions.

Overall, the game itself isn't that bad. Dark Moon maintains the charm of the original, while implementing some new features as well. Luigi's once again proves even a second banana can come out on top. Even when dealing with haunted neighborhoods.