The Luigi’s Mansion series, which for 22 years has taken us into a world of puzzles and scary adventures with Mario’s clumsy brother as the protagonist, returns with Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, a remaster of the title originally released for Nintendo 3DS in 2013. Despite the work remastered by Next Level Games, the game retains clear traces of its portable console origins. Unlike the first and third chapters, set in large, open spaces, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD remains divided into shorter levels, which gradually introduce different types of enemies, objects and game mechanics. In handheld mode on Switch, this structure still makes sense, but some sections feel overly fragmented, with loading screens interrupting the experience and the inability to save manually. Despite these limitations, the game manages to make you forget its reliance on the 3DS’s dual-screen hardware and the original version’s stereoscopic 3D.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD connects directly to the original GameCube game, but knowledge of the first chapter is not necessary to appreciate this new adventure. The plot sees the Boo King destroy the Dark Moon, throwing the ghosts of Shadowy Vale into chaos. Professor Strambic, a scientist who already appeared in the first chapter, takes refuge in a bunker and sends Luigi, armed with a Poltergust 5000 vacuum cleaner, to collect the fragments of the destroyed Moon and vacuum up the crazy ghosts. The game takes a while to get going, with a slow start where you have to find specific tools to access new areas. Each haunted room must be explored multiple times, with traps and puzzles that change with each visit. Despite the possible repetitiveness, sucking up ghosts and solving puzzles is always fun.
Thorough exploration is key: it is advisable to take your time to explore every nook and cranny, vacuuming up ghosts, cobwebs, curtains, carpets and coins. The ghostly inhabitants of the villas will try to complicate Luigi’s work with various stratagems, such as glasses that protect them from the glare (before vacuuming them, Luigi must use a flashlight to stun them) or cunning hiding places. Using the gyroscope for aiming is particularly effective. The rewards collected allow you to purchase upgrades to face the most powerful ghosts. For completionists, there are bonus challenges that include capturing special ghosts and collecting diamonds.
Graphically, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD makes the most of the Switch’s capabilities, with detailed models, improved lighting and sharper textures. The atmosphere is perfect for a comic horror accessible even to the youngest. The audio has also seen improvements, with new musical arrangements that, although sometimes repetitive, add to the game’s charm. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, while maintaining some dated features of the original design, offers a compelling and well-curated experience. It is perhaps not among the essential titles for Switch, but it represents a solid remaster that allows you to rediscover a classic. If you enjoyed Luigi’s Mansion 3, you will definitely like this remaster, even if it may not offer enough new features for those who have already played the original on 3DS.
Format: Switch publisher: Nintendo Developer: Next Level Games Vote: 8/10
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