Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD Review (Switch): A Game that Wears its Handheld Origin on its Sleeve

I was very late getting into the Luigi’s Mansion games. My first one was Luigi’s Mansion 3 when that was released, and even though I had a GameCube growing up and consider it my favorite console, I didn’t play the first game until earlier this year. That is why I was pretty happy to see Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD coming out on Switch, formerly known as Dark Moon in its 3DS days. Now that I’ve finished off my time with the current games, I can say this entry contends with – but doesn’t quite meet – the heights of the third game for my favorite in the series.

Luigi Time! Part 2

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a faithful remaster of Dark Moon. From everything I’ve seen, all of the content here was in the original 3DS version. The original player two character makes his way through five different mansions infested with ghosts as he tries to find the shattered fragments of the Dark Moon. Right off the bat, Luigi is great here. His animations and emotions are perfectly conveyed to the point that you always know what he is thinking, even though he doesn’t say much outside of a few usual quick Charles Martinet quips. There are a few models in the game that are a little rough-looking, but Luigi always looks perfect.

Using the trusty Poltergust 5000, you will use a powerful strobe light to stun ghosts and then suck them up. Being dragged along as you try to reel in ghosts never gets old. If you’ve played any of the other games, you know exactly how it feels. Rotating the stick in the opposite direction and building up a powerful burst to bring them in is exhilarating, even if not much changes between the start and end of the story. There are times you need to use a dark light to find items that are missing, but when you are ghostbusting, it’s all about the strobe light and vacuum.

While it always feels great to capture ghosts, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD can drain on you. Being designed for the 3DS, this game goes for a mission structure. Professor E. Gadd gives you the details and teleports you to the location to find whatever it is he needs you to do. This means there is a lot of being pulled out of areas even if you want to do more exploring. It gives you a chance to compete for better score ratings, but for all of the E. Gadd dialogue and loading screens you see between missions, the story begins to drag. Because of that, it’s probably best to play a mission or two at a time rather than trying to knock large chunks out at once. I finished the story in a little over 10 hours, but I do wonder how much of that was dedicated to loading screens and listening to E. Gadd chime in to talk to me.

Anything to inconvenience Luigi

Throughout the many rooms you explore, there will be countless environmental puzzles. Some are definitely more clever than others, but a keen eye will get you through most roadblocks. Using the environment to your advantage includes grabbing objects with the vacuum to transport, rotating wheels or fans to reveal hidden rooms, and pulling on ropes to break down walls. The initiative to find every secret is daunting. I tried keeping my eyes peeled for every interactive element and still missed a lot of collectibles.

What I love about these puzzles is there is almost always a reward at the end for you. Whether that is progress through the story, a load of money, a hidden boo, or one of the collectible jewels, there are no dead ends in this game. This will have you constantly bringing in money, which not only is very satisfying, but helps you in the long run as you unlock upgrades as you cash in. As enemies are dragging you, you can charge up more powerful bursts to bring them in quickly, which is very needed by the end of the game as a lot of the ghosts get a mighty health boost in the final chapter.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD has a few bosses sprinkled in through its story, and they were fine, but nothing great. A large majority come down to basic maneuvers that end in you reeling in the same possession ghost in three tries. I enjoyed the first boss because it was left in a spider den that felt like a puzzle as you tried to lead a fire down to the web at the end of the cave, but everything else came down to running around in a circle until you had a chance to strike. None of them are bad or particularly hard, but when one of them comes down to a gauntlet of enemies being thrown at you to reach the boss, it is easy to tell Nintendo couldn’t think of a more compelling idea for that boss.

Final verdict

Overall, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD would be a great buy for someone who never played the original. If you did play the 3DS version, I’m not sure there’s much else to bring you back other than chasing some nostalgia. $60 is a bit much for a 3DS remaster, but it looks and runs well both in docked and handheld mode, and Luigi is animated brilliantly. Don’t go in expecting a genre-defining experience, and you might get a lot of value hunting ghosts through these halls. Its 3DS background might hold it back from being the best of the series, but being just behind Luigi’s Mansion 3 isn’t something to scoff at.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD was reviewed on Nintendo Switch with a code provided by Nintendo.

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