Nintendo have christened 2013 the "Year of Luigi", and the lean, green screaming machine's time to shine kicks off next month with the release of Luigi's Mansion 2 for the 3DS. Much like it's 2002 GameCube predecessor, the game is a silly take on the horror genre with the green overall-clad hero sucking up all manner of ghosts and ghouls with his specially adapted vacuum cleaner, the Poltergust 5000 in his search for the pieces of the mysterious Dark Moon.
M-M-M-M-Mario?
With several different mansions to explore, Weegie certainly has his work cut out for him - and it seems the ghosts have got a bit craftier over the past decade, as he needs to use new techniques to capture them. For starters, simply shinning his torch on them isn't enough to stun them any more - fortunately nutty Professor E. Gadd has thought of this and added a Strobulb to the Poltergust, which can stun the ghosts with it's flashes, giving you chance to hoover them up. But not all ghosts are willing to go down without a fight, as many of them have their own methods of blocking the light from the Strobulb - saucepan helmets, sunglasses and shovels to name but a few - so you'll need to work out how to disarm them all first.
Ghosts aren't the only thing you can suck up though, as you'll often need to use your vacuum cleaner to solve the mansions' many puzzles - using it to spin a ceiling fan around to dislodge a key, sucking up a spiky ball before blowing it into an enemy's mouth, or inflating a balloon to carry Luigi to a higher platform, for example. You also receive a brand new Dark-Light Device, which emits a special glow which reveals and rebuilds items that have previously disappeared, such as sections of mine cart track, or the tracks of the gold-sniffing ghost pup who seems to have an important role in the game's story.
If the Polterpup manages to steal any of your gold items, you'll have to track him down to get them back.
As an aside from the main game, Luigi's Mansion 2 also boasts a selection of multiplayer modes for both online and local games. Playing as green, blue, orange and manly pink overalled versions of Luigi, you all work together to scale a large ghoul-infested tower called the Thrill Tower in one of three different modes. Hunter Mode has everyone working together to defeat all the ghosts on each floor of the building, while Rush mode requires you to find the hatch to escape each room as fast as you can and the final mode, Chase, has everyone trying to track down and catch all the Polterpups in each level.
Luigi's Mansion 2 hits the 3DS on the 28th of March this year and will be available from both shops and as a (extortionately priced) digital download from the Nintendo eShop.
