Luigi’s Mansion is one of the first games I ever played and I absolutely adore everything about it. I love the menus, the music, the sounds, pretty much everything.

So when Nintendo announced a 3DS version and that it was by Grezzo, I had a few reservations as well as a few hopes.

Grezzo have proven themselves to me as competent remake developers by their work on the N64 Zelda remakes, and while some people don’t like the changes they made to Majora’s Mask, I actually do like the majority of them. That said, they did make changes and there were some I didn’t like. Luigi’s Mansion is like a childhood treasure to me and while I know it’s rediculous to expect every detail to be the same, it is a thought that will come up no matter how absurd I know it is.

So let me categorize my thoughts on what I did like changed, what I didn’t like, and just nitpicks. I’ll start with nitpicks.

My nitpicks with the game are as follows.

-I miss how Chauncey’s appearance timed with the music.

-They didn’t sync up Luigi’s “Mario!” to his animation, missed opportunity in my opinion

-Rooms seem like they’re lighter than the original

-Area doors don’t have vines anymore

-I don’t like how the camera zooms in whenever vines on doors do appear

-I miss the Pegasus statues in the gallery

-The portraits don’t fall into place when skipping through with the A button on the results screen, they just pop up.

Again, these are just nitpicks and I don’t hold any of these against the game. Hell, the only thing on this list I could debate being on the ‘things I don’t like’ list is the lighter rooms which I believe was something they did because the 3DS has a smaller screen and resolution, which would make things harder to see.

What I don’t like

-Several effects are worse

-The controls surrounding the C-stick are worse

-The Hidden Mansion isn’t flipped.

Both of these I blame entirely around the limitations of the 3DS and not Grezzo. Lighting effects and particle effects are going to be worse no matte what because the 3DS simply isn’t as strong as the GameCube. With controls, Luigi’s Mansion wasn’t designed with the 3DS’ button layout in mind, and because this game also has to be fully playable with original 3DS models, can’t depend on the Circle Pad Pro or the New 3DS C-stick.

With the Hidden Mansion not being flipped, that’s a legit gripe I have. I don’t get why they brought all the changes the PAL Hidden Mansion has, but didn’t flip it. It sucks, but the 3DS version has additions to the Hidden Mansion that makes up for the lack of it being flipped.

So, already most of my issues with this version stem from things that are nostalgia blindness and system necessities, which should show that this is an outstanding version of the game.

Changes I do like:

-Platinum Rank Portraits and S-Rank Mansion

-Achievemets to incentivise further replays

-Co-op

-Redesigned Gallery

-Replay any boss or portrait in the gallery

-Money stays in the world longer

-You can return to the lab from the foyer

-Hidden Mansion gives a 50% health boost to all ghosts

-Models are more detailed, despite the lower polycount and resolution

-Texture and colors are more vibrant

In conclusion, while I’ll always prefer the original because of how much more I prefer the atmosphere provided by the effects of the game and the bettter controls, the 3DS version has a ton of merit to stand on its own and is still an excellent and updated way to play a 17 year old game.