Luigi’s Mansion comes back to life on 3DS

Nintendo has announced that the Gamecube classic Luigi’s Mansion will be reappearing on the 3DS, during Nintendo’s recent Direct:

Textures and models have been visibly updated, most notably the green plumber himself. His design is now up to date with more recent games while still keeping his expressive animations. Environments are more detailed as well, with higher-res textures helping to make the mansion the best it can be. The YouTube channel GameXplain has helpfully created a side-by-side comparison between the trailer and the original so you can see in detail the graphical differences, which you can watch here.

Apart from visual touch-ups, the remake has made excellent use of the 3DS’s dual screens. The game’s map will be shown at all times, making the mansion a little more convenient to navigate. The boo and coin counter have been relocated to the bottom screen as well, which leaves the game looking less cluttered. The remake will feature a new boss rush mode, which is nice since a common criticism of the original game was its short play time. Whether or not the remake will include the ‘hidden mansion’ – a more difficult version of the game that was unlocked upon completing the story – was not mentioned.

Some are expressing disappointment that this remake is on the 3DS’s lower-resolution screen instead of the Switch. But as Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon sold over 5 million copies on the handheld console, this was to be expected. Luigi’s Mansion 3DS will release sometime this year, though no specific date was given.