When it comes to silly plots, the sequel to the 2001 Gamecube launch title takes the cake. Luigi's Mansion 2 is lucky that it's amazingly executed because it could never rely on its storyline to hold its own in a fight.
Professor E. Gadd has had to evacuate his mansionbecause a malevolent spirit broke the Dark Moon, turning all his friendly ghosts into horrible ones. The Professor summons habitual scaredy cat Luigi and arms him with a flashlight (called a Strobulb) and a pimped-out vacuum cleaner, lovingly called the Poltergust 5000.
The Strobulb freezes ghosts in their tracks while the Poltergust 5000 sucks them up. It can also suck up coins, carpet, wallpaper and debris to reveal hidden items and areas. That, in a nutshell, is the game. It's simplistic, yet puzzling at the same time. There's a bit of backtracking to do in the game with locked doors requiring keys that might be hidden several rooms back but areas are nice and small so travelling back and forth is never a chore.
The game's controls are a delight and so well designed that multiple button presses are never needed. But that is the essence of Luigi's Mansion 2 - a delight to play without being frustratingly over-designed and visuals that make it one of the best games on the 3DS to date.
The online and local multiplayer elements seem like a bit of an afterthought and pale in comparison to the single player mode. The 3DS is starved for genuinely good titles and you can always count on Nintendo to deliver one. Luigi's Mansion 2 is a must for any collection.
