PIPE DREAMS - Luigi’s Mansion 4 would be the perfect balm to restore an industry in turmoil
Bring back some jolliness, please?!
By Jonathan Garrett
15/04/24
PIPE DREAMS? This is an opportunity for us to dream big, with a wish list of features and ideas for games that haven’t been formally revealed, as well as debating the possibilities of how a series could evolve in the future.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 was an unhinged blend of smart iteration and charming touches; a game so wholesome that it deserves to be played by even the most jaded Nintendo fan. Developer Next Level Games poured every ounce of their considerable experience into one of Switch’s best exclusives, and the unquestionable success of this threequel led to them being acquired by the Big N. Given their predominantly positive track record of looking after teams and nurturing talent, it’s a safe bet that their future as a studio is now secure.
We know that an HD re-release of Dark Moon (the second Luigi’s Mansion game) is already cooking, and due for release on Switch this June. It’ll be the first time the 3DS title has ever graced another platform, and Next Level are again behind the wheel. You have to imagine though, with Mario Strikers: Battle League released back in 2022, that their next full fat release is on the horizon. If that happens to be Luigi’s Mansion 4, then we’re ready, especially as the gaming news is feeling pretty negative.
MEANGINFUL CO-OP - Gooigi was a smart way to include campaign co-op in the third instalment, but he always felt like a piece of equipment rather than a fully fledged character. We’d love to see an abstract team up in a theoretical fourth adventure; Luigi and Waluigi begrudgingly working together, or perhaps even Professor E. Gadd finally getting out of the lab and into the action.
EXPLORE NEW TROPES - We’ve had mansions and a haunted hotel across all three existing titles, with each one indulging us with heavily themed areas ready to subvert expectation. We’d love to see a follow up broaden things up a bit by perhaps taking a cue from Ghostbusters and introducing some larger town or even city sized play spaces. Super Mario Odyssey’s New Donk City was certainly willing to go there after all.
MUMBO JUMBO - One farfetched concept we’d dreamed up was Banjo Kazooie style transformations, where Luigi takes on different forms to access secret areas, or even interact with ghouls in a new way. If he was able to adopt certain disguises that offered specific buffs, it could be a nice way for them to continue evolving the mechanics.
His shaky line reading of “Mario” will always be iconic.