Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

, titled in Europe and Australia, is a game for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the sequel to the 2001 Nintendo GameCube game Luigi's Mansion and the second installment of the Luigi's Mansion series. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was originally released in 2013, but was soon re-released as a Player's Choice title in 2016.
This game has five mansions and equips Luigi with an upgrade of the Poltergust 3000, titled the Poltergust 5000, along with the item itself. In this game, King Boo returns and has shattered the Dark Moon into pieces turning all of the ghosts of Evershade Valley into hostile beings. It is up to Luigi to recover all of the missing Dark Moon pieces.
On June 21, 2023, it was announced in a Nintendo Direct that Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon will receive a Nintendo Switch remake under the same name as the European release.
==Story==
King Boo returns as the main antagonist. In the opening cutscene, shatters the Dark Moon into pieces, turning all of the ghosts of Evershade Valley into hostile beings. It is up to Luigi to recover all of the missing Dark Moon pieces.
Equipped with the Poltergust 5000, the Strobulb, and Dark-Light Device, Luigi travels through all the different attractions of Evershade Valley capturing ghosts along the way, collecting key objects to solve puzzles or gain access to areas tasked by E. Gadd, in addition to fighting bosses for the Dark Moon pieces. Along the way, Luigi will also encounter Toads which he'll have to escort back to E. Gadd's Bunker using old prototypes of the Pixelator screens. Luigi makes his journey through the Gloomy Manor a standard mansion, Haunted Towers a botanical garden overrun with plantlife, Old Clockworks, a clock factory with an ancient ruin underneath it, Secret Mine, a chalet and mining area on a snowy mountain, and Treacherous Mansion, a large museum built above a ravine, and has a well leading to catacombs, as well as containing the most powerful ghosts in the valley.
During Luigi's visit at the Treacherous Mansion, he saves two Toads and they show that King Boo has struck again and it is revealed he captured Mario in a similar way as before. With his older brother in danger, Luigi heads to the Train Exhibit, only to get ambushed by a multitude of Boos which form Big Boo. But after they are all captured, King Boo unleashes a paranormal portal on the Terrace, which causes a mass of powerful ghosts to pop out of it and cause the paranormal levels to skyrocket to the point that, if the ghosts are not captured quickly enough, it could cause Luigi's dimension to collapse.
Luckily, Luigi captures all of them, and gets the final Dark Moon piece from the Tough Possessor. King Boo then drags Luigi into his own illusion for a final showdown. Luigi defeats him and claims the jewel on his crown. After freeing Mario from his painting, with some help from the Toads, Luigi returns the Dark Moon back to its normal state, and thus, returning all the ghosts back to their friendly selves.
==Gameplay==
The whole gameplay is very similar to the previous Luigi's Mansion, with Luigi exploring mansions, solving puzzles and defeating ghosts now with the Poltergust 5000. This game is much more detailed in solving puzzles requiring Luigi to explore an area for a while. Now in this game, each mansion is divided up into missions with the final mission always being a boss fight along with there being an bonus mission that requires all Boos to be captured in a selected mansion to be playable.
As for controls, the player can use the R button to vacuum and L button to blow. Luigi always has his flashlight on but stunning ghosts in this game is much more different. After Luigi has acquired the Strobulb, the player can press and hold A to use the Strobe Light flash which is now required to stun ghosts before vacuuming. The player can blow objects from the Poltergust 5000 when some are sucked up. Boos in this game require a much more special way to get captured and they are, at many times, very difficult and tricky to capture. After Luigi receives the Dark-Light from E. Gadd, the player can hold Y to cast a rainbow-like light that can materialize Spirit Balls, revealing hidden doors. Boos will eventually come out and Luigi must use the Dark-Light to see them then suck up the Boos by their tongues. The player can also tilt the 3DS to look around in the room. Also, the player can press X to have Luigi look up and press B to have him look down. Replacing the Game Boy Horror from the first Luigi's Mansion is the Dual Scream, a parody of the Nintendo DS that Luigi uses to communicate to E. Gadd.
==Characters==
*Luigi
*Professor E. Gadd
*King Boo
*Toad Assistants
*Mario
*Polterpup
*Boos
*Ghosts
*Polterpup
===Enemies===
*Greenie
**Gold Greenie
**Mummy
*Slammer
*Gobber
*Hider
*Sneaker
*Creeper
*Boos
*Strong Greenie
*Strong Slammer
*Strong Gobber
*Strong Hider
*Strong Sneaker
*Mummy
*Suit of Armor
*Spiders
*Crows
*Polterpup
*Spirit Ball
*False door
*Bats
*Mice
*Beetles
*Robotic bombs
*Flytraps
*Fuzzball
*Orange flowers
*Frogs
==Sub-Bosses==
*Poltergeist
*The Three Sisters
*Ancient Poltergeist
*Paranormal Chain Ghosts
*Strong Poltergeist
*Big Boo
===Bosses===
*Grouchy Possessor
*Harsh Possessor
*Overset Possessor
*Shrewd Possessor
*Tough Possessor
*King Boo
====ScareScraper bosses====
*The Brain
*Bomb Brother
*Beetle Whisperer
*Terrible Teleporter
*Primordial Goo
*Creeper Launcher
===Items===
*Coins
*Poltergust 5000
*Keys
*Gold Bars
*Bills
*Treasure Chests
*Gems
==Music==
Unlike Luigi's Mansion, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon takes on a more orchestral style than its predecessor techno-savvy music style.
==PAL Differences==
*This game is named "Luigi's Mansion 2".
*The Pixelator is named the "Pixelshifter."
*The Poltergeist ghosts are named "Boffins" with the Ancient Poltergeist and any other stronger version of a Poltergeist are called "Boffin Elder" and "Strong Boffin."
*The Shrewd Possessor is named the "Scornful Possessor."
*The rooms of Gloomy Manor have different names as well.
**The Front Yard is called the Front Garden.
**The Mudroom is called the Side Entrance.
**The Guard Hall is called the Guard Corridor.
**The Mudroom Exterior is called the Forgotten Garden.
**The Common Hall is called the Downstairs Corridor.
**The Foyer is called the Main Hall.
**And Master Hall is called the Upstairs Corridor.
== Reception ==
Aggregate score 	Aggregate score
Metacritic 	86/100"Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
Review scores 	Review scores
4Players 	90/100Luibl, Jörg (March 22, 2013). "Test: Luigi's Mansion 2 (Action-Adventure)". 4Players.de. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
Destructoid 	9.5/10Carter, Chris (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2 review". Destructoid. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
Edge 	8/10Edge Staff (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2 review". Edge Online. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
Electronic Gaming Monthly 	8.5/10Carsillo, Ray (March 21, 2013). "EGM Review: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Archived from the original on March 25, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
Eurogamer 	9/10Welsh, Oli (March 22, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2 review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
Famitsu 	35/40"Japan Review Check: Luigi's Mansion, Castlevania, Disgaea". Polygon. March 13, 2013. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
Game Informer 	8.5/10Turi, Tim (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review - Bustin' Makes Me Feel Good". Game Informer. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
GameRevolution 	4/5Schaller, Kevin (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
GameSpot 	6.5/10Petit, Carolyn (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
GamesRadar+ 	4/5Gilbert, Henry (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". GamesRadar+. Future. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
GamesTM 	9/10"Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon review". GamesTM. March 27, 2013. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
GameTrailers 	9.3/10"Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - Review". GameTrailers. March 21, 2013. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
Giant Bomb 	4/5Navarro, Alex (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
Hardcore Gamer 	3.5/5Cunningham, James (April 13, 2013). "Review: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on December 2, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
IGN 	9.3/10MacDonald, Keza (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". IGN. Archived from the original on April 23, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
Joystiq 	3.5/5Mitchell, Richard (12 March 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon review: Ghouls' Gold". AOL. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
Nintendo Life 	9/10Watts, Martin (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". NintendoLife. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
Nintendo World Report 	9.5/10Ronaghan, Neal (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
Official Nintendo Magazine	92%Castle, Matthew (March 25, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2 review". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
Pocket Gamer 	4.5/5Rose, Mike (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
Polygon 	7/10McElroy, Griffin (March 21, 2013). "LUIGI'S MANSION: DARK MOON REVIEW: LOST SOULS". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
VideoGamer.com 	9/10White, Sam (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2 Review". VideoGamer. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon received "generally favorable reviews", receiving an 86/100 on review aggregator website Metacritic.IGN gave the game a 9.3 out of 10, citing that it was "Nintendo at its inventive best."
Matthew Castle of Official Nintendo Magazine gave it a 92%, praising the game's 3D visuals and mix of old and new features. However, he also criticized the game for its lack of checkpoints, stating that "Death, though rare, forces Luigi to restart missions from scratch, punishing 30 seconds of weak defence with up to half an hour of collecting treasure and solving puzzles for a second time which feels like rough justice when you make a silly mistake in a surprise ambush." He concluded on a positive note, stating "For as much as Luigi's Mansion 2 acts like the class clown, all shrieks and pratfalls, it has more heart than any game in recent memory when it isn't yanking them out of ghost chests, naturally. So man up Luigi and embrace your applause. Funny, gorgeous, crammed full of surprises... but enough about Luigi. Nintendo renovates one of its more oddball offerings into a must-have title. The only thing to fear is that it takes another 10 years to return."Conversely, Carolyn Petit of GameSpot gave it a 6.5 out of 10, citing "difficulty spikes and a lack of checkpoints", as well as the stiff controls, but praised the multiplayer functionality.
The visual presentation was widely lauded, with some considering the graphics to be the best yet seen on the 3DS,and Oli Welsh of Eurogamer proclaiming that it is "as close to a playable cartoon as anything since Zelda: The Wind Waker".Richard Mitchell of Joystiq and Petit deemed the atmospheric settings to be the game's strongest asset, with Petit observing that the game "perfectly captures the sort of genteel spookiness typified by Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction". The settings were compared to dioramas and ornate dollhouses,and the high amount of interactive elements that react to Luigi's vacuum were said to instill charm in the settings. The character animations, particularly Luigi's, were praised for their comedic value, with Welsh elaborating that "Every movement will make you smile, from his pot-bellied scamper when you hold down the run button to his tiptoed ghost-hunting stance, or the elaborate Stan Laurel set-ups for each scripted pratfall."The stereoscopic 3D effects were credited for significantly augmenting the game's visuals by granting added physicality and depth to the environmental details.Carter, Chris (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2 review". Destructoid. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.Carsillo, Ray (March 21, 2013). "EGM Review: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Archived from the original on March 25, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2020.Gilbert, Henry (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". GamesRadar+. Future. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2018."Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon review". GamesTM. March 27, 2013. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2020."Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - Review". GameTrailers. March 21, 2013. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2013.Navarro, Alex (March 21, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Review". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.Castle, Matthew (March 25, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2 review". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2020.Chris Carter of Destructoid singled out the ghosts as a visual highlight, but complained that the presentation of the menus was "decidedly cheap and non-Nintendo".Castle warned that players "may mourn the loss of the first game's gothic murk - spooks are more generic than the portrait ghosts".
Commentary on the audio was generally positive. The music was described as "gently foreboding" and "delightfully spooky",with Welsh attributing a Scooby-Doo-like quality,and Mitchell remarking that it "skews much closer to Alfred Hitchcock than Akira Yamaoka".Welsh commended Martinet's vocalizations,and reviewers cited Luigi's tremulous idle humming along to the background music as an endearing trait. While Tim Turi of Game Informer affectionately likened E. Gadd's unintelligible prattling to "a lovable Ewok",Kevin Schaller of GameRevolution was sometimes annoyed by his manner of speech, which he referred to as "Nintendo's version of Simlish". Apart from this, Schaller acknowledged the music as occasionally eerie and the sounds effects as convincingly fitting.
=== Awards & Nominations ===
Prior to release, Dark Moon was nominated for Best Handheld game by the Game Critics Awards, but lost to Queasy Games's Sound Shapes.Nunnely, Stephany (June 20, 2012). "Nominees for E3 2012 Game Critics Awards announced". VG247. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.Nunneley, Stephany (June 26, 2012). "Game Critics Awards - The Last of Us wins E3 Best of Show, four more awards". VG247. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022. Throughout 2013 and 2014 the game was nominated at various game award ceremonies primarily in handheld game categories,Madden, Orla (August 29, 2013). "Nintendo Featured In Nine Categories At This Year's Golden Joystick Awards". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.but lost all nominations to various other titles, including others developed by Nintendo.Hillier, Brenna (February 7, 2014). "The Last of Us takes Game of the Year at D.I.C.E. Awards 2014". VG247. Archived from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2022.Sinclair, Brendan (January 9, 2014). "The Last of Us, Tearaway, Gone Home lead GDC Award noms". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.At the NAVGTR Awards, the game was nominated in categories for its animation and control design, but lost to The Walking Dead: 400 Days and the critically acclaimed The Last of Us respectively.Allen, Thomas. "2013 Awards". NAVTGR. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2022.Various news sites considered Dark Moon to be among the best video games of 2013, including IGN, USGamer, VentureBeat, and Eurogamer.Silva, Marty (October 31, 2013). "Top Horror Games of 2013". IGN. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.Davison, Pete (December 27, 2013). "2013 in Review: Luigi's Mansion and the Best of Two Worlds". USGamer. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.Kosiec, Tom (January 10, 2014). "My top 10 games of 2013". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.Robinson, Martin (December 18, 2014). "Eurogamer Readers' Top 50 Games of 2013". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
Year	Award Ceremony 	Category 	Result 	References
2012	Game Developers Choice Awards 	Best Handheld Game 	Nominated	
2013	Golden Joystick Awards 	Best Handheld Game 	Nominated	
2013	British Academy Children's Awards	Game of 2013 	Nominated	"Children's in 2013". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
2014	17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards 	Handheld Game of the Year	Nominated	
2014	Game Developers Choice Awards 	Best Handheld/Mobile Game	Nominated	
2014	NAVGTR Awards 	Animation, Interactive 	Nominated	
2014	NAVGTR Awards 	Control Design, 3D 	Nominated	
=== Sales ===
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon debuted to high sales in the U.S.; selling 415,000 copies in the country by mid-April, it became the sixth bestselling game of the month in only a week's time in March, behind Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. 365,000 of which were physical and the rest were digital downloads.Whitehead, Thomas (April 19, 2013). "NPD Results Show Success for Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon". Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017.By mid-July, sales totalled over 750,000 units.Yin-Poole, Wesley (July 19, 2013). "Nintendo hails 3DS, Animal Crossing: New Leaf sales in the US". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.In the United Kingdom, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon charted fifth in the All Formats chart, a position it held for three consecutive weeks, becoming the first 3DS exclusive title of the year to chart.Whitehead, Thomas (April 15, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion 2 Refuses to Get Scared Out of Top 10". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.It continued to remain within the top ten charts until mid-May.Watts, Martin (May 13, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and LEGO City 3DS Stand Their Ground in UK Top 10". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.The game was the number-one bestseller in Japan for three weeks in a row, totaling 459,000 by April 7 and 68,423 were from the week prior, ahead of Animal Crossing: New Leaf.Nunneley, Stephany (April 10, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon still retail king in Japan". VG247. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.Sales tracker Media Create reported that the game had sold over eighty percent of its shipment in its debut week.Sahdev, Ishaan (March 29, 2013). "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Sells 85% Of Shipment". Siliconera. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.According to Nintendo of America's senior product marketing director Bill Trinen, the successful launches of Dark Moon and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity helped push 3DS sales up 50 percent to a total of 20 million, and expected that 3DS sales would "really take off" in 2013.Makuch, Eddie (April 19, 2013). "3DS US physical software sales hit 20 million". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.Within its first week, worldwide sales reached over 1 million, and by the end of October, 3.13 million."Dark Moon Cracks One Million Units Worldwide in March". Nintendo World Report. April 24, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2022.Makuch, Eddie (October 31, 2013). "Animal Crossing: New Leaf sales pass 6 million". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2022.As of December 31, 2020, the game has sold 6.44 million copies worldwide and is the twelfth-bestselling game on the 3DS.2021CESAゲーム白書 (2021 CESA Games White Papers). Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association. 2021. ISBN 978-4-902346-43-5.
==Trivia==
*This is Luigi's third time starring a role in a video game.
*Unlike the original Luigi's Mansion, Dark Moon has a total of five mansions that Luigi explores.
*The battle style in this game is much different, definitely making this game much harder and easier both than Luigi's Mansion.
*Luigi hums to the main theme of this game when moving around the mansion.
*Professor E. Gadd makes a reference to how turning down the brightness of a mobile device saves its battery. He makes this reference as soon as Luigi makes it to the first mansion.
*Though they are all labeled as mansions, neither the Old Clockworks or Secret Mine are actual mansions.
*Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was the first game that was released as part of the Year of Luigi, honoring 30 years since Luigi's debut.
**Another thing is the game is for the Nintendo 3DS so this could be a theory.
*The mansions (Gloomy Manor, Haunted Towers, Old Clockworks, Secret Mine, Treacherous Mansion), possessors (Grouchy, Harsh, Overset, Shrewd, Tough), and bonus missions (Gradual Infiltration, Hostile Intrusion, Outlandish Interruption, Severe Infestation, Terrifying Invasion) all spell out GHOST.
== Gallery ==
==References==
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Category:Luigi's Mansion series
Category:Nintendo 3DS games
Category:Year of Luigi games
Category:2013 games