Luigi's Mansion

One of the best gifts I got this Christmas was a copy of the video game "Luigi's Mansion" for the Nintendo Gamecube from my best friend (thanks Sonja!). Yes, I enjoy the occasional video game, particularly if it comes from the Mario (or in this case, Luigi) genre. I also enjoy the Donkey Kong games, but I digress.

I had tried the game a couple of times before (my sister owns it) and hadn't really liked it since I found sucking up ghosts with a vacuum cleaner a wee bit difficult. Owning the game myself allowed me to practice a lot more and I really started to enjoy it. Anyway, I've pretty much been playing the game non-stop since Wednesday, and today I BEAT THE GAME!

Now I have to confess, I had some help. A lot of help, actually. I downloaded a walk-through off the internet (hey, they publish whole books on how to beat the games, and I got the information for free!) and have been using it to help me figure out exactly where to go for each stage of the game. It also contains a handy map so I know the names of each of the rooms I have to go to. I could have figured out the game on my own, but it would have taken a lot longer.

The game was a lot of fun, but I found it a little too easy in some instances. I read an online review of the game that said that because it was one of the first games released for the gamecube, it was mostly designed to show players exactly what the gamecube could do. In some cases I really found this to be true. It was still really neat, so I'm not complaining. Apparently if I restart the game now, I'll have the option of trying a harder mansion, so I'm eager to explore that option. And this time I'll do it all on my own . . . maybe!