How Luigi`s Mansion 2: Dark Moon Created a True Underdog Hero
(N4G GameCube)

By the time Luigis Mansion 2: Dark Moon came out in 2013, the strangeness of focusing an entire game on Marios overlooked sibling sidekick was long forgotten. Yet back in 2001, just before the Gamecubes launch, Luigi had barely developed from his origin as a pixel-swapped Mario for a second player. Sure, you were probably familiar with his lazy, leg-flailing high jumps in Super Mario Bros 2. Maybe you had the misfortune to experience him in the question-and-answer misery of Mario Is Missing. But he hadnt even landed a cameo in Super Mario 64, and in Yoshis Island, he was just a green baby. Then came Luigis Mansion, and how fitting that it was in part a deconstruction of how his was a life lived in the shadow of his superstar brother. Thrust reluctantly into the role of hero, Luigis ghostbusting powers are entirely granted by the Poltergust 3000 strapped to his back. He cant even jump: when you press the A button, he quaveringly calls for Mario. It forges Luigi a full iden...