Nintendo announces Luigi’s Mansion for NSO, so it’s time for triple the suction
Many of us have walked the halls of Luigi’s Mansion, hoovering up those ghosts and uncovering the secrets, but how many have played the original? I personally haven’t, since it came out the year I was born, and much to my chagrin, I wasn’t born a gaming prodigy. If you’re in the same boat as me and were too young to play, or maybe you just haven’t seen your GameCube in several decades, then you’re in luck. As of October 30, Luigi’s Mansion – the original one – will land on your Nintendo Switch 2 so that it can take its rightful place among its sequels just in time for the spookiest season.
As a launch title for GameCube, Luigi’s Mansion is similar to the sequel versions we zoomers know and love today, Poltergust and all. Though initially it didn’t sell amazingly well, it’s now the fifth-best-selling title for the retro console to date, eventually prompting Nintendo to release a sequel. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (often known as Luigi’s Mansion 2) originally came out on the Nintendo 3DS, but received a Switch port last year. The older sibling of both games, Luigi’s Mansion 3, was, of course, released on Switch from the beginning, completing the set on the newest generation of consoles.
To get it, you’ll need a Switch 2 and a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership – but once you have both of those things, you’ll be gulping down ghosts in no time at all, as Luigi’s Mansion won’t cost you anything extra. We’re sufficiently excited to see the original Luigi’s Mansion make it to Switch, although some people aren’t too happy about the fact that the game can’t be owned and requires a membership. I understand the feeling – it’s like Nintendo is leasing you access to the game, something that there’s been chatter online about for a long time in regard to Steam, which added a disclaimer about this last year.
Regardless of owning or not owning the game, it’s very worth signing up for NSO, with a number of other excellent ports across old Nintendo consoles, including Japan-exclusive Mario and Wario, the iconic Forsaken 64, plus everyone’s favorite bot returns in Chibi-Robo. There have been so many announcements that it’s worth getting an NSO membership just for the anticipation of what’s next, I think. The library is highly likely to get even bigger, making it more tempting as time goes on.
I guess that settles which Halloween game I’ll be playing this year, though the competition is fierce. If you want to chat about any other horror games I should be playing, join the Pocket Tactics Discord server and hit me with your recommendations. Plus, I visited the Nintendo pop-up store in London recently, so follow Pocket Tactics’ TikTok soon to find out how I got on (and if I have any money left).
