Luigi’s Mansion 3 is very much a return to the first game, rather than the multiple small mansion structure of the 3DS second game in the series. Not that the second game was bad, but it works better as one big mansion. Or rather, one big hotel as it is here.
Each floor is themed, with a boss ghost that fits into that theme, and the aim is to beat the bosses to get the lift buttons to allow you to reach new floors. There are a few diversions along the way, Polterkitty being one and a main irritation as she steals a button and you have to chase her around the hotel for reasons of artificially lengthening the game. If you remember, the original Luigi’s Mansion was purposefully short, with Nintendo explaining that’s how people prefer their games, so it’s a little odd to do this.
Another diversion is when you have to navigate the lower basement, complete with the worst control scheme and associated boss in the game. Moving your inflatable duck around in order to avoid spikes and mines is incredibly fiddly and frustrating, and is definitely the worst bit of the game.
But those two things are pretty much all I can say that’s negative. The rest is a joy from start to finish, with gorgeous visuals in that way only Nintendo can create, pleasing to solve puzzles, humorous events and characters, and the best selection of in-game toilets I’ve seen in a very long time. After I’d cleared about three floors I realised there was in-game co-op too – not just the same sort of multiplayer modes from the 3DS games. This meant I could play the whole of the rest of the game with my daughter, and it was great!