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Content review for this game:
Pertaining to content listed in the upper left corner of this site.
"E" for everyone: The story starts out with Luigi receiving a letter in the mail, informing him that he's won a beautiful mansion. When he arrives, he finds the mansion to be a dark, forboding, and a dilapitated shack of a house (although it is very large). And when he finally plucks up the courage to actually enter the mansion, he soon finds that it's haunted and infested by ghosts. Now to get rid of them....The violence is extremely mild, and very comparable to a Saturday morning cartoon.
Even though it isn't very violent, the overall atmosphere is very spooky, and many of the game's bosses are moderately bizzare and could scare some younger kids. An example is one of the earliest bosses, who is a baby ghost. When you wake him up (he's sleeping in his crib), he'll start to cry very loudly, and then suck Luigi into his crib and shrink him to the size of an action figure. The baby now appears giant, and will pound outside the crib while wailing eerily. He then sends flying rocking horses telekenetically (with his mind), and then tries to smother Luigi with his body. It may not sound too bad on paper, but when you add the bizzare sound effects and dark oversized environment, it could, like I said, spook more sensitive children. But this probably will be a non-issue for older kids.
Content-wise: Kids 6- could watch some areas of this game, but, as I said, most of it does have an overall dark, somewhat scary atmosphere, with ghosts jumping out of nowhere, and chasing you throughout. Little kids could walk around after you've cleared the whole mansion or a room of ghosts, which results in the lights turning on, too. They can also use the A button to make Luigi say "Mario!" in several funny and entertaining tones.
Difficulty-wise: The difficulty is more suited to kids 7+, seeing that you have to use both analog sticks to perform the main objective: catching ghosts. To catch a ghost you use the left analog stick to move Luigi, hold down the back R trigger to turn the vacumm on, and use the right analog stick to reel the ghost in, depending on their position in relation to Luigi. And even before you can catch a ghost, you have to lure it in by turning off your flashlight, while holding the B button, and then turn it back on to stun the ghost. If you don't do either correctly, the ghost will disappear, and you'll have to start all over. So, even some 7 year-olds could have some problems getting used to it, and the further you get into the game, the more challenging the ghosts become.
Fun for: This game isn't near as deep as say The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker or Super Mario Sunshine, in either length or gameplay, but is very fun for kids and adults. In fact, many of the control elements, and especially later bosses are more suited to adults.
Closing comment: This game is pretty much a sleeper hit, which is too bad because it is a really good game. It has sharp/colorful graphics, a great atmosphere, very unique/fun gameplay, and an entertaining take on the Mario Universe's story. Content-wise, It does have an overall spooky atmosphere, with many of the ghost bosses portrayed in a cartoony, but mildly bizzare way, which could scare some younger kids. Difficulty-wise, the game mechanics could definitely be hard for kids 6-, and even some 7 year-olds. So, overall I recommend this game for ages 7+.
