Sure I was disappointed with the fact that Mario wasn't a part of the launch. I played Luigi a little bit at E3 and Spaceworld, but I really wanted to save the experience for when I could actually sit down and play in a quiet environment. I'm glad I did.

I've played up until beating the first major boss. I want to wait to play more at home. This is a game I want to savor, and not rush though. I also don't want to spoil anything for anyone out there (plus I don't read Japanese), so these impressions will be rather generic.

Upon boot up, you have 3 save game slots where you can start your game from. You press start, and there's a cool little intro, and then you begin the same tutorial as we played at Spaceworld.

Getting into the game though, I noticed a lot more than was possible at Spaceworld, or E3. First thing, was the sound. Even though I have to wait until I get home to hear how the surround is...the stereo sound is fantastic. Luigi is always making some sort of noise. When you are walking around he'll hum or even whistle the theme song! We all found ourselves humming and whistling along. Then, if you press the A button Luigi will call out for Mario! I almost fell over at this point. There's a couple calls...from a long, "Maaaaaarrriiioooooooo", to a questioning, "Maaario???", to the impaitient, "Mario!". It's a small thing, but a really neat addition. More on audio when I get home.

Toad is in the game, and interacted with like he was in Mario 64. He's kind of your guide where he gives you tips on what to do. He's very cute and animated beautifully...although he sure cries a lot. It's obvious he misses Mario much, but has faith in Luigi.

I finally got to mess with the Game Boy horror as well. If you press the Y key, you go into first person mode where you can look all over the room, pressing A will identify the object that you are looking at. One major thing we discovered was by aiming at exposed mirrors and pressing A sent you to a Warp! You'll warp to other areas by doing this, as long as you've already been in the area. It's a quicker way to get around, and graphically it's really trippy! The GBH is also used as a map, phone, and score keeper.

Score? Yes, you get scored in Luigi's Mansion. Your score is based on how much gold, cash, coins, and pearls you get by the end of the level. I'm actually really happy Nintendo added this.

As far as the gameplay, you go from room to room sucking down regular ghosts, and per world there's a couple of the mini-boss type ghosts. These you'll have to figure out how to be able to suck them down. You won't be able to just flash-and-suck, because opon shining your flashlight on them, they will disappear quickly. There will be some sort of action that they will have to do, or you will have to interact with the environment in some way to be able to attack them and nab them ghostbuster style. Some are a little more tricky than others, but it makes the game a lot more interesting.

Upon beating the first major boss, your score is then tallied, and then you can go down to the gallery. Each mini boss and boss get pressed back into a painting that gets hung in the gallery. I guess this would be like getting a star in Mario 64, where you can gauge how far you are in the game by looking here. So far we've noticed there's about thirty empty frames in the gallery that you will need to fill with pictures. This isn't saying that there couldn't be multiple levels to the gallery, which I think will be able to be accessed later in the game. This game is going to be HUGE!

Overall, I'm a lot more excited about this game now than I was at E3 and Spaceworld. It's graphically beautiful, funny, and going to be a blast! Nintendo may have disapointed some with the lack of a Mario title at launch, and I'm not exactly sure if Luigi's Mansion is a replacement. What I will say is that it's an excellent game so far, and I really cannot wait to get home and play more. Nintendo obviously works in mysterious ways, but Luigi's Mansion will not disappoint. Kudos Nintendo! VIVA LUIGI!