This is one of those “of course you have to play it” games, which is kind of what Nintendo specializes in.
Modeled after the “Resident Evil“ model of navigating a gated area full of unfriendly undead critters, “Luigi’s Mansion” offers its own creative spin on the theme by going more kid/family friendly.
Luigi has a vacuum strapped to his back to battle an array of ghosts, a concept so obviously borrowed from “Ghostbusters” that it feels more like an homage than a theft.
What the game does really well is require problem-solving in clearing each room. The puzzles here — generally about how to suck up a pesky ghost who won’t cooperate with the standard procedure — are fairly simple to work out, but they add variety to the game, keeping the thing from getting tedious.
It’s really good, but it doesn’t quite rise to the level of my top 100. Evaluated as a spooky season game to return to on the occasional October however, it’s one of the all-time greats.