Next Level on respecting original devs and fans for sequels while understanding current differences, Mr. Bean inspiration, more
It has taken over a decade for Nintendo to come out with a second Luigi’s Mansion game in Dark Moon. Nintendo is not, however, making the game themselves. Next Level Games is handing the primary development of the 3DS title.
Next Level Games’ Bryce Holliday recently spoke about the need to “respect the original developers and the fans” when it comes to “sequelling or bringing back a franchise”. At the same time, he acknowledged that “you can also figure out what’s different from then to now, and one of the big differences is the hardware has changed.”
“When you’re sequelling or bringing back a franchise, you need to respect the original developers and the fans of the product. But you can also figure out what’s different from then to now, and one of the big differences is the hardware has changed.”
What makes Luigi’s Mansion nostalgic? Supervisor Ryuichi Nakada believes it all boils down to atmosphere:
“When we think of the nostalgic element of the GameCube version of Luigi’s Mansion, it’s the atmosphere. It’s the balance between the slight horror and slight humor that people feel nostalgic about. So we knew if we were able to create that same feeling, the fans wouldn’t feel that we betrayed them.”
Interestingly, Next Level Games took inspiration from the Mr. Bean television series in making Dark Moon. Luigi is like the comedic character in the sense that “You know he’s going to get into trouble, but you’re kind of surprised about where it’s going to come from.”
Holliday told Polygon:
“Watching Luigi is kind of like watching a Mr. Bean episode. You know he’s going to get into trouble, but you’re kind of surprised about where it’s going to come from. We did watch a lot of Mr. Bean in the beginning to get reference for the character animations, so he’s kind of like that hapless fool and reluctant hero. He’s trying to live his life, but you know what the joke is before he does.”
Next Level’s ultimate hope is for players to get the sense that they are in fact playing a Luigi’s Mansion game when playing Dark Moon:
“We’re hoping that when people play the sequel, they’ll say, ‘Wow, this is a Luigi’s Mansion game,’. If we can get people to say that, then we’ll have done our job.”
