P-Vock's Music Box: Dead Man's Manor
Hello and welcome back to P-Vock's Music Box.
Maybe I've finally lost it from all the coffee. Maybe it's my carefully constructed emotional walls crumbling around me. Maybe it's the fact that my October has been dominated by building a massive Haunted House at work (check out the Zed Haunted House this year, it's dope). Or maybe, there's just something in the air this October.
Either way, I'm kind of having fun this October. I'm almost, dare I say, in a spooky mode.
So, I think I can honour this spooky mood by discussing the first video game that ever unnerved me.
Yes, when I was a stupid dumb baby kid, Luigi's Mansion creeped me out. I don't know what precisely did it, but the game had me rather afraid back then. The game had mansion was actually ominous, the ghosts were spooky and actually ready to kill Luigi, and there was even a terrifying voice when you turned on the game.
Hear that alone one Saturday night when you boot up the game for first time at the age of nine and tell me it wouldn't get to you!
*Ahem Anyway, the music!
Within the realm of being a game in the Mario series, this is actually a somewhat foreboding piece of music. The harsh strings, the theremin, the LUIGI. It all adds to a delightfully spooky atmosphere that I honestly cherish as an adult. Few pieces of media really use diegetic sounds in their soundtracks, and when you walk around the mansion looking for Mario, hearing the big scaredy Luigi nervously hum along with the music is an infinitely charming detail that I can never get enough of.
Contrast that with the main theme of the Luigi's Mansion sequel...
While it definitely isn't even close to what we hear in the first game, I think this does the job quite well. While it doesn't have the heart-pounding bass or the ultimate sex appeal of LUIGI like what we first heard, it still delivers a fun and frantic sound that remains tonally consistent with the setting of this little side series.
Both of these pieces are honestly great, but they're very different. You could tell me they're from different franchises and I'd believe you.
Lucky for me, we'd eventually get a third game that meshes the two styles rather well.
So, I still believe the first piece obliterates this when compared, but this is some good stuff. A nice mix of spooky and fun that sets you up for what is honestly one of the best Halloween-themed video games of all time. I wonder if this would have unnerved me at the age of 9...
Eh, probably not.
While the style of the first game was never really replicated, each of the three Luigi's Mansion games are wonderful.
They have charm
They have heart
They have atmosphere
THEY. HAVE. LUIGI!
So if you ever have the chance and want to get into that perfect Halloween mood, please play any of these games. You're in for a fantastic time every time.
Thank you, as always, for checking out my nonsense. I'll hopefully catch you back here next time with another suggestion from my Music Box.
Stay Brutal.