Luigi's Mansion GAMECUBE/Wii

While it won't win many points for originality, Luigi's Mansion is great fun to play, and it's a perfect showcase for the GameCube's graphics horsepower. In the game, Luigi - Mario's younger brother and co-star of several games through the years - has inherited a spooky old mansion provided he can summon the courage to spend the night within its haunted walls. Luigi arrives prepared to clean house using a Ghostbusters-like device that stuns the ghosts with light and then vacuums them up safely. The gameplay gets tricky when some of the bigger light-shy ghosts vanish before you can put the Hoover on them. And, should one of the spectral pests sneak up on Luigi, he loses courage and the common currency of all Mario-inspired games: gold coins. Graphically, the game is amazing for its translucent ghosts, mirrored images, and particle effects (Luigi's vacuum device will also suck the dust off a chair and the mist out of a freezer). The game's campy visuals are more cute than spooky, so even jittery Mario fans will love this one.