If you're old like me, you may remember playing an early Nintendo GameCube game named "Luigi's Mansion." It came out way back in 2001!
It wasn't anything like a typical Super Mario game — instead of jumping on Goombas and clearing treacherous gaps, Luigi was sneaking around a haunted mansion with a flashlight and a vacuum. His goal: Stun the villainous ghosts with his flashlight, then vacuum them up. Naturally!
The game is getting a huge new sequel this holiday, named "Luigi's Mansion 3," and it was by far the most fun I had with any of Nintendo's games at the show. The reason is simple: It's something totally fresh compared with the rest of Nintendo's big games this year.
"Pokémon Sword & Shield" will assuredly appeal to the tens of millions of Pokémon fans who repeatedly buy new Pokémon games, and the re-make of a classic "Legend of Zelda" game is enticing to people who played the original as well as people who didn't.
But both games are extremely familiar, whereas "Luigi's Mansion 3" is something totally different: It's got a silly-spooky vibe, unique gameplay, and it stars an underappreciated Nintendo character.
It was the most fun I had playing any of Nintendo's strong lineup of upcoming Switch games, and it's the one I'm most excited to learn more about as 2019 continues.