Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon team inspired by A Link to the Past
Posted on April 02 2013 by Timothy
Those who have recently purchased one of the 3DS’ best titles, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, may know that in some missions you need to escort Toad to safety out of a particular mansion where he is originally found. It’s a pretty cool element of the game and many may reminisce of the identical gameplay found in A Link to the Past where, at the introduction of the game, Link must also escort Princess Zelda out of the castle where she happens to be locked up. Well, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon director Bryce Holliday and gameplay engineer Brian Davis sat down with IGN and revealed that inspiration regarding the Toad missions did indeed come from A Link to the Past.
If you would like to read what Mr. Holliday and Mr. Davis had to say on Toad’s Zelda connection in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon then click the jump!
Here’s what Brian Davis and Bryce Holliday stated regarding the inspiration from A Link to the Past for the Toad missions in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon:
Davis: “For me, the most fun I had working with a character was the Toad character. I’m not sure you’ve played with that character yet, but there are missions where you have to find Toad, free him, and escort him out of the mansion. There’s a connection between you and Toad. The ghosts can scare him, which causes a disconnect between the two of you, and he doesn’t enjoy that. He’s very scared. As a player, you want that connection between you two. For me, when I was developing that, it reminded me of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In the very first mission, you go and find the princess and try to lead her out of the castle. I tried to keep that in mind, to kind of honor the original designers of that game and have a little anecdote in there.”
IGN: “So Toad is Zelda.”
Davis: [laughs] “Not officially.”
Holliday: “Inspired by…”
Davis: “Yeah. It was something I was thinking of while I was working on that mission.”
It’s exciting to know that developers are still gaining inspiration from the Legend of Zelda series especially for Nintendo’s first party titles. I have fond memories of, arguably, one of the best introductions for a Zelda game. Besides Majora’s Mask, I cannot recall a Zelda game which causes you to direct Link straight into danger from the get-go. Rather than the environment being all happy and peaceful, the land is being attacked and Link must jump in and escort Zelda out of the castle where she has been kidnapped. It’s great to know we can play Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon in a similar way!
Are you amazed to learn of the inspiration from the Zelda series in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon? Do you like the way A Link to the Past starts out in terms of rescuing Zelda right from the get-go? Do you think Luigi’s job in escorting Toad out of a certain mansion is an enjoyable element in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon?
Source: IGN (via NintendoEverything)
