Historians will look back on TDK's Haunted Mansion and proclaim it the best third-person action videogame ever based on a Walt Disney World amusement park attraction that inspired an Eddie Murphy action comedy. And they will be right.

As Ezekiel Holloway, geek and hapless caretaker, players get to take the role of ghostbuster, ridding a haunted mansion of its foul presence. Each room in the mansion must be lit before Holloway can begin to capture its ghosts, and a puzzle stands in the way of our hero and the light switch. Rendered in grays, browns, and muted whites, Mansion's about as beautiful as it is original; sharp-eyed players will note the eerie similarities to Nintendo's spectral vacuuming epic Luigi's Mansion.

Mansion finishes strong in the pageant not on the strength of its looks, but rather because of its sterling charm and personality. The game expertly blends physical—mostly platforming—challenges with cerebral puzzles and, in the process, keeps players guessing throughout. One room shrinks Holloway to the size of a pool ball and forces him to engage in a deadly game of billiards. In another, a series of mirrors must be shifted to create a series of reflections to illuminate the room. Each room stands as a delightful blank slate and the great fun comes not only in defeating a room's ghouls (banshees, gargoyles, skeletons, etc.) with an enchanted lantern or even solving its riddle, but also from deciphering its mechanics. Before players can set about completing their task they must first figure out what the task is and the simple joy brought about by discovering a room's raison d'etre or gimmick is like the proverbial cold drink on a very hot day.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in GMR Magazine.