In 2013, Luigi's Mansion fans rejoiced when a sequel to the 2001 GameCube classic finally launched on the Nintendo 3DS. Now, thanks to a new video from Did You Know Gaming, we now know that Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was greatly inspired by none other than the iconic British sitcom Mr. Bean.
According to the video, developer Next Level Games experimented heavily with the sequel's format during early pre-production - including trying out a detective format and a spin on the top-down hack 'n' slash Gauntlet - but it was Shigeru Miyamoto who encouraged them to keep the spirit of the original title intact, albeit with more of an episodic format.
As such, the team spent a lot of time watching Mr. Bean and wound up shaping much of Dark Moon's humour around the sitcom's central character. Luigi would effectively take on the role of a 'hapless fool' who would go on to become a rather reluctant hero. Honestly, now that we know this information, the similarities between the two characters are remarkably obvious.
Check out the full video above for more facts on the Luigi's Mansion franchise. In the meantime, Dark Moon itself is getting a remaster in 2024 for the Nintendo Switch, simply titled Luigi's Mansion 2 HD. Not much is known beyond its initial announcement and a rather vague 'Summer 2024' release window, but we're excited to find out more.