what problems are you referring to?
And backing up my statement, LM1 was a very innovative game in the feeling of progress at which it brought forth. Rather than seeing a percentage on your screen, you actively start to light up the mansion, making it more safe and giving aesthetic progress to the player.
With LM2, not only are the areas more complex, the overall goal seems less important, and lights turn on and off in rooms, in my opinion, that it kind of lacks that visual progress that the first brought.
Don't get me wrong, they're both great games. Nostalgia of course plays into my liking of LM1, I just think it's a better game overall.
I'm not sure I follow. Is visual progression the reason you think LM1 is better? That's it?
I personally think the level design is stronger in LM2. The mansions all have a great sense of cohesiveness and dynamics that keeps it consistently fresh and exciting. No room is the same, and ghosts interact with the every room better and bring a new gimmick with that, which is the biggest problem I felt with LM1 as it lacked that. It lacked variety, where for the most part the rooms are just a different coat of paint. Your objective in them are mostly the same. It makes up for it with the boss ghosts, I suppose.
Their biggest issue is the lack of polish though. LM1 was a rushed launch title, and LM2 was too bloated. Neither are "amazing", they're both just "great". They have problems that hold them back from being masterpieces. I love both of them, though.