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Maniac Mansion

Developer / Publisher: Lucasfilm Games
October 1987
Maniac Mansion - cover art
Glitchwave rating
3.28 / 5.0
0.5
5.0
 
 
154 Ratings / 2 Reviews
#2,024 All-time
#6 for 1987
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1989 Lucasfilm Games  
2xFloppy 3.5"
Show all 7 releases
1990 Lucasfilm Games  
2xFloppy 5.25"
ES
1990 LucasArts  
Cartridge
XNA
1993 Lucasfilm Games  
Cartridge
ES 0 32264 90012 3 NES-JM-ESP/ESP
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Title
Historical value aside as one of the first games to introduce cutscenes and point-and-click prompts instead of syntax guessing, "Maniac Mansion" still holds up pretty well. It's impressive how such an old graphic adventure could already offer the possibility of switching between characters with unique skills and finding different ways to clear the game by passing inventory items from one character to another and coordinating their actions. In addition, the wacky, tongue-in-cheek humor and cheap B-movie references that would become a trademark of LucasArts graphic adventures are already at their best here.

The only problem is that the game won't let you know when your run has become unwinnable. Not only do most puzzles have absurd solutions, but it's also incredibly easy to waste an essential item and get stuck at a dead end without even knowing. It's true that once you know what to do and what not to do, it should take about one hour to complete the game, yet it can get really frustrating as you can easily spend hours wandering around the mansion without even knowing that you have already locked yourself out of victory.
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manicure 2022-09-23T12:33:10Z
2022-09-23T12:33:10Z
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campaign 100% complete
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Title
Maniac Mansion launched the LucasArts empire which would make extensive use of its SCUMM engine(Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion). Maniac Mansion developed quite organically and is one of the more fascinating creation stories, based in large part by the developers growing tired of Sierra Adventures' text commands and stuck situations. Although LucasArts still had to conduct their code of "no lose states" from Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion is an inspired and tactful as a point-and-click adventure game. You lead a group of three kids out of seven, based on your choice, the difference being in the minutae of how to acomplish one particular task based on your skillset. They're really nice kids with a lot of cute personality. Like there's a photographer, an aspiring novelist, a stereotypical nerd, surfing dudebro, and two band members hosting a new wave/Siouxie-and-the-Banshees expy group. Otherwise the kids all operate mostly the same, and you traverse a haunted house full of floors and rooms, while knowing when to avoid the watching inhabitants as they move room-to-room(informed beforehand through cutscenes).

Maniac Mansion is scripted in advance with its events and asks the player to improvise as he goes along, and through several lose states it is possible to know how to beat the game by trial and error, but from a modern perspective you'll still be several conveniences short. For example you need to know how to operate a flashlight in order to traverse dark rooms, and you need to know how to carefully coordinate your three kids by sending them all to different places, out of danger, to best use their skillsets.
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Clownboss 2016-08-20T21:00:46Z
2016-08-20T21:00:46Z
3.5
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Catalog

System_of_a_David Maniac Mansion 2024-03-20T07:08:58Z
2024-03-20T07:08:58Z
3.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
QuodDixi3161 Maniac Mansion 2024-01-31T02:13:05Z
2024-01-31T02:13:05Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
JeuneEpsy Maniac Mansion 2024-01-28T11:18:48Z
2024-01-28T11:18:48Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
JesseSpoons Maniac Mansion 2024-01-18T18:02:50Z
2024-01-18T18:02:50Z
3.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
hevykofe Maniac Mansion 2024-01-12T22:58:11Z
2024-01-12T22:58:11Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
LocoJake Maniac Mansion 2024-01-03T17:11:25Z
2024-01-03T17:11:25Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
cronoclone Maniac Mansion 2023-12-31T20:58:51Z
C64/C128
2023-12-31T20:58:51Z
3.0
1
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
ceruleanpunch Maniac Mansion 2023-12-27T01:03:06Z
2023-12-27T01:03:06Z
3.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
angerwolf Maniac Mansion 2023-12-24T09:25:07Z
2023-12-24T09:25:07Z
3.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Zippybing Maniac Mansion 2023-12-22T22:32:45Z
C64/C128
2023-12-22T22:32:45Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
PC_GENS
Zippybing Maniac Mansion 2023-12-20T02:53:46Z
NES • XNA
2023-12-20T02:53:46Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Everdrive_NES+FDS
buddysnatcher Maniac Mansion 2023-12-19T08:56:00Z
2023-12-19T08:56:00Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Player modes
Single-player
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  • clangamer42 2021-09-24 19:20:07.847171+00
    The house and everyone within a 5 mile radius

    have been destroyed in a massive nuclear meltdown.
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  • Aysenthesys 2023-10-25 17:41:17.392661+00
    I played the original PC version. I was actually having fun with it until I realised I'd reached a dead-end after three hours of gameplay, because I'd used the paint remover on, well, the nearest available thing to use it on. And as far as I know, there are several other unwinnable situations in the game that will prevent you from progressing. There are also plenty of red herrings, such as a useless chainsaw. You would have throught you could use that to open doors, break chains or something. But no. It's just there.

    I appreciate the influence of this game on the graphic adventure genre, and I have to admit the multiple-character gameplay is pretty cool for its time (and even for today!), but this just hasn't aged too well. It must have been fun in the 80's, when you had no internet and spending hours on end playing these games seemed like the only option; or if you were a child with nothing else to do. Who knows. At present, it feels extremely flawed and a time-waster... but that's okay. It paved the game for so many, more polished games in the genre.
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