Maniac Mansion

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JaySevenZero
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Maniac Mansion

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Maniac Mansion for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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Sage + Onion Knight
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Re: 534: Maniac Mansion

Post by Sage + Onion Knight »

LucasArts adventure games were the first games I really loved as a child and, when I idly clicked “Use computer” on 'The Day of the Tentacle', my six-or-so-year-old-self thought he'd uncovered a secret that nobody in the world had ever seen.

Obviously this wasn't true. But 'Maniac Mansion' has retained an air of mystery and spookiness for me ever since. Not least because it's kind of the “black sheep” of the LucasArts canon – not as punishingly unforgiving as a Sierra adventure, but certainly more merciless than the LucasArts games that would follow (if I remember right, there are certain character combos that make the game unwinnable). When I was playing the House Beneviento section of Resident Evil 8, my mind jumped back to those memories of jumping out of my skin at the sight of an Edison family member chasing me out of a room I'd innocently stumbled in.

I've tried this game a few times over the years – including trying the unofficial remaster cooked up by the Adventure Game Studio community – and yet, even in an age of ubiquitous YouTube playthroughs, there are still sections of the game and of that creepy old mansion that I've never seen. The very simple, but beautifully coloured, pixel art remains enigmatic in my imagination and I'm happy to keep it that way.

Also, did you know there was a sitcom based on 'Maniac Mansion'? Eugene Levy created it, and according to Wikipedia, I'm just finding out David Cronenberg appeared as a guest star. Wow.
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Girard
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Re: 534: Maniac Mansion

Post by Girard »

As a child, I mostly encountered Maniac Mansion via oblique references in game hint magazines and shows. I was always intrigued - what was this game with tentacles and mummies and meteors, with verbs like "play rock music" and "put hamster in microwave" rather than "jump" and "shoot"?

I fell in love with LucasArts games in middle school, playing the stone-cold classics included in the "LucasArts Archives" pack: Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, and Fate of Atlantis. Afterward, I never looked back at the Sierra games I'd spent my misbegotten youth dying in. My first experience with Maniac Mansion was, naturally, the emulated version running on the computer within Day of Tentacle. Initially, I found it interesting, but it suffered by comparison to the game it was encased in, and I more or less set it aside.

Several years later, I picked up the "LucasArts Classics" collection - a massive box of floppies containing everything from Maniac Mansion to the first Monkey Island. Dutifully playing through its contents, I found myself better able to appreciate Maniac Mansion as its own thing. It helped that the version there had slightly higher-resolution 16-color graphics. The ability to die or get stuck was a bit of a turn-off - rough memories of those Sierra days - but the playful tone and sense of exploration was there even in those early days of LucasArts.
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Alex79
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Re: 534: Maniac Mansion

Post by Alex79 »

Anyone here playing this new for the show? I downloaded it to play on my phone. I've only ever had a quick go before (I think!?) from within the Day Of The Tentacle game, so this is the first time I've tried it properly. Wow, it's not half fiddly compared to the games that came a couple of years later. Awkward that selectable items don't pop up on the text bar when you hover the cursor over them, you have to actually click everything. I'm sure I must be missing something also, but I haven't found a way to talk to anyone yet! Only literally played about five minutes mind, just to check it all worked ok. I'm going to give it a good go, but not sure if I'll finish this one!

I noticed there was a NES version too, I wonder whether they had to cut that down much for console.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: 534: Maniac Mansion

Post by ratsoalbion »

It started life as an Apple II/Commodore 64 game, so not exactly a 'quart into pint pot' situation.

I believe there are two Nintendo versions, one Japanese one for the Famicom and a separate port for NES, which has some great music courtesy of George Sanger:
https://caneandrinse.com/sound-of-play-117/
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Caligulas Horse
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Re: 534: Maniac Mansion

Post by Caligulas Horse »

Loved this episode!



Sage + Onion Knight wrote: February 13th, 2022, 10:35 am LucasArts adventure games were the first games I really loved as a child and, when I idly clicked “Use computer” on 'The Day of the Tentacle', my six-or-so-year-old-self thought he'd uncovered a secret that nobody in the world had ever seen.

Obviously this wasn't true. But 'Maniac Mansion' has retained an air of mystery and spookiness for me ever since. Not least because it's kind of the “black sheep” of the LucasArts canon – not as punishingly unforgiving as a Sierra adventure, but certainly more merciless than the LucasArts games that would follow (if I remember right, there are certain character combos that make the game unwinnable). When I was playing the House Beneviento section of Resident Evil 8, my mind jumped back to those memories of jumping out of my skin at the sight of an Edison family member chasing me out of a room I'd innocently stumbled in.
Slightly surreal hearing Leon read this, as it's near identical to my own experience. I always think of Maniac Mansion whenever there's a list or discussion of the scariest games. Being chased and caught by the Edison's is even more startling when playing it via Day of the Tentacle because it's such a contrast. Not just the gameplay but how the Edisons are presented.
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DeadpoolNegative
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Re: Maniac Mansion

Post by DeadpoolNegative »

Listening to the episode it's a shame nobody got a chance to play the NES version, because that's IMO the bestest version of the game. The music in particular hasn't left my head for 32 years.

I did watch the TV show; I found it entertaining sometimes, very frustrating other times. It was nothing like the game, which I found pretty annoying, and it hit the familiar beats of a sitcom, which I found pretty annoying as fan of SCTV. However, other episodes would also satirize and send up the sitcom formula- in fact, the final episode of the series is about two TV writers in the future being given the premise of the show and trying to make a pitch out of it.

--Dan
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