Maniac Mansion was originally written for the Commodore 64! In the video you claim frequently that it came out for PC first. You should correct that in the video description at least.
Played it on the Apple IIe. Did not get very far as some of the puzzles were too much for my childish mind to figure out. Did beat it way later on after I could search for how to defeat some of the puzzles.
Maniac Mansion was not, by no means, developed for MS DOS first. It was developed on and released first for the C64. The PC port was released more than 5 months after the C64 release.
IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Maniac Mansion was the only game ever that you could put a hamster in the microwave or play ding dong ditch. When you are 7 or 8, it keeps you laughing. The only other games I found after Maniac Mansion that let you mess around was Base Wars for the NES where the pitcher could hit the player at bat or much later, on the PC, with The Sims 3 where you could walk up to a neighbors window at night and have the option to "look in window", where it then shows your neighbor doing things like talking, watching TV, whatever, then he/she sees you looking through the window and they run outside and get in your face and confront you. Or you could fall asleep at your neighbors house in The Sims 3, outside on the porch or the backyard, and the neighbor finds you and they pace around with a picture of you in the thought blip with the red double negative minus sign because they are so annoyed you are there. Hahahahaha! Never gets old. You just get older.
If you enjoy the catharsis of being an annoying to virtual people you might enjoy Red Dead Redemption’s greet/antagonize system. You can just go up to people and start being a dick.
I still wish i could personally thank Ron Gilbert for this game that has been one of my absolute most favorite games EVER. I first saw it on the C64 back in 1990 when my father used a C64 that he got from a friend for a few days. THIS game was among them and fast forward a year, christmas of 1991 and my father got Maniac Mansion for the NES. And THAT was when i really got into the game and felt like home since i already knew it from the C64 but i loved how much faster it run on the NES and the soundtrack and graphics were even better. It was more or less my first open world sandbox game experience, where you could interact with the world and try all sorts of things. And i just loved the whole atmosphere of the Mansion and the different rooms. You knew every second something could happen. And when a cutscene happened or the doorbell rang, i jumped the seat. Nowdays i have it as a GOG version for PC and also Day of the Tentacle but the NES version of Maniac Mansion is still my favorite version of it.
The game wasn't designed for PC, but the Commodore 64. And that is the version you should focus a review on. There was a difference between a PC and a home computer like the C64 back than...🧐
That's been mentioned a couple times to me, and I agree. However, I don't have a c64 emulator, and I originally played on the nes which is why I reviewed that platform. Maybe I'll make a follow-up video...
Loved the PC version, but I didn't know about the massive changes during the port to NES. Really interesting to see the differences. I also played a web version at some point in the last five years, but I sadly can't find it right now. It always reminded me of those Choose Your Own Adventure books, especially in terms of setting and villains. This was a great review, regardless, and nicely presented! Giving you a sub for sure.
Maniac Mansion deserves a high quality high fan fidelity remake. It's a goofy, fun, wonderful game and holds it's fun and replayability factor very well, even today.
I completely agree!! As long as it's made faithfully, and not toned down for today's audience (or who they think that would be) I'd bet it got a good amount of attention. But then, they did try to do that to some degree with the newest Monkey Island game, and while I enjoyed it, I definitely don't think it compares to the earlier ones. But you never know!
@@SayItIsntJoe I'm willing to guarantee it won't be watered down by putting finances behind an effort to remake it. By the gamers, for the gamers, that's my standpoint.
there already is... maniac mansion deluxe (which is more a exact VGA 256 color remake of the original game) and meteor mess 3d (which is Maniac mansion in 3dish perspective.) Both are free.
When we first got the NES console as a Christmas present, we also got a year's subscription to Nintendo Power. The very first Nintendo Power I read had Maniac Mansion on the cover, and I thought it was really interesting, so we got that game at some point. I never knew it was on the PC first. Loved the game.
That's awesome! My brother had Nintendo power, he got the subscription for his birthday but I didn't. So I had to kinda steal it if I wanted to read it lol
SAME HERE :D my dad got it for christmas 1991 and i ended up playing the game even more than him. We both tried to beat the game and gave each other hints what to do. I also remember reading through the Manual a million times. Especially for the story lore and the character bios.
Mmmm no, cut scenes for video games began in the 1960's but we're already used in comedic film.the original cut scenes in comedy movies are literally what family guys premise is stolen from. The more you know kiddo
Uhm, you said multiple times, this was originally a PC game, wonder where you got that from :-o . That is just not true. The original platform was the C64, and was released in 1987, as well as for Apple II. PC was already a port released a year later :) !
I believe both the Apple II and the Commodore 64 were home computers, i.e. PCs, but I think it all depends on how you refer to things. I'm no game scholar, just a game enthusiast!
@@SayItIsntJoe mmmh, they were personal computers, but already in the 80s the PC always means "IBM PC or compatible" with an Intel 8088/6 compatible CPU and running MS-DOS, which the c64 is far from 🙃
The best part of the game was the replay value. Choose different characters or go for a different ending. A replay value is rather rare for an adventure game, unless you want to replay the same story, as most adventure games are pretty linear. And note that the ending does not directly depend on your character choices, as there are more character combinations (15) than there are (good) endings (4), yet the game can be beaten with every character combinations and different endings can be reached with the same character combination. Note: The NES version has an extra way to reach one of the good endings to avoid an otherwise dead end. Also there are more endings if you consider that you can still beat the game with one character dying (depending on who is dying and when the character is dying), including Dave dying, which will of course change the end sequence (not all ports allow Dave to die). And it's also fun to see the bad endings. Also there are a few Easter eggs in the game that are pointless to win the game but fun to figure out.
I never understood why they change the way the characters look for the Nintendo version. It seems strange…. I know Nintendo used to be very picky back in the day. It does look like maybe they ported the game from the DOS version which seems backwards to me since the c64 GPU has the same instruction set, but who knows?
Yeah I don't know enough to be sure, but it's definitely interesting how different all the versions ended up looking visually. Just makes me want to play them all again!
From the games you chose to mention that used the SCUMM Engine it sounded like you may have been using the visuals/interface as a reference to work it out, but the SCUMM engine was used over a decade. EVERY LucasArts adventure game until Grim Fandango used it (so Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, Full Throttle and Curse of Monkey Island all used it) but even beyond that, somehow it wasn't LucasArts proprietary and Ron Gilbert took it with him when he founded Humongous Games. So he made the Freddie Fish and Pajama Sam games with it, but, beyond that, SCUMM was adapted for their breakout massively beloved series Backyard Sports.
That's awesome! I didn't know that much about it aside from what I used it for, but I love learning the lore behind what made these great games, so thank you!
You say there are three endings, but I'd say there are five, with one of them being the nuclear meltdown that you showed in the video. But for winning the game, there is basically the base ending and two alternate endings, so the three you stated, but there's also a unique sequence if you meet the requirements for both alternate endings at the same time. I remember once hearing that ending referred to as the secret fourth ending. I believe there can also be some variations of the endings dependent on whether Dave is alive or dead.
@Dethneko that's true, I've seen videos of the other endings possible but I can only record seeing the endings I did, so I guess there's still more to discover!
I remember when I'd get thrown off the computer because that little PC Speaker was tweeting it's heart out all day long. If only I knew to turn off the music...
@@SayItIsntJoe There's combo endings. Also, I got game genie codes that can change character sprites to the enemies, so those could be considered new endings to
In May this year Romhacking released the "Maniac Mansion Uncensored" version 2.4 hack for the NES which reverts all the changes made to their original C64/PC splendour!
Pretty sure the game actually had multiple endings depending on the characters you selected to play as. Also don't forget the infamous "hamster in the microwave" wave trick that was eventually cut from later copies of the game.
Both good points! I was pretty sure there were more endings, but I never got them. I should probably have clarified there may be more I didn't know about. And I couldn't bring myself to mention the hamster.. Both one of my favorite jokes in the game, but also one it's best not everyone knows about lol
@@SayItIsntJoe Yeah my memory is hazy but I'm pretty sure there's at least half a dozen endings to be had based on character selection as well as who you interact with. [POSSIBLE SPOILERS] I *think* one of the endings features one of the tentacle characters getting his own talk show lol. You can also befriend Weird Ed based on certain choices you make. Or if you happen to blow up his hamster and try to return it to him he actually kills you, making it one of the few ways the characters actually die lol. I was hooked on this game when it came out. Would love for them to make a modernized version of this game.
@@Awesoman I checked and [SPOILERS] There are actually about 6 endings. One where you befriend Dr. Ed, one where you befriend Dr. Ed but Dave (main hero of the game) is dead, one where you send the meteor back in space in Dr. Ed's car, one where Meteor Police will come and arrest the meteor, one where the meteor ends up as a famous writer and is interviewed in a talk show and one where the meteor ends up as a quest in a talk show AND is arrested by the meteor police right after that. Some versions also have ending where you can feed the meteor to a carnivorous plant. There are also some slight variations in endings depending if 0,1, or 2 kids are dead (other than Dave). You can also kill everyone in 7 different ways, kill a single kid in 7 different ways and also have 15 different dead ends (although according to game makers these are because of too little game testing, they were not originally intended to be there). There's also a lot of variations on what you can do, such as sending several different types of records or books to a publisher and get different outcomes. Quite massive for a game that came out in 1987!
@@fau8908 One of the dead ends is from not being able to find a can of gasoline to power the chainsaw. If you've ever played Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders you find that can somewhere on Mars and when you try to pick it up the character says "I don't need it. It's for a different game."
@@d.-_-.b That's not really a dead end so much as a joke or red herring -- there's no gas for the chainsaw, but it doesn't put the game in an unwinnable state (which is what I believe was meant by "dead end" above. The game can be infuriating because you can do something to make the game unwinnable, and the game doesn't give you any feedback, so you'll be playing for hours, not realizing you can't win the game without restarting.)
Haha I feel you on that, especially when great graphics are on top of a mediocre story. I'd rather have ten pixels and a compelling plot than an amazing movie-like game with a dud of a story.
One my favorite Christmas vacations was renting this and playing it. The moment I figured out how to ding-dong-ditch blew my mind and I was hooked. Merry Christmas, Dave!
I don't know if I'd enjoy it quite as much on the phone, but it's cool it's so freely available now. I still think the PC is my favorite platform for it.
someow, maniac mansion aged better than monkey island 1, because the second half of monkey island 1 has significantly less polish, is more repetitive, and a more rushed story. The significantly better visuals of monkey island 1 so not age as well overall.
@8:51 Lucasfilm censored several elements of the original game. However, Nintendo of America had its own censorship system and did not approve of the game the way it was ported over initially and ordered several changes before they approved and manufactureed the game. However, after manufacturing 250,000 cartridges, Nintendo noticed the microwavable hamster and Jaleco/Lucasfilm had to remove it from any future orders of cartridges. This wasnt a big deal in North America because they never needed to order any more cartridges, but they still needed to place orders for the European market (no microwavable hamster in Europe).
I only played MM on the nes for a very long time. I loved this game and, this was before I had a guide or the internet to help with. Took me forever to beat.
The NES version had a glitch to help you beat quickly, the inner door if you don't fix the arcade game's power will default to 0000. You can just open the door with that bypassing that whole operate of fixing the wires with the power off. My brother found this out when he tried opening the door, and wasn't sure what to put so he hit all zeroes. Sure enough it opened. I really enjoyed the game as it's full of secrets and personality. The manual and bonus sheet that came with the game give hints but don't outright say what to do. I wish they gave Sid and Razor more unique playthroughs, as they do the same thing both being musicians despite you'd imagine their styles would give very different tastes. (They're only kids willing explode the hamster in the microwave.) Jeff is basically a worse version of Bernard. He only fixes the phone, which doesn't lead toward any path of beating the game by itself. Bernard does that and has a path to victory. This makes Jeff the worst of the selectable kids.(Dave is the worst, but he has to be taken. I call him doorstop Dave, since he was always holding the doors open for more useful kids.) Michael and Wendy both have paths to victory that are unique to them. The game has a couple endings actually. If you use the car to blast the meteror into space in the trunk of the car, you will see it fly off before the ending. The Meteor police can arrest the meteor changing how the finale wraps up, or you can just feed the meteor to the plant and it will eat it to end the game If you just save Sandy with no one dead, there's the standard ending. If you have dave die, you get a different ending. If you send the manuscript to people who publish anything with Wendy, you get a different ending. If you do this and Wendy dies, it changes the ending slightly. The final bonus is if you use Wendy and Bernard together. Bernard calls the meteor police, but they don't get into the lab. Wendy does the thing with the manuscript afterwards, then something else happens I won't spoil it. I discovered this last one much later when I was messing around and my friend asked me about playing it. I kinda of was showing off what each kid did, and was so I trigger the events up to the ending for both. I didn't expect both together to trigger a new ending, but was a awesome surpise when it happened.
Agreed, and I do remember some games coming in big boxes, but honestly when I got this game the first time, it was already used so I can't be sure what the original packaging was.
What comes to mind to me as the one bad thing in the game is the possibility of dead ends. It's not as bad as Zak McKracken, as sometimes if you make the game unwinnable by one character it can still be beaten by the other characters, but given what we're used to from LucasArts adventures it's still on the rough side. BTW for anyone picking it up for the first time, the combination of Bernard and Wendy gives the most possible endings.
Yeah that's also one of the interesting things about this game, it's a departure in so many ways from what you expect. I think that's why I liked it so much!
Oh my god, the memories. I remember sitting down for two months during school break and playing maniac mansion like a maniac myself. And I got through it. It was a lot of trial and error.
I wished I had owned Maniac Mansion back in the day. Only got to play it at a friend's house on the other side of the neighborhood I lived at for a while. And we started from the beginning each time and so never got to get far as they'd want to go do something else.
Well, I think that's the beauty of being alive today - I wasn't able to own many games when I was a kid either, but now I can emulate or find them pretty cheap and have a chance to relive those days!
@@SayItIsntJoe Yeah, though I had a lot more fun as a kid playing Zelda all day burning every bush trying to find secrets and making maps on graph paper. I just don't have the patience for that, so I enjoy the memories more than playing the old games today. Though I do play them and have Switch Online, just had a lot more fun as a kid when I could play them all day as there was nothing else to do other than watch reruns on TV.
Thank you! I suggest another play through when time allows, it's not a big investment and with so many ways to play and finish the game, it's always something new to explore
I loved the nes version because of the music. Dave's theme playing when the game first start's is nostalgic for me. When I finally got to play the PC version which was included in Day of the Tentacle as an easter egg, I missed the music.
@RetroCheats tons of them! I never like to spoil a game too far, and I'm not sure I even saw all of them so there's still plenty for players to discover
My man, thank you for explaning about how its based on old horror movies from that period XD Alot of the people getting in to it and remaking / remastering it COMPLETELY forget about this fact and delete most of its tongue in cheek nature, by adding spooky atmospheric music or jumpscares. It's ment to be over the top and silly not spooky and slightly humouress :S It's like addams family meets the blob or something lol.
Never played Maniac Mansion, Sam & Max were my point and click starters, but I'd be remiss to not give Ron Gilbert his props for getting the ball rolling. funny thing about this is that I had a guide that came in an NES amgazine, so I read p on all the stuff that happened in the game and was intrigued... and very confused.
I think that's how a lot of us felt on the first play! But it's a classic for a reason, you should definitely give it a play (bonus points for Sam and max)
The real secret is never to play the arcade game at all, which means your score (which is the code) is still set at 0, so you can just enter that to get through every time.
I don't remember saying it wasn't a huge accomplishment, and you're right - the game was released for the Commodore 64 AND Apple II in October 1987, both of which were considered personal computers (confirmed by the first line of the Commodore's Wikipedia page). Also, there were 2 separate versions of the game created for the NES, one in Japan in 1988, and another in 1990. I was slightly wrong on the date. I don't like to nitpick though, I made the video to celebrate how rad the game was and still is, so we can hopefully agree on that.
I actually like the look of the NES version of the PC version even though it has less detail. Though, I'm someone that generally never liked the look of 80's PC games as the colors always looked weird to me.
