Use HAMSTER In MICROWAVE
Written: Jul 13 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of areas to explore, mind-bending puzzles and suspense abound.
Cons: Controls are a bit outdated, some items in the game have no use whatsoever.
The Bottom Line: Maniac Mansion is kid-tested, most mothers disapproved. Mine didnt, though. Does that make me weird?
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| imprimis2's Full Review: Maniac Mansion for Nintendo |
Maniac Mansion was a multiplayer puzzle / horror game that allowed your characters to rummage through a gigantic house that was full of items that your characters needed to use in various places in order to advance the storyline and save a young girl who likes
*We Interrupt This Boring Review to Bring You the Following Urgent Information. Please be advised, this special radio broadcast is for mature audiences only.*
Oh, hey! Squid Rakkets here. Sorry we got the transmission screwed up, the HAM-RAM radio system is still undergoing preliminary maintenance.
Anyhow, I'm sure you remember me from Maniac Mansion, but if not, I was also known as the Invisible Tentacle! Oh, you don't remember seeing me? Ahh...that's right. Well, just in case you forgot, I was the one who planted that BlockTron keypad on the second floor landing. You remember. No matter what series of numbers you punched, the whole mansion blew up like a minidress in a hurricane.
But, enough with the jibber-jabber. I wanted to speak to you, all 28 of you out there within a 5 mile radius of the old mansion's buttcrust. You see, it was previously thought that when the ole mansion exploded, all the dangerous chemicals Dr. Fred hid in the basement were vaporized due to the temperature at which it actually burned, but this is.....how do I put it.......not.. exactly.. the case.
You see, while there's no immediate concern for cancer or anything funny like that, it's our spacious mating grounds we've lost---and what, with the population of 4 at the time, you would think that this wouldn't be a problem---but trust me, in time you'll be glad I told you now.
I'm not a social tentacle myself, and neither were any of my other relatives that lived in the old house (that's why I built that clever trap, to keep the nosy twits away) except for my purple-skinned, yellow-bellied brother(and he was quite the traitor.) We set out to indirectly overtake the mansion once our "heroic" character (that was you) rescued Sandy and Dr. Fred from the clutches of the Purple Meteor, but other family members in the house had other ideas. First, Edna decided to board up the staircase in the library on the first floor and put a sign up that creatively said, "Out of Order." Now, seeing as how the steps weren't actually broken, it wasn't as if we couldn't tell someone had purposefully blocked off our entrance to the balcony. You see, we tentacles can only mate in direct sunlight on flat surfaces, and it can't be on grass. My first gilfriend Silver can....or, well, actually, she could have attested for that, until she actually tried it.
Since Dr. Fred and Edna had already locked the access outside of the house, our only escape was up through the library staircase. Ohhh, and how I tried to destroy her handicraft...but, alas, it's not fun being a tentacle to do a deft swivel of the hips. Especially three times in a row.
We thought about grabbing the chainsaw from the kitchen, and even went so far as to do a two-tentacle stack to gain access to it, but both the Green Tentacle and I were too slimy to form any kind of cohesion. I hear there was no gas for it in the mansion anywhere, anyhow, and so I guess even that single attempt was not worth the effort.
So if we can't pick up anything, how in the world can we even operate the HAM radio we're using? Why, we've taken your old friend Bernard hostage. We figure it's collateral with Sandy gone and all, anyhow. You see, she's the girl we were after. We had intended on creating a new species of human-tentacle kind, that which is able to scare the sanity out of anything that lays eyes upon it. But since you, Dr. Fred and Edna foiled our plans, we've decided to keep Bernard locked up in our underground chamber. And don't worry, we can use this radio underground due to the radioactive fog that even seems to penetrate 250 feet below the mansion's fried base.
If you've got a way down here, be sure and bring Sandy back with you---that is, if you care about seeing you neighborhood pal Bernard again. Oh, and don't think you can wait us out. My grandmother lived to be 432.
[radio fades out]
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doing nasty things to the hamster in the microwave.
Well, now that that's out of the way, it's time to give the game a rating and stack up where it works, and where it doesn't.
[Graphics]
The graphics in Maniac Mansion are pretty simplistic, but it's a Nintendo game, right? Most of the graphics are simply 2-d objects painted with one or two colors to help you identify your surroundings. You'll notice different wallpaper in various rooms, like the dining room and library, which are decked out with appropriate furniture and the like. I also appreciated how, even though the game is back from the Nintendo days, when the characters speak, you can actually see their mouths move a little bit. Character animations are also done acceptably, and even the tentacles have a lifelike wriggle and writhe to them as they scurry across the floor. Oh, and about the tentacles---avoid 'em, at all cost. They'll make more demands than they're worth if you don't.
Score: 8.5 of 10
[Sound]
The sound in Maniac Mansion is reminiscent of old horror movie fare, at least when the cutscenes come into play. However, there is an option to have one of your original six characters, (who each have their own special abilities that they can use on the items in the mansion, that develop the plot, by the way) turn on his or her own Walkman. Each character's music fits his or her personality style. Try them all out and find out which one you like best. If that doesn't suit you, you can choose to turn the sound off completely, absorbing all the ambient sounds of the mansion itself. Not that there's much--just the sound effects from clocks ticking, the opening of refrigerators, and crickets chirping. Kind of like stepping into a house uninvited----oh, wait, that's what we were doing, now wasn't it?
Score: 8.0 out of 10
[Controls]
Much of the movement your character makes in Maniac Mansion is done by the way of a Keyword Menu. Essentially, it is the form of having a mouse pointer on the television screen, using the D-Pad to move its arrow across the screen, and pressing the B or A button to select your choice. While this was a new feature at the time, in today's gaming world, it would look an act a lot like an Edsel, which, by the way, happened to be sitting in the garage. What is it with the Ed stuff here, anyhow?
This menu has other options, however. You can choose to PUSH, PULL, USE, GIVE, PICK UP, UNLOCK, and interact with items in other ways. Characters even have the ability to interact with each other if and when the necessity arises--and trust me, on your quest to save Sandy, you'll need to do it at least once....the old dungeon springs to mind instantly.
The only area which bothers me in the control category is that, when you are faced to make a quick movement, such as sprinting past a tentacle or two, your movement has to be precise and lightning fast. If you don't have the reflexes, be prepared to attempt a heroic feat about 20 or 30 times before you can accomplish it.
Score: 7.5 of 10
[Atmosphere / Environment]
Basically, your goal in Maniac Mansion is to rescue Sandy Pantz. Why would we want to? Because someone kidnapped your good friend, or girlfriend--whatever---that's why!
So you set out to use your environment in every way imaginable. When you enter a room, be prepared for anything and everything to jump out at you---or even hide from your view to make everything seem like one messed up puzzle. First things first, you have to PULL the welcome mat on the front porch to obtain the Front Door Key. Once you do that, you have to USE Front Door Key on Front Door to gain entry into the large mansion. From here on out, my friend, it's up to you to figure out what needs to be done to save Sandy. A radio, a dime or two, a few keys, a can of Pepsi, waxed fruit, and a swimming pool are just a few highlights of interest in your journey. Oh, just one more thing...what did they teach you in school? DON'T PUSH THE RED BUTTON!!
Score: 9.0 of 10
Good luck, and don't drown your hopes if you happen to blow up the mansion. You'll die, of course, but you can always start over..and over...and over.
Overall Score: 8.25 of 10
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
imprimis2
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Location: Kentucky, USA
Reviews written: 127
Trusted by: 45 members
About Me:
You can be happy using your brain, but you're smart when you use your heart.
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