| Credits | |
| Published: |
1989, Lucasfilm Games
   |
| Design: | Ron Gilbert, Gary Winnick |
| Coder: | Aric Wilmunder, Ron Gilbert |
| Graphics: | Gary Winnick |
| Musician: | Brian Hales |
| Box Art: | Ken Macklin |
| Information | |
| Hardware: | OCS |
| Disks: | 2 |
| Code Language: | C Code, Scumm |
| License: | Commercial |
| Language: | English |
| Players: | 1 Only |
| Notes: | Script: Ron Gilbert, David Fox |
| Categorization | |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Subgenre: | Point and Click |
| Tags: | adventure, alien, humour, mouseonly, multidirectional, pointandclick, scifi, scrolling |
| Magazine Reviews | |
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Added by Kim Lemon on Jul 15, 2004. Viewed 46133 times.
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Read review by Sebatianos
Graphics: 9 ‧
Music: 6 ‧
Playability: 10 ‧
Overall: 10
Read review by Steve Wilkins
Graphics: 7 ‧
Music: 6 ‧
Playability: 9 ‧
Overall: 9
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Best adventure Forever! 10 points out of 10
View all comments (15)
The first SCUMM game! Maniac Mansion being the first game to use this engine isn't obviously as technically advanced as later LucasArts games such as Monkey Island or Fate of Atlantis but it still has plenty of atmosphere and has a high replay value since there are several ways to complete the game. The graphics are a slight step up from the original C64 graphics and the mouse support adds a lot.
View all comments (102)
The early games of Lucasarts clearly showed the involvement of George Lucas and the fact that they came out of the Lucasfilm / Industrial Light & Magic biotope , having a somewhat cinematic feel. Cinemaware tried this as well, but Lucasarts actually succeeded in realizing computer games that feel a bit movie like. Probably because Lucasarts put a lot of effort into creating the characters.
Maniac Mansion is a typical point & click adventure game, but story-wise it would work equally well as a - somewhat wacky - teenage adventure movie.
It's a very good game, with many different characters and multiple solutions. It looks like a Sierra game at first glance but is much more original with tons of funny puzzles and ideas.
I like that you can control three characters at the same time (alternating between them).
Compared to the somewhat fugly C64 version, the graphics were upgraded in the Amiga version. Still, I always disliked the childish, frontal perspective: the viewpoint is always exactly perpendicular to the walls, there is no vanishing point or anything, the rooms almost look like some kind of schematic. This was probably necessary for the C64 version, but later Lucasarts adventures on the Amiga like Secret of Monkey Island or Fate of Atlantis showed what can be done. Still, this is one of the Lucasarts games worth revisiting today, and technically the Amiga version is the best Maniac Mansion port from that era.
View all comments (99)
One of my favourite games ever that I play even today. A serious must have for any graphic adventure fan. The game that started the SCUMM movement and introduced the world to Ron Gilbert's genius. Extremely well thought out and even better programmed. A definite 10/10 and a mighty historical landmark. Need I say more?
View all comments (211)
Funny game, great jokes, great characters, cool story. This Adventure still makes fun today. Every time when solve it I still feel like a "little king"...
View all comments (156)
A decent game. Not as good as the later ones by Lucasfilm and I found it very hard.
8/10
View all comments (126)
Even if it's the oldest Lucasfilm adventure, Maniac Mansion remains my favourite. It's also the one with widest solution possibilities, since you can solve it with every combination of friends you choose at the beginning, so that you have a reason to play it again and again. The dark humor and demented B-movie references you find all round remain unbeatable. I will never forget when I turned the telescope left instead of right, just to see what would come out, and I found myself looking at Mars... Suddenly, the insectoid-like alien from Rescue On Fractalus appeared, punching on the lens! Ahahaha
View all comments (54)
Another Amiga game that you'll want to play if you haven't already, considering it's one of the classics. 'Maniac' is down further on the ratings number line than it was even a year ago, along with its cousin, Zak McKracken, but Maniac is still one of the greats.
I liked 'Zak' and 'Monkey Island' (both Monkeys) better that this one, but 'Maniac' is still one of the great all-time p&c adventures--a good brain workout.
View all comments (225)
An incredibly well-designed game. The graphics are good for it's time - and such an improvement from the original 1987 version - and a memorable piece of opening music too.
Something great about this game that was VERY unique for it's time was that the character design is very detailed. They have their own abilities and personalities, making the whole game so much more enjoyable. Not only that, but depending on which kids you chose to control at the beginning, there were different possible endings.
Now that LucasArts have created so many other adventure games, this one isn't one of their very best. However, it was the very first game to use the SCUMM scripting language, which they then went on to use for many more of their point-and-click games. Not to mention the fact that this is the prequel to Day Of The Tentacle - possibly my personal favourite adventure game ever!
Even though LucasArts created some better games a few years after this one, I'd still recommend giving Maniac Mansion a go. It's got a great storyline, amazing humour and is a true classic, not only to the Amiga but to video games in general.
View all comments (185)
Remembering the days (and nights) I spent before my C64 (I played it on the C64 ... Never on Amiga) playing MM and waiting for the news from my friends during school how to solve it. Maniac Mansion was a revolution. Characters were well designed and the story was brilliant as well. It was/is great and I still love it. One of the best games of the good old times.
View all comments (28)
Just great and special, but I think the music was better on the C64, as well as it was with Zac McKraken.
View all comments (35)
What other p&C adventure game gives you the ability to choose 3 characters, each with their own abilities that affect the puzzles. Best of all there are multiple endings. But, just like Zak McKracken, I'm amazed of this only scoring 8.51. It's stood the test of time and you very rarely find these sort of games nowadays, and even fewer match up to this. I also recommend the Maniac Mansion Deluxe for PC, available free for download. It uses the FM Towns graphics, gives you the ability to talk to characters and other fixes and updates, not to mention great sound and music.
View all comments (15)
Like Yure, I never got to the end of this. But this is a true classic that started a long range of ground breaking and first-class adventure games from LucasArts/Lucasfilm Games.
The humour is great, morbid at times, and completely outrageous! Very hard, yes, but you'll have a lot of fun while being frustrated.
View all comments (210)
I find this one frustratring, unlike i.e. Zak, but it had infinite possibilities to be played. Unfortunately, I never got to the end. It's in my to do list.
View all comments (206)
The first...
1987? I can belive it! A very Classic!
View all comments (11)
*Open Microwave* *Use Gopher in Microwave* *Close Microwave* *Turn on Microwave* SPLAT! Oh man was this game fun to play!
View all comments (11)
The music rocks! This game is so great and mysterious. I vote 10
View all comments (166)
And suddenly there was a game called MANIAC MANSION after playing games like GHOSTBUSTERS, POPEYE or GHOST`N`GOBLINS on the C64...
That was a mindblowing experience!
Bytheway... Do you still think that the chain saw, the broken staircase and the pendulum clock is useless?
View all comments (12)
Loved the box picture with the kids standing outside the mansion and Doctor Fred's face in the sky.
His ambition was to rule the world... One teenager at a time...
View all comments (102)
I think this game is good although I didn't play it much, but I had played Zak Mckracken & its by same people that had worked on that as well as Monkey Island & I love all those games.
View all comments (522)
Oh my god, Maniac Mansion! 10 - awesome
View all comments (32)
Quite simply brilliant!
View all comments (524)
I remember playing the C64 version with 7 friends on 4 computers for over 50 hours straight, until we figured out the game. Still love this game, even my 10 year old son likes it!
View all comments (1)
God how I loved this game.
View all comments (19)
A true classic - but not a masterpiece like MONKEY ISLAND 1 +2 or INDIANA JONES 3...
View all comments (809)
This game was great. When I was, what, 6? Unfortunately we go back and we play these games and they're never as good as we first invisioned them to be. The dialogue is funny, sure. But the game itself is pants. It scores some points for being the base foundation for every single great Lucasarts SCUMM game produced - including the likes of Monkey Island and Sam 'n' Max Hit The Road - but as a game on it's own it simply doesn't cut the mustard.
View all comments (43)
Why are you reading this review? Play the great game instead.
View all comments (7)
Yes, what was the reason of Edna, Werid Ed, and Fred's faces turning blue? I eventually got used to it, at least with the Amiga, loading times weren't as long, and you didn't have to flip the disk.
View all comments (62)
Ahh, the humor in this game. Loved it.
View all comments (6)
There's really nothing wrong with this version, it plays the same as the C64 version, but... What happened to Fred, Edna and Ed? Their faces have gone blue... Offputting. Gimme the C64 version NOW!!!
View all comments (52)