Happy New Year.

[teddog]

I spent the evening watching cheesy music videos with my sisiter. Turns out someone called and asked if I was going out for the evening, but the message never made it to me. I feel so lonely. At least I got to show Jen some amusing videos. "Atomic Dog", anyone?

Because I am the Teddog, I must comment on this and the fallout thereof.

I don't put much weight into top (insert number here) lists, but since one of my favorite games made the number one spot, I'm a little happy. :-)

I'm sick of the bashing this writer is getting. So the guy views a game higher or lower than you. Big deal. It's not your list, now is it? Personally, I like funnier games better then over pretentious work, despite my progressive rock listening habits but that's a whole different rant. Basically, I know what I like and I like what I know. ::rimshot::

Now, why do I like crap like the Maniac Manison series more than great epics like Myst and The Longest Journey? The same reason I like MST3K and Prisoners of Gravity- to me there's something ... special about them. Let's break it down.



Plot:
Err... none? Day of the Tentacle has a bit more of a plot than the first game did, but that's not saying much. The plots in MM and DOTT are really just set-ups for the insanity that will soon follow. There is a build up of tension towards and during the climax of the games (breaking into the lab in the first game and finally reaching yesterday in the second games.), but it doesn't last too long. Heck, you have to beat the last puzzles in MM within two minutes or else you'll lose the whole game. Moving on...

Characters:
Even with no plot, the characters still kick butt. The only really weak character I can think of in MM is Dave Miller. While there's not much character delevopment , we still get a good idea of the characters we play. Jeff's a whiny and naive surfer, Syd's a new wave musician limited by the fact he doesn't have a band or a song. Bernard is a rather kindhearted geek who gets scared easily and so it goes. In DOTT Bernard returns, bringing along his roommates Hoagie and Laverne. While the rest of the kids don't return, Bernard's friends more than make up for them. Hoagie is a roadie for a heavy metal band and studies... something at the state university on the side (all the playable characters in this series are students). Laverne is a dazed pre-med student with some major issues.

Of course, then there's the Edisons themselves, but I don't have the time to go into them. And the tentacles and the hamsters and the rest of the NPC cast. When a series has a character named Mark Etter, you know something must be different.

Sound:
Originally MM had little sound, other than opening theme and the tune Syd and Razor can play on piano. Then the NES version came out... To make this short, the music in this series is cheesy and cartoony, but it honestly fits the characters and events. The music on DOTT has a slight edge over MM, but I was kinda upset they didn't carry over the Edison theme.

Anyway, my favortie tunes from the series are:
Psychedelic Brie (MM)
Go See Mark (MM)
Better Off Ed Then Dead (MM)
Present: Opening Theme/The Stars and Slime Forever (DOTT)
Present: Manison Exterior (DOTT)
Present: Green T and Sushi Platter (DOTT)
Present: IRS Theme (DOTT)
Present/Yesterday: Coming to Yesterday and Purple's army. (DOTT)
Future: Disco/Tasteless Room (DOTT)
Past/Present/Future: The Debut of the Chron-O-Johns (DOTT)

The English CD-ROM of DOTT has some of the best character voice work in the genre of adventure games. Everyone's voice perfectly fit his or her character and the delivery is amazing.

Graphics:
They were fine at the time, but so-called 1337 gamers will tell you they suck now. DOTT's are really still fine, if a little rough. For MM...err... the best graphics are in the NES version. MM's graphics are very limited and the best art is on the packaging. I've always been bothered that Syd looks the same height as everyone else in the game when he's clearly taller than the other characters in the box art. :-P

Gameplay:
They're SCUMM style adventure games and as such it's pretty easy to learn the basics. Early versions of MM are very clunky because of that stupid "What Is" verb. The NES version is best if it's your first time.

In MM, you get to pick and choose which characters you want to use, but your choices will effect the path you need to take to beat the game. Any combo of characters will get you to the end, however. In DOTT you're stuck with the same three characters, but they're spread over three time periods.

Warning: These are not fluffy games that can be solved from scratch within a few hours. Maniac Mansion is well-known for being one of the hardest LucasArts games and legend has it that very few gamers had beaten it without a walkthrough (I never had to use a walkthrough though, except to reach the serect ending). You can die and reach an unbeatable state in MM. DOTT is a much kinder game and it's impossible to die or get stuck forever. When all else fails, explore everything you can and if you're playing MM, use your head for heaven's sake! Stupid deaths are not proud ones.

Fandom:
It's there if you know where to look. ;-) Fanfiction for the series is either Mary-Sue laced crap, AU or fairly good and it only seems to be novalizations of the games. Some of the better fic has been lost to time, sadly.



That may be more of a quick review than reason why I like the games, but whatever. I'm tired.

Comments

[call911idareyou.livejournal.com]

I played maniac mansion on... the commodore 64. Yes... ancient.

You seem cool lol.

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

I'm not cool. I'm 37 °C just like everyone else, although in moments when I feel the need to be different I'll vary by a degree or two.

Interesting to meet another Hamiltonian 'round here...