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03-31-13 06:31 PM
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Maniac Mansion - NES

 
Game's Ratings
Overall
Graphics
Sound
Addictiveness
Depth
Story
Difficulty
Average User Score
8.5
8.2
8.8
7.6
9.4
7.2
7.6
iN008's Score
6
8
7
3
8
5
5

03-31-13 06:31 PM
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Maniac Mansion for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Review by iN008 as requested by Jordanv78.

Maniac Mansion was developed by LucasFilm ( or LucasArts as we know of the company today ) and developed by Jaleco USA.
LucasFilm at this point at this point had made some games for the Atari systems... which this game is a port of.
So I hope you will give it a though for a game to play-though, now time for the review,

Maniac Mansion really shouldn't be overlooked. It really offers more than I expected from an adventure puzzle-solving game,
In-fact if it wasn't for Jordan I would have overlooked the game myself, but thanks to him I really have found this little gem!
If you ignore the fact its a port from an Atari... ( ohh god Atari are so bad ... ) don't start that with me... because although
Atari weren't know for their mind boggling games they did have some hidden gems amongst them..

So lets get down to the scores and ratings;
Graphics ;
 Score : 8/10    Rating : Great!
Sound ;
 Score : 7/10    Rating : Good.
Addictiveness ;
 Score : 3/10    Rating : Poor.
Story ;
 Score : 5/10    Rating : Neutral.
Depth ;
 Score : 8/10    Rating : Great!
Difficulty ;
 Score : 5/10    Rating : Neutral.
Overall ;
 Score : 6/10    Rating : Good.


Now to talk about each category in detail,

Graphics : 8/10
Now I know what your thinking, eww how could you even think of rating these graphics so high! They are just horrible...
Well... It is easy, I feel it would be wrong to demote the score for a game which was actually a port from an Atari console...
Not good enough? Well to be perfectly honest, I love the charm of the designs, it fits the more low-budget movie theme you get as you play.
If you rate everything on the way it looks you wouldn't really go and rate the eye-sore shoot-em ups now would you...
Now If I'm going to be honest I feel as if a little more attention could have been put into the graphics but wouldn't the ruin
the game? If everything was to be big sparkly and eye catching would you notice the key on top of the glass chandelier? No I think not,
the simple graphics of this point and click horror styled game helps you play which is by far worthy of the rating alone, but now for another
reason each character you see is unique and distinguishable, each character you control has his or her own look and that's a definite yes-yes! Another thing I shall quickly mention before moving onto sound is the references seen within the game here is the two I saw within the graphics, in Ed's room you can see an X-Wing model which is an obvious reference to LucasFilm's very own Star-Wars movie series, the other reference can be found in the green tentacle's room you will see the two large speakers, these are THX sound speakers.. And guess what... LucasFilm developed the THX high-quality sound technology... talk about self-promotion...

Sound : 7/10
I'll admit it, I like in-game music for almost every game and sometimes I feel I shouldn't even rate the category at all, but
that would defeat the point of doing this review now wouldn't it? Each character has a CD player which each of which play a specific song relative to the character which literally fits into their design. Turn your CD player off and everything goes silent... Adding to the atmosphere.
Not to mention some of the sound effects for interacting with objects are spot-on, for example go to the kitchen once inside the mansion and turn the faucet on, what does it sound like? A tap running that's right! What it should be.
Another thing to mention is if you go upstairs and into the right room you go into a music room, you can play the piano... yup... and what did you know... music comes out! Shocking right?
Now go to the downstairs living room, play the old radio... creepy sounds... honestly the list goes on, the sounds are top-notch but still not perfect!

Addictiveness : 3/10
This is one of the few games that manages to get me to play for a unusual amount of time, there is nothing to attract you to play again,
and it doesn't help the story doesn't really get you into the same mind-set as the character... I must save... and so on... but at least
it managed to get me to play for a good chunk of time and even got me to do this review! So I cannot say much more about addictiveness
so I'll get on over to the next subject...

Story : 5/10
As I say previously the story doesn't get you into the characters mind-set and to be honest it feels a bit cliché, the slightly...
but not really... generic save the damsel in distress. This kind of story-line had been used countless amounts of times in gaming
and had even in 1990 become a dry story-line to use. But at-least they used a twist to the generic save the day game... they made
it a horror-styled ( slightly comical ) game, which is quite unusual even in these days... so a meteorite crashed near the home around
20 years ago... the arrival of the Edison aliens.. And more recently the girl name Sandy ( the damsel in distress ) goes missing
so Dave ( Pretty generic name *cough* ) plans to save her recruiting two pupils from his school ( whom you get to pick ) to aid him
in his quest.

Depth : 5/10
I wasn't really sure what to put for this category, but here goes nothing.
The game offers a bit of exploration which is pretty critical for saving your damsel in distress Sandy. You can play two ways,
Wonder around and take it slowly learning how the game works as you go along, or cheat... by following a guide.... which... just
ruins the feeling of accomplishment... Moving swiftly on.

Difficulty : 5/10
As stated in the depth category, the game can be played in two ways, using a guide or exploring yourself to get that feeling of
accomplishment. Now lets face the fact, puzzle solving games aren't for everyone ( which is more or likely a deterrent for some
players ) but I do recommend trying it for the simple fact... It isn't too hard but can make you think for a while.
For example when I first played the game and got into the kitchen my character whom had collected vital items for what I had to
get done first got caught and locked in the dungeon. So I learned from this experience to not give one character all the items
and instead give the items to each character whom I'll move to different rooms to do the tasked needed in order to save Sandy.
In retrospect I feel as the game will make you learn from your mistake which is why I have rated it a 5/10 for a neutral difficulty

Overall : 6/10
So here we are at the conclusion,
This game is a must play for the puzzle solving player / enthusiast and even novice puzzle players as it really does feel like
a classic. The game offers a decent experience and really can make you think, the horror aspect which really doesn't scare you
could make you feel as if you can continue and complete the game without losing... So I dare you to go play this game as I was
and even make your own review because I would love to see what other people have to say about the game. I wasn't even expecting
so much from this game and it actually surprised me.. So please give it a go I'm sure you won't be disappointed!
And as always, thanks for reading my review, please give me any tips for future reviews or even review request
as now I am accepting all games to review without refusal!
Maniac Mansion for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Review by iN008 as requested by Jordanv78.

Maniac Mansion was developed by LucasFilm ( or LucasArts as we know of the company today ) and developed by Jaleco USA.
LucasFilm at this point at this point had made some games for the Atari systems... which this game is a port of.
So I hope you will give it a though for a game to play-though, now time for the review,

Maniac Mansion really shouldn't be overlooked. It really offers more than I expected from an adventure puzzle-solving game,
In-fact if it wasn't for Jordan I would have overlooked the game myself, but thanks to him I really have found this little gem!
If you ignore the fact its a port from an Atari... ( ohh god Atari are so bad ... ) don't start that with me... because although
Atari weren't know for their mind boggling games they did have some hidden gems amongst them..

So lets get down to the scores and ratings;
Graphics ;
 Score : 8/10    Rating : Great!
Sound ;
 Score : 7/10    Rating : Good.
Addictiveness ;
 Score : 3/10    Rating : Poor.
Story ;
 Score : 5/10    Rating : Neutral.
Depth ;
 Score : 8/10    Rating : Great!
Difficulty ;
 Score : 5/10    Rating : Neutral.
Overall ;
 Score : 6/10    Rating : Good.


Now to talk about each category in detail,

Graphics : 8/10
Now I know what your thinking, eww how could you even think of rating these graphics so high! They are just horrible...
Well... It is easy, I feel it would be wrong to demote the score for a game which was actually a port from an Atari console...
Not good enough? Well to be perfectly honest, I love the charm of the designs, it fits the more low-budget movie theme you get as you play.
If you rate everything on the way it looks you wouldn't really go and rate the eye-sore shoot-em ups now would you...
Now If I'm going to be honest I feel as if a little more attention could have been put into the graphics but wouldn't the ruin
the game? If everything was to be big sparkly and eye catching would you notice the key on top of the glass chandelier? No I think not,
the simple graphics of this point and click horror styled game helps you play which is by far worthy of the rating alone, but now for another
reason each character you see is unique and distinguishable, each character you control has his or her own look and that's a definite yes-yes! Another thing I shall quickly mention before moving onto sound is the references seen within the game here is the two I saw within the graphics, in Ed's room you can see an X-Wing model which is an obvious reference to LucasFilm's very own Star-Wars movie series, the other reference can be found in the green tentacle's room you will see the two large speakers, these are THX sound speakers.. And guess what... LucasFilm developed the THX high-quality sound technology... talk about self-promotion...

Sound : 7/10
I'll admit it, I like in-game music for almost every game and sometimes I feel I shouldn't even rate the category at all, but
that would defeat the point of doing this review now wouldn't it? Each character has a CD player which each of which play a specific song relative to the character which literally fits into their design. Turn your CD player off and everything goes silent... Adding to the atmosphere.
Not to mention some of the sound effects for interacting with objects are spot-on, for example go to the kitchen once inside the mansion and turn the faucet on, what does it sound like? A tap running that's right! What it should be.
Another thing to mention is if you go upstairs and into the right room you go into a music room, you can play the piano... yup... and what did you know... music comes out! Shocking right?
Now go to the downstairs living room, play the old radio... creepy sounds... honestly the list goes on, the sounds are top-notch but still not perfect!

Addictiveness : 3/10
This is one of the few games that manages to get me to play for a unusual amount of time, there is nothing to attract you to play again,
and it doesn't help the story doesn't really get you into the same mind-set as the character... I must save... and so on... but at least
it managed to get me to play for a good chunk of time and even got me to do this review! So I cannot say much more about addictiveness
so I'll get on over to the next subject...

Story : 5/10
As I say previously the story doesn't get you into the characters mind-set and to be honest it feels a bit cliché, the slightly...
but not really... generic save the damsel in distress. This kind of story-line had been used countless amounts of times in gaming
and had even in 1990 become a dry story-line to use. But at-least they used a twist to the generic save the day game... they made
it a horror-styled ( slightly comical ) game, which is quite unusual even in these days... so a meteorite crashed near the home around
20 years ago... the arrival of the Edison aliens.. And more recently the girl name Sandy ( the damsel in distress ) goes missing
so Dave ( Pretty generic name *cough* ) plans to save her recruiting two pupils from his school ( whom you get to pick ) to aid him
in his quest.

Depth : 5/10
I wasn't really sure what to put for this category, but here goes nothing.
The game offers a bit of exploration which is pretty critical for saving your damsel in distress Sandy. You can play two ways,
Wonder around and take it slowly learning how the game works as you go along, or cheat... by following a guide.... which... just
ruins the feeling of accomplishment... Moving swiftly on.

Difficulty : 5/10
As stated in the depth category, the game can be played in two ways, using a guide or exploring yourself to get that feeling of
accomplishment. Now lets face the fact, puzzle solving games aren't for everyone ( which is more or likely a deterrent for some
players ) but I do recommend trying it for the simple fact... It isn't too hard but can make you think for a while.
For example when I first played the game and got into the kitchen my character whom had collected vital items for what I had to
get done first got caught and locked in the dungeon. So I learned from this experience to not give one character all the items
and instead give the items to each character whom I'll move to different rooms to do the tasked needed in order to save Sandy.
In retrospect I feel as the game will make you learn from your mistake which is why I have rated it a 5/10 for a neutral difficulty

Overall : 6/10
So here we are at the conclusion,
This game is a must play for the puzzle solving player / enthusiast and even novice puzzle players as it really does feel like
a classic. The game offers a decent experience and really can make you think, the horror aspect which really doesn't scare you
could make you feel as if you can continue and complete the game without losing... So I dare you to go play this game as I was
and even make your own review because I would love to see what other people have to say about the game. I wasn't even expecting
so much from this game and it actually surprised me.. So please give it a go I'm sure you won't be disappointed!
And as always, thanks for reading my review, please give me any tips for future reviews or even review request
as now I am accepting all games to review without refusal!
Vizzed Elite

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 12-31-12
Location: Central Scotland
Last Post: 2906 days
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(edited by iN008 on 04-01-13 10:24 AM)    

03-31-13 06:43 PM
Eirinn is Offline
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Eirinn
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Good review, for a good game. This game is interesting, and unique for it's time. Sadly there aren't many like this. Keep up the good work.
Good review, for a good game. This game is interesting, and unique for it's time. Sadly there aren't many like this. Keep up the good work.
Vizzed Elite
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Registered: 07-18-12
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04-01-13 09:25 AM
Jordanv78 is Offline
| ID: 767707 | 374 Words

Jordanv78
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iN008 : You did a good job of writing the review, plus I appreciated the fact that you reviewed a game that you normally wouldn't.

That being said I had a few issues I wanted to point out with it.

With regards to the story: "The game follows teenager Dave Miller as he ventures into a mansion and attempts to rescue his girlfriend from an evil mad scientist, whose family has been controlled by a sentient meteor that crashed near the mansion 20 years earlier."

The point of the story is that ITS SUPPOSED TO BE CLICHE' They based the story on horror film and B movie clichés with humorous elements, and they based the game's characters on people they knew and characters from movies, comics, and horror magazines.

To this point, I think the story is pretty witty for a video game developed in 1987. How many games from that era had any story at all, let alone one that was done in a comedic fashion?

As far as the depth is concerned:

This game I BELIEVE is one of the deepest games from its era, and for sure one of the deepest on the NES. See, the different characters you choose have a specific TALENT that helps you through the game.

There are a number of ways to beat this game (Mini spoilers) You can befriend the Son, and find his lost film canister...develop the film which is his "secret spy plans" to infiltrate his dad's lab.

You can fix the radio and call the police on the meteor whom is wanted throughout the galaxy for "space crimes"

You can finish the Meteors manuscript and have it published for him

You can get the green tentacle a recording contract and he will help you take care of the purple tentacle and thus help you infiltrate the lab.

There are also side things you can do like fix the phone so you can call edna and distract her while you get up to the attic through her room.

These are just the ones that I can remember off the top of my head. No NES game that I can remember from this era would allow such a variety of ways to beat a game.

iN008 : You did a good job of writing the review, plus I appreciated the fact that you reviewed a game that you normally wouldn't.

That being said I had a few issues I wanted to point out with it.

With regards to the story: "The game follows teenager Dave Miller as he ventures into a mansion and attempts to rescue his girlfriend from an evil mad scientist, whose family has been controlled by a sentient meteor that crashed near the mansion 20 years earlier."

The point of the story is that ITS SUPPOSED TO BE CLICHE' They based the story on horror film and B movie clichés with humorous elements, and they based the game's characters on people they knew and characters from movies, comics, and horror magazines.

To this point, I think the story is pretty witty for a video game developed in 1987. How many games from that era had any story at all, let alone one that was done in a comedic fashion?

As far as the depth is concerned:

This game I BELIEVE is one of the deepest games from its era, and for sure one of the deepest on the NES. See, the different characters you choose have a specific TALENT that helps you through the game.

There are a number of ways to beat this game (Mini spoilers) You can befriend the Son, and find his lost film canister...develop the film which is his "secret spy plans" to infiltrate his dad's lab.

You can fix the radio and call the police on the meteor whom is wanted throughout the galaxy for "space crimes"

You can finish the Meteors manuscript and have it published for him

You can get the green tentacle a recording contract and he will help you take care of the purple tentacle and thus help you infiltrate the lab.

There are also side things you can do like fix the phone so you can call edna and distract her while you get up to the attic through her room.

These are just the ones that I can remember off the top of my head. No NES game that I can remember from this era would allow such a variety of ways to beat a game.

Vizzed Elite
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04-01-13 10:23 AM
iN008 is Offline
| ID: 767768 | 76 Words

iN008
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Jordanv78 : I'm well aware of how the game is meant to be cliché sorry I didn't word that as well as I could.
and remember I only played through It twice before the review... which for now I will reconsider my depth rating
But just remember depth isn't all ways to beat its length as well. I've seen longer games before so hush hush.
Thanks for the opinion in-fact I'll re-rate the depth category
Jordanv78 : I'm well aware of how the game is meant to be cliché sorry I didn't word that as well as I could.
and remember I only played through It twice before the review... which for now I will reconsider my depth rating
But just remember depth isn't all ways to beat its length as well. I've seen longer games before so hush hush.
Thanks for the opinion in-fact I'll re-rate the depth category
Vizzed Elite

Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'

Registered: 12-31-12
Location: Central Scotland
Last Post: 2906 days
Last Active: 1352 days

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