Maniac Mansion
My Review
I bought this game in 1994, a few years after its release, like other NES games in my collection. I got it up at a shopping mall near my home (with other games) during a clearance sale (for 19,000 lire). It is a point and click adventure game, so acclaimed by the critics and later inspired by the Maniac Mansion tv series.
The game is set in the mansion of the Edison family: the mad scientist Dr. Fred, his wife Nurse Edna, and their son Weird Ed, along with two sentient tentacles (one purple and one green). Twenty years earlier, a sentient meteor had taken control of the family, directing Dr. Fred to kidnap human brains for experiments. The player, as Dave Miller, must rescue his girlfriend Sandy Pantz, who has been kidnapped. The mansion’s inhabitants (except the green tentacle) are hostile and can imprison or kill the characters. Players control three selected characters; the game ends if all die. There are five possible endings, depending on which characters survive and the actions taken.
To be honest I never finished this game. I was playing other stuff at that time (eg. RoboCop and some Gameboy games). Maybe I will try to finish it one day.
Trivia & Fun Facts
- The Hamster Incident: You can put a hamster in a microwave and blow it up. While Nintendo initially missed this, they forced a removal in later cartridge runs once they realized what was possible.
- "NES SCUMM": The game's engine, SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion), was mentioned in the credits as "NES SCUMM". Nintendo forced its removal because they thought the word "scumm" sounded offensive.
- Suggestive Dialogue: Nurse Edna’s original dialogue was deemed too sexual. Lines like "lucky you aren't a boy" were changed to more "motherly" threats, and a "For a Good Time" message on a wall was changed to "Call Edna".
- Art Censorship: A nude classical statue in the hallway was given a dress, and a poster that said "Disco Sucks!" was removed entirely.