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Maniac Mansion

aka: MM
Moby ID: 714
box cover
Released
September 1987 on Apple II
Credits
22 people
Releases by Date (by platform)
Publishers
Developers
Moby Score
7.7
#4,561 of 24.2K
Critics
83% (53)
Players
(282)
Review Ranking
Collected By
344 players
Genre
Adventure
Perspective
Side view
Visual
2D scrolling
Gameplay
Graphic adventure
Puzzle elements
Interface
Point and select
Narrative
Comedy
Apple II Specs
Business Model
Commercial
Media Type
5.25" Floppy Disk
Input Devices Supported/Optional
Keyboard
Number of Players Supported
1 Player
[ view all 48 specs ]
Buy on Commodore 64
$1,498.00 used on eBay
Buy on NES
$29.47 used, $1,999.38 new on eBay
Buy on Windows
$5.99 new on Steam
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 4/16 1:57 AM )
Conversion (unofficial) Included in

Description official descriptions

The Edison mansion has always been a creepy old house on the edge of town. There have been rumors of strange experiments going on and of odd creatures living amongst the Edison family. There is even a story that a meteorite once crashed near the home nearly 20 years ago. More immediately, a girl named Sandy has gone missing from the local highschool and her boyfriend Dave swears that he saw Dr. Fred abducting her. Dave knows that he cannot do it alone and will need help from two other students if he has any hope of infiltrating the mansion and rescuing Sandy.

Players start by choosing two students to accompany Dave to the Edison mansion, and can then switch between these three characters at will. Most actions are carried out by selecting verbs on the screen and applying them to an object (such as "OPEN Door"). Each character maintains a separate personality and may have a different way to solve a problem from his classmates. Thus many of the puzzles can be overcome in different ways depending on the character being used. If any one of the kids are captured by the Edisons, they are thrown into the dungeon and must be rescued themselves by any character who still has their freedom.

GOG release includes both Original and Enhanced game versions.

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Credits (Apple II version)

22 People (20 developers, 2 thanks) · View all

Produced by the
  • Lucasfilm Games Division
Created and Designed by
Programmed by
Graphic Art and Animation by
Sound Effects by
Original Music by
Apple Conversion Special Support by
Creative and Technical support by
Lucasfilm Games General Manager
Production and Marketing Management by
Administrative Support by
Lead Playtester
Special thanks to
  • The many other playtesters; especially Tom and Darrell
  • George Lucas
Box Cover Art by
Package and manual designed by
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 53 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 282 ratings with 16 reviews)

Think of all the games you love, then thank THIS game for them.

The Good
This, along with King's Quest, pretty much started the whole genre, so you have to give it the proper respect in that regard. Also, the different characters (with their different abilities/solutions) made for quite a bit of replay value, which is something that modern games sadly do not have. And the challenge...I don't think many people will ever say this game was "too easy."

The Bad
That pesky old challenge. There are sometimes multiple solutions to a puzzle, but only one "right" solution. Use another, and you are screwed. Save constantly!

The Bottom Line
The grandfather to all things LucasArts, and most other games as well. Has a greater challenge and more replay value than all the games released in the year 2000 combined.

DOS · by Toka (13) · 2001

Maniac Mansion is Marvelous

The Good
Maniac Mansion is a great adaptation of a classic, point 'n click adventure game. These sort of games rarely got published for the Nintendo or Sega systems and, when they did, they were often hatchet jobs. Maniac Mansion is different.

Maniac Mansion features quite impressive, 8-bit graphics and music. Despite not having a computer mouse, the gameplay mechanics are responsive and easy to master.

The game excels both as a computer adaptation and as a stand alone NES game. Except for a few problems, this game is probably one of the best games legally published for the NES - during its original lifetime.

The Bad
Nintendo was insistent that games made for its system (especially by a third party game designer) reflect a certain, "family friendly" image.

The video game industry had not adopted an industry-wide rating system, and Nintendo felt the need to police the content of all NES, SNES and Game Boy games. Some games were subjected to more censorship than others, with Maniac Mansion being extensively policed by Nintendo.

They wanted games to avoid contemporary politics, Christian iconography (crosses and devil symbols), and they also wanted to avoid anything that might be seen, by parents, as profane, perverse, obscene or otherwise outside the neat and tidy family friendly box.

Nintendo insisted that the NES port of Maniac Mansion be less violent than the original (and already fairly tame) version of the game. Mild sexual innuendos were deleted or made very obscure.

Even representations of famous artwork were deleted to ensure that the LucasArts Adventure game didn't threaten Nintendo's "family friendly" image.

Oddly enough, early versions of the NES game allowed the player to murder a pet hamster. I guess sometimes things slipped by the all-powerful Nintendo censors.

The censorship doesn't ruin the NES game. If you aren't familiar with what has been cut or modified, you probably won't notice. However, it's unfortunate that the game had to be put through the "Big N's" content guidelines.

The Bottom Line
Maniac Mansion is a classic computer game, which is superbly ported on over to the NES. The game has been subjected to the censorship policies of Nintendo, but it is still a great game. This is one of LucasArts' best adventure games, and hopefully all of their adventure games will be made available for future generations.

NES · by Shamal Jifan (20) · 2017

A rare treat!

The Good
Maniac Mansion features impressive graphics, music and sound effects. The eccentric characters, puzzlers, parodies and witty humor from the computer game are all here. If you like graphic adventure games and own a 8-bit Nintendo, then you need to play this game!

The Bad
Nintendo insisted that several things be censored before the game could be released. If you are familiar with the original computer version, you will notice the content changes and get a kick out of the Big N's censorship. Despite the strict content guidelines, some versions of the game do allow you to kidnap and brutally kill a pet hamster by frying him in the microwave.

The Bottom Line
Maniac Mansion is one of the few point n' click, graphic adventure games for the 8-bit Nintendo. The home console version is as fun to play as the computer version, with the biggest complaint being the silly and uptight content changes that were ordered.

NES · by ETJB (428) · 2010

[ View all 16 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Famicom version -- new entry? Pseudo_Intellectual (66361) Jul 21, 2012

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Maniac Mansion appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Chuck the plant

In the mansion's library, there is an un-useable plant called "Chuck the Plant" The plant also appears in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in Henry's room, and Day of the Tentacle in the lobby.

Copy protection

The computer versions featured an humorous copy protection scheme. In a new game a player entered the house, walked upstairs and are confronted by a giant iron bolted door which opens after entering four correct symbols on the keypad as shown in "Nuke'm Alarms - Nukes Burglars in their tracks: Owner's Disarmament Quick Reference Guide" included with the game. The wrong answer proved fatal!

Day of the Tentacle

Maniac Mansion is included as a bonus game inside Day of the Tentacle (on Ed's computer).

Hamster in the microwave

Players can microwave the hamster in any of the computer releases (but not the European NES version), but they have to use a sick-minded character (such as Syd or Razor) when doing it. Showing the exploded hamster to Weird Ed will make him kill that character.

NES version

The game was ported not once, but twice, to the NES. One version was made in America, while another one was made by Jaleco in Japan. The two versions look very different. It was one of the very few NES games to be translated into Spanish.

Many things had to be censored/changed to comply with Nintendo's policies: * Some of the language was toned down, for example: "The meteor is going to be pissed" was changed to "The meteor is going to be mad." * The "KILL THRILL" arcade game was changed to "TUNA" * "For a good time EDNA 3444" was changed to "Call Edna 3444"

A complete list of changes and more info can be found at http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/maniac.html

In the European NES version, additionally the possibility to microwave the hamster was removed. In turn, at least in the German version, some linguistic points from the above list are closer to the original.

References

  • The name of Razor's punk band is "Razor and the Scummettes", a reference to the SCUMM graphical interface used by LucasArts adventures.
  • There is an X-Wing model in Ed's room.
  • The speakers in the green tentacle's room are "THX" sound speakers. THX is a high-quality sound technology developed by Lucasfilm.

Zak McKracken

Connections between Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken (based on Amiga version): * In the game room there's a Zak McKracken poster. * In Maniac Mansion there's a chainsaw that has no gas. In the game Zak McKracken there is a can of gas on Mars. The can reads, "For use with chainsaws only". When trying to pick it up the character says, "I don't need it. It's for a different game." * "Tuna head" is said in both games. One of the aliens in Zak McKracken is always saying, "Tum de dum." In Maniac Mansion when Weird Ed is walking through the kitchen to get his cheese he says, "Tum te dum." * It appears that Zak happens to be going out with Sandy from Maniac Mansion. In Zak McKracken, if players go away and come back home enough times and keep checking the answering machine they will soon get a message from Weird Ed from Maniac Mansion. He calls up about going to a monster truck show, and that he'll come by with Sandy at 6:00 in the Edsel. * In Zak McKracken, at the police station in Nepal: there is a wanted poster for the purple meteor.

Remake

The German LucasFan Games developed a freeware 256-colour remake called Maniac Mansion Deluxe.

TV series

The game spawned a comedy series on the Family Channel in the early 90's.

Awards

  • Commodore Format
    • April 1991 (Issue 7) - listed in the A to Z of Classic Games article (Great)
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 03/2013 – One of the "Ten Best C64 Games“
  • Happy Computer
    • Issue 01/1988 - Best Game Idea in 1987
  • Power Play
    • 1987 - #2 Best C64 Game '87

Information also contributed by Игги Друге, Der.Archivar, Garcia, Jason Harang, kelmer44, Hitman23, Ricky Derocher, Tiago Jacques, whatt, Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe

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  • MobyGames ID: 714
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Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tony Van.

Amiga added by POMAH. Commodore 64 added by Rebound Boy. Windows, Linux, Macintosh added by Sciere. NES added by jeremy strope. Antstream added by lights out party. Atari ST, Apple II added by Servo.

Additional contributors: Jason Harang, Jeanne, tFX, Shoddyan, Sciere, Pseudo_Intellectual, Ricky Derocher, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, Maniac Mansion Fan, Izmir Egal, Fred Zanfardino, Victor Vance, FatherJack, ZeTomes.

Game added January 10, 2000. Last modified April 1, 2024.