Full Throttle

The Good
Like many LucasArts adventure games, there's a lot to like about Full Throttle. LucasArts has had a tendency to produce adventure games that are friendly, fun, and contain an interesting storyline. This rocking road trip of a game is no different.

The graphics are perfect for this type of game. The cartoon like style of Day of the Tentacle and Sam&Max Hit the Road is revisted here, only with a somewhat more serious tone. The style and animation easily beats out most Saturday morning cartoons, even at its pixelated low resolution. The characters are brought to life with expressive faces and little nuances (like reflections in chrome) make this a game worth watching, if not playing.

The voice-acting is top notch. Headed up by voice-acting veterans Jack Angel and Mark Hamill, the main speaking characters are defined as much by the voice and verbal mannerisms as they are their physical appearance, and the minor characters are all lively and enjoyable to listen to. There's really not one bad bit of acting among the batch, from Ben's gravelly voice to Ripburger's (excellently done by Hamill) menacing tone to the Ross Perot wannabe souvenir vendor.

The little semi-action games break up the adventure game and provide for a change of pace without disrupting the flow of the game. Much like the rest of the game (except for the end-game scenario), the arcade games are designed to be light on the difficulty and not force deaths or reloads over and over.

The soundtrack, mostly music from a genre I didn't expect to like, was very appropriate for the game, was coupled perfectly with scenes, and is actually quite good. I have found myself playing the opening sequence just for that theme and still get a kick out of music playing at the trailer guy's house.

The Bad
The game is relatively easy and doesn't last long. While the whole adventure is an enjoyable romp, it does run through quickly and seems over long before you want it to end. Usually that's a good sign for any media, but in this case, it's partially due to the story's brevity. This is made worse by the 'small world' sense the game gives, as you'll find yourself revisiting a number of the same places a number of time in order to complete some puzzles.

The Old Mine Road combat sequence is fun, but gets repetitive quickly and each important opponent needs to be taken down in a certain order (as you need a previous opponent's weapon to be victorious). Whether due to luck or a mistake in choosing the wrong weapon, you will find yourself needing to drive down the road many miles looking to get run through all the opponents you need to move on.

The Bottom Line
A semi-serious, enjoyable cartoon-looking biker gang adventure game filled with a friendly interface, puzzles that won't interfere too much with the game, and a fitting soundtrack. Fans of LucasArts games (and adventure games in general) won't want to pass this gem up. While not as hilarious as Day of the Tentacle or Sam&Max, Full Throttle is still a worthy addition to genre.

The Good
An interesting game world with amazing characters. Superb voice acting, music, sound and graphics that even today hold on

The Bad
Short. Annoying action sequences that you cannot skip. Some puzzles are disgracefully easy, while others are not intuitive and feel more like a desperate attempt to lengthen the game.

The Bottom Line
I actually played Full Throttle when it came out, almost 20 years ago, but never finished it. My friend was the one who had a copy of the game and we played it together on his PC till he had to return it, as he also did not own the game. Let me remind you that we're talking about 1995, a period where games required the installation CD to run, not as an authentication method but simply because the hard-drives were too small to contain an entire disc.

When I saw Tim Schafer play Full Throttle in the DoubleFine YouTube channel, I just had to play it from beginning to end, to finally fill that gap from 1995. So I stopped watching Tim so not to spoil the game for me, grabbed a copy and installed it on my PC.

In my memories, Full Throttle is an amazing piece of work and if I had to write a review strictly based on what I remember it'll probably be filled with compliments and phrases such as "the greatest game I ever played".

But the truth is - Full Throttle is not that great. It is quite an experience, with memorable characters, plot and atmosphere, but it fails as an adventure game. It's puzzles are simply sub-par. Most are extremely easy, and a lot of them consist of kicking stuff (one of the action verbs is kick). Only a few are smart and shine out with Tim's greatness.

Some of the puzzles, while not hard, are simply not intuitive. For example, and without spoiling too much, at one point in the game you need to have a quantity of one of the items in your inventory. However, after you picked up that item and placed it in your inventory, you can only pick it again after you used the one you already have, and while it is possible to use a copy of the item each time - it is not the solution. All items need be used at the same time to resolve the puzzle.

So how do you overcome it? You use the item, so it'll be removed from your inventory, but once you've used it, you pick it up again. You will now have in your inventory what the item contained, which is actually what you needed in the first place, and the item itself will be generated again and be available for pick up. Yes, this is the puzzle solution and not a bug in the game.

Other then that, there are action sequences peppered throughout the game. Their biggest problem is that the controls are poor and unresponsive, they're not fun at all and if they do have some sort of strategy in them then I've missed it, as I managed to pass them all by mashing buttons. And the worst is that you cannot skip them!

Tim mentioned in his play through that in order to make the protagonist believable as a tough biker guy, he had to kick stuff, including people, and that's the reason for having them in the first place. I don't think that an adventure game should force on it's players, who would've purchased an action title if they wanted, action sequences that cannot be skipped.

Along with Sam and Max, Day of the Tentacle and Monkey Island, Full Throttle has that LucasArts charm which was so prominent in the mid 90's. It's story is compelling and the settings and characters are truly superb. Even today, it's cartoon like presentation looks great, not to mention it's rock soundtrack and excellent voice acting.

However, in the end, Full Throttle is an adventure game, and as one it should present challenging and interesting puzzles, and not rely on action sequences or odd puzzles to squeeze the (very) short gaming experience.

The Good
One has to ask oneself what's the key to the sheer success of the LucasArts adventure games, they are virtually identical gameplay-wise, they aren't extreme quantum leaps technology-wise, and heck! They are adventure games! A genre chastizised by many as games where the concept of gameplay is "guess what the designer wanted you to do"...! So what gives?? What could possibly turn those things into succesful games?? Let me tell you what: Creative content.

LucasArts crammed each and every one of their games with inventive plots, fantastic characters and some of the most original moments in pc gaming history... case in point?: Full Throttle, truly the most badassed adventure game ever made, a rock&roller adventure with a story that flows like a good action movie in which renegade biker Ben (total badass) gets framed for snuffing out the benevolent president of the country's leading motorcycle company and has to run from the law. Since he is such a baddass, Ben sets out to set the record straight, get the bad guy and kick some shit around. Doesn't sound like much on paper, but when you transport that to the stylistically crafted gameworld and twist it in the already familiar cartoony ways of LucasArts, you have a fantastic experience in your hands. All the elements are there: baddass anti-hero, baddass babe, baddass bikes, baddass soundtrack, biker gangs, corporate pigs, dumbass rednecks, barbrawls, you name it... Full Throttle has the "zing" and by zeroing on all the right "kickass" elements manages to stylistically blend them and turn a rather simple storyline in one of the most exciting experiences ever to grace a computer screen.

Furthermore, the game has LucasArts already famous production values, which translate into stellar voice acting (which deserves special recognition as perhaps the best one ever for a computer game), killer graphics which merged cartoony (yet-realistically proportioned and animated) characters with pre-rendered bikes and lush scenery and backgrounds, as well as an absolutely bitching soundtrack by The Gone Jackals, a legitimate down-and-dirty rock&roll band from whom Lucas licensed their entire album Bone to Pick, and which only needed Steppenwolf's "Born To be Wild" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" in order to become the ultimate biker soundtrack

The interface moved a step up from Sam&Max, by re-working the old mechanics and introducing a floating menu from which you selected your action AFTER you selected the location, the result is even less clutter, and easier adventuring and puzzle management. And the whole thing is layed out as Ben's gang logo! How cool can this thing get??

The Bad
It's really easy, and it's really short. You can try dressing that one up all you want, but the reality of it all is that Full Throttle is REALLY short and is REALLY easy. Proof positive of what kickass content it has is that despite being an introductory-level adventure with the length of a demo it still rocked,...but...

The Bottom Line
It's the most kickass thing in the history of kickassed-ness!!(?). Full Throttle is like Walter Hill's "The Warriors", a simple straightforward story that due to it's sheer style in execution and understanding of source material becomes a stylistical masterpiece. Get it. Get it now, "Caaaaan Yoooooouuu Diiiiig Eeeeeet???".

Besides, the game has a "kick" command!!!.... WHAT THE HELL MORE DO YOU WANT????