Maniac Mansion holds a special place in my heart. It was the first adventure game that I played to the end. I had it on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I love the music in that version. The cutscene music is still one of my all-time favorite video game songs. And of course, the opening song is brilliant. It’s an unforgettable piece of music that sticks in your head long after you play it. It didn’t have a lot of dialog like later LucasArts adventure games, but it didn’t need it. It was loaded with atmosphere.

After I finally completed it, I went back to see what would happen if I did certain things I hadn’t done before (which is what the best adventure games entice the player to do). What would happen if I killed Dave and beat the game? What would happen if I stuck the hamster in the microwave and gave it to Weird Ed? What are all of the different endings for each of the characters? I love the fact that the creators of the game put so much in the game to give it so much replay value. Very few adventure games after Maniac Mansion have managed to do that.