Maniac Mansion — stories left

Writer Orson Scott Card praised it as a step toward "computer games [becoming] a valid storytelling art".

Realtime Associates' founder and president David Warhol noted that "video games at that time had to have 'wall to wall' music".

The phrase "NES SCUMM System" in the credits sequence was removed due to Nintendo's concern about how it would be perceived.

In 2011, Hunt wrote that "as so often tends to be the way with cult classics, the popularity it saw was slow in coming".

In describing Maniac Mansion as Lucasfilms' "breakthrough game", Matthew Castillo of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine praised the "B-movie" horror elements, the use of cutscenes and the visuals.

PC Computing in 1988 wrote that Maniac Mansion for the PC had a clever story but "grade B animation", concluding that "the result falls short of the magic we expect from George Lucas".

Reviewing the MS-DOS and Atari ST ports, a critic from The Games Machine called Maniac Mansion "an enjoyable romp" that was structurally superior to later LucasArts adventure games.

Computer Gaming Worlds Charles Ardai praised the game for attaining "the necessary and precarious balance between laughs and suspense that so many comic horror films and novels lack".

Writing for VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, Bill Kunkel and Joyce Worley stated that the game's plot and premise were typical of the horror genre, but they praised the interface and execution.

Reviewing Maniac Mansions Amiga version four years after its release, Simon Byron of The One Amiga praised the game for retaining "charm and humour", but suggested that its art direction had become "tacky" compared to more recent titles.

Co-reviewer Heinrich Lenhardt stated that Maniac Mansion was unlike any other NES adventure game, and that it was no less enjoyable than its home computer releases.

In 2011, Richard Cobbett summarized Maniac Mansion as "one of the most intricate and important adventure games ever made".

The game's uniqueness and clever writing were praised by Nintendo Power: in 2010, the magazine's Chris Hoffman stated that the game is "unlike anything else out there — a point-and-click adventure with an awesome sense of humor and multiple solutions to almost every puzzle".

In March 2012, Retro Gamer listed the hamster incident as one of the "100 Classic Gaming Moments".

Gilbert has said that he would like to see an official remake, similar in its graphics and gameplay to The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge.

Gilbert later said that the premise of the series changed during production until it differed heavily from the game's original plot.

Game designer Sheri Graner Ray believed the game to challenge "damsel in distress" stereotypes through its inclusion of female protagonists.

Writer Orson Scott Card praised it as a step toward "computer games [becoming] a valid storytelling art".

In 2011, Hunt wrote that "as so often tends to be the way with cult classics, the popularity it saw was slow in coming".

In Compute!, Orson Scott Card praised the game's humor, cinematic storytelling and lack of violence.

In describing Maniac Mansion as Lucasfilms' "breakthrough game", Matthew Castillo of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine praised the "B-movie" horror elements, the use of cutscenes and the visuals.

Computer Gaming Worlds Charles Ardai praised the game for attaining "the necessary and precarious balance between laughs and suspense that so many comic horror films and novels lack".

Writing for VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, Bill Kunkel and Joyce Worley stated that the game's plot and premise were typical of the horror genre, but they praised the interface and execution.

Reviewing Maniac Mansions Amiga version four years after its release, Simon Byron of The One Amiga praised the game for retaining "charm and humour", but suggested that its art direction had become "tacky" compared to more recent titles.

She criticized the graphics and gameplay of both releases but felt the game to be highly enjoyable regardless.

The game's uniqueness and clever writing were praised by Nintendo Power: in 2010, the magazine's Chris Hoffman stated that the game is "unlike anything else out there — a point-and-click adventure with an awesome sense of humor and multiple solutions to almost every puzzle".

Discussing the series in retrospect, Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer criticized its generic storylines and lack of relevance to the game.

Initially released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II, Maniac Mansion was Lucasfilm Games' first self-published product.

The game was developed around the Commodore 64 home computer, an 8-bit system with only 64 KB of memory.

The first port was handled and published by Jaleco only in Japan.

In September 1990 Jaleco released an American version of Maniac Mansion as the first NES title developed by Lucasfilm Games in cooperation with Realtime Associates.

Nintendo later noticed it, and after the first batch of cartridges was sold, Jaleco was forced to remove the content from future shipments.

Seven years after the NES version's debut, Nintendo Power named it the 61st best game ever.

Additional content was removed from the NES version to make it suitable for a younger audience and to conform with Nintendo's policies.

The phrase "NES SCUMM System" in the credits sequence was removed due to Nintendo's concern about how it would be perceived.

The game was released after many twists and turns, but complaints were made that the word "Lust" printed on the package was bad for education, so it was recalled once and put back on shop shelves after the package had been rewritten.

In the "Cross Review" feature of the magazine Famitsu,the game scored a total of 27 out of 40. In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by Family Computer Magazine,it scored 18.45 out of 30, as shown below.