Maniac Mansion (NES, US/EU)

Maniac Mansion
Developer: Lucasfilm Games Publisher: Jaleco Platform: NES Released in US: September 1990 Released in EU: October 22, 1992 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences.

Die NES-Version von Maniac Mansion ist ein sehr zensierter Port von dem klassischen PC-Point-And-Click-Adventure-Spiel in wlechem man durch eine Villa von (meist) verrückten, blauen Leuten und Tentakel-Kreaturen geht um eine Cheerleaderin vor einem lebenden Meteor zu retten. Es macht tatsächlich ziemlichen Spaß und hat einen geilen Soundtrack.

Verglichen mit der japanischen Version, hat die US/EU Version weniger cartoonartige Grafiken und detailliertere Räume.

Ungenutzte Musik

Track #13 in dem NSF ist ein ungenutzter Song. Wo er spielen sollte ist ein Mysterium: Aber weil er so lang und repetitiv ist, könnte es ein Theme für einen Charakter oder einen Ort sein (anstatt beispielsweise ein alternatives Theme für Syd oder Razor, welche Klavier spielen). Es kann in ScummVM mit dem Befehl imuse play 81 gespielt werden.

Tastenfeld

Im zweiten Stock, gehe durch die Stahl-Sicherheits-Tür und zeige mit dem Mauszeiger auf die Wand zu ihrer links, gerade so über dem Boden. Du solltest hier ein Tastenfeld finden. Gehe zu dem Tastenfeld und dein Charakter wird in Richtung der Tür zu Dr. Fred's Labor schauen, auch wenn sie vier Räume von dem Tastenfeld entfernt ist. In den meisten Fällen, wird das Nutzen des Tastenfeldes einen unwiderruflichen Countdown auslösen welcher damit endet, dass die Villa explodiert (also Game Over).

This particular Keypad is a leftover from the PC version: as an anti-piracy measure in the days of floppy disks, game developers often forced you to enter a code at some point, which was usually present in the manual or other accessories that were packaged with the game. In Maniac Mansion, you had to use the Keypad and enter a code from the manual to unlock the Steel Security Door, which is always unlocked in the NES version (and really doesn't make it too secure). The Japanese version of the game instead handled this situation by replacing the security door with a regular one.

Beyond its redundancy in an NES title, the fact that the Keypad is on the wrong side of the door in the NES version, your character doesn't correctly face it when prompted, and the prototype has an immovable object blocking its use, all suggest it was left in by mistake.

Early Character Select

Early	Final

Enabling the code 00AF:35 during the opening cutscene will cause what appears to be an early version of the character select screen to appear after it's done. The code must be turned off again while the screen is displayed to avoid continuing directly to the final version. It is located in room 53.

Of note is the fact that Dave is not automatically selected and the background palette is a brighter shade of blue. Also, Dave and Wendy are transposed with each other, Bernard's glasses are not colored in, and the title graphic seems to be subtly different in many ways.

Unused Graphics

Green Tentacle's "Disco Sucks" poster, present in the PC version as well as this one's prototype (right) but cut from the final due to the obvious censorship issue.

Invisible Pennant

One of the more well-known oddities is the invisible pennant in Weird Ed's room. The pennant was removed due to Nintendo's dislike of the acronym "SCUMM". Although the pennant's graphics are missing, it can still be highlighted and says "SCUMM U. RAH!" when Read. What's especially odd is that the pennant is invisible in the largely uncensored prototype version as well, indicating that it was removed fairly early in development.

Regional Differences

The US version kept in the ability to microwave Ed's hamster to death, but the European version removed this.

(Source: Hardcore Gaming)

Capitalization Oddity

The text displayed during gameplay is in all capital letters; however, for the text inside of the ROM this is not the case. For example, the text "MANIAC MANSION" in the game is stored as "Maniac Mansion". It is important to note that the capitalization in the ROM is exactly the same as the DOS version.