Maniac Mansion (USA)

Maniac Mansion is a unique and humorous point-and-click adventure game, famous for pioneering Lucasfilm Games' "SCUMM" (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) engine. Although the NES version lacks a mouse, players control a cursor with the D-pad to interact with the environment.

The story revolves around Dave Miller, whose girlfriend Sandy is kidnapped by Dr. Fred Edison and taken to his bizarre mansion. Dave, along with two other friends chosen from a roster of six playable characters (each with distinct skills like electronic repair, playing music, or lock-picking), must infiltrate the mansion to rescue Sandy.

Gameplay primarily involves exploring the sprawling mansion and solving puzzles by finding and creatively using objects. The user interface displays a list of verbs such as "PICK UP", "OPEN", "USE", "GIVE", "PUSH", "PULL", "LOOK AT", and "TALK TO". Players select a verb, then choose an object or an inventory item to perform the action.

A distinctive feature of Maniac Mansion is the ability to control three characters simultaneously, switching between them to leverage their unique skills or to have them act independently in different areas of the mansion. For instance, Bernard might fix electrical items, while Razor could play music. Puzzles often require coordination between characters or logical deduction, sometimes even humorous trial-and-error.

The mansion is filled with eccentric Edison family members like Weird Ed, Nurse Edna, Green Tentacle, and Cousin Ted, each reacting uniquely to the player's actions. The game features multiple endings depending on how players solve puzzles and interact with characters, providing significant replay value.