In retrospect, Grim Fandango didn't necessarily change the genre or offer anything new to gift it its place at the top spot; it simply took all the qualities we love from a point and clicker immersive story, envelope-pushing graphics and good old-fashioned item combo quests - and did them the better than ever before. Created by Tim Schafer, the story took players off to the land of the dead and into the bones of travel agent Manuel Calavera. Down on his luck and in need of a sale, Manny soon finds himself in a death or death conspiracy, which sends him on a perilous four year journey into the afterlife. Theres so much to love about this game, from the Mexican-inspired setting, an inventory system that is as genius as it is practical, a ghoulishly great sidekick in automotive-loving demon Glottis and puzzles that veer from rationale to just plain bizarre. This was a game that although unforgiving in its difficulty at times, never failed to deliver on every level. In the bumper edition of gaming ironies, it's sad to think that Grim Fandango effectively run a scythe through the genre. Released in 1998, at a time when this type of game was at its crescendo, its commercial failure caused developer LucasArts to close down their adventure unit, setting in motion a genre exodus that has only recently been revived by the TellTales revolution.
Puzzling Par Excellence:
Put simply, Act 2 is the puzzling pinnacle of the game. Starting with Manny, erm, manning his own nightclub in the bustling town of Rubacava, our hero must find means of getting dog tags from a flowered corpse, haul Glottis from a casino and solve the games trickiest puzzle at the race track. Satisfaction guaranteed once you plug on to Act 3. Think we've cracked it with this one? Or have we left you puzzled? Whatever the notion, point, click and type your thoughts below.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.