I’m getting a good feeling from these tentacles
Day of the Tentacle Remastered is a classic Lucas Arts adventure game, re-released for the modern age thanks to Double Fine – a studio headed by the original game’s creators, Tim Schafer. It has proven a worthwhile effort: going back to the source material to update the audio and visuals for a modern audience, while retaining the writing and comedy that made the 1993 game so special.
The heroes of time
You play as the hapless Bernard, Hoagie, and Laverne who are trying to stop the evil Purple Tentacle’s plans of world domination. The three teen “heroes” have been scattered throughout time by Dr. Fred Edison’s faulty time machine. You must make use of this situation to solve the game’s obtuse point-and-click adventure puzzles, changing events in the future by manipulating events in the past and sending items through time.
A perfect example of this comes right at the beginning when Laverne is stuck up a cherry tree in the future. By getting Hoagie to talk to George Washington in the past, you can convince the first President to cut down the tree while it is still a sapling. This removes the tree from existence, allowing Laverne to escape.
A labor of love
What is so perfect about this re-release is the clear love of everyone involved. The visuals have been lovingly recreated from the original artist’s sketches– not the old game. Even the voice work has had the developer go back to the archive tapes to completely rework the voices and music as they were meant to be – rather than what the technology of 1993 demanded.
It is like this game doesn’t only feature time travel, it has also offered Tim Schafer the chance to travel back in time to create the game he originally imagined back in 1993 only with 2016 technology. And, if that process interests you, there is also a brilliant developer commentary.
A gaming time capsule
Yes, the menu-based point-and-click gameplay feels dated at points, but the writing is still sharp enough to slice of a tentacle. All of which makes Day of the Tentacle Remastered a must for both adventure game and comedy enthusiasts.
