Actually, my first submission for this game was a little over 19 years ago. I hope that I can submit another improvement on 26 May 2024 to do a proper "20 years ago today" meme.
Maniac Mansion, an iconic 1990 NES game, invites players into a mysterious and humorously bizarre adventure. Set in a creepy mansion, players must choose and control a team of characters, each with unique skills and personalities, to rescue a kidnapped cheerleader from an evil scientist and his twisted family. With its innovative point-and-click gameplay, clever puzzles, and multiple endings, Maniac Mansion offers great freedom and replayability.
My earliest submission on 26 May 2004 clocked in at 9:51.93. I found a lot of glitches between that submission and my last MM submission on 29 Jan 2008, knocking the time down to 6:29.77. Then for a long time, nothing happened. But recently, the Maniac Mansion speedrunning community found four new major glitches that save a lot of time. Thus I had to make a new movie and beat all known records.
| Player | Type | Date | RTA timing | TAS timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arc (prev) | TAS | 29 Jan 2008 | 6:17 | 6:29.77 |
| Niss3 | RTA | 18 Feb 2023 | 5:29 | 5:41.35 |
| Arc (new) | TAS | 3 Jun 2023 | 5:10 | 5:22.04 |
I picked Syd and Razor on the character select screen simply because they're on the left side. The only trick on the first screen is to move two kids at the same time. Also make sure that Dave stops at the correct vertical coordinate, otherwise you'll have to go all the way back when you realize later that he's in the wrong spot. At the entrance, Syd gets the front door Key and rings the doorbell to lure Weird Ed out of his room. Syd climbs the staircase, goes through the security hall, and reaches Green Tentacle.
New major glitch #1: Double skip. The major objectives at the beginning of the game are to get through Green Tentacle's blockade and get Ed out of his room so a kid can grab the Card Key. Previously, I glitched through Green Tentacle by bringing up New Kid, walking to the top of the steps, switching kids, and switching back. However, by using precise 'New Kid buffering' timing the whole way up to Green Tentacle's hall, along with 'New Kid storage' (a separate but also essential trick), it's possible to completely freeze Green Tentacle (no kid switch needed) AND avoid the cutscene where Ed arrives at the front door AND there's time to get everything done upstairs.
Upstairs, it's optimal to handle the rooms in left-to-right order. And so Syd goes in the first door to go up to Green Tentacle's room to get the Yellow Key, which is required to start the Edsel. Syd comes back down, and I'm still using New Kid buffering to make sure Ed doesn't come back before Syd cleans out his room. Syd indeed safely goes into Ed's room and picks up the microwavable Hamster (blocking the Card Key) and the Card Key, which is required to access the Meteor's room. Syd exits and Ed is back, but Syd easily makes it into the Hunk-o-matic room.
New major glitch #2: Tele-strength. Normally, the kid who uses the Hunk-o-matic has to be the one who opens the grating and garage. But if a kid starts using the Hunk-o-matic and then there's a switch using New Kid at the exact right moment, the other kid receives the strength boost! This glitch allows Dave to immediately open the grating instead of needing Syd to walk outside later.
Syd also needs to use the Hunk-o-matic because he will open the garage later. Now everything is done upstairs, and so Syd goes into Ed's room to get captured, warping him to the dungeon.
New major glitch #3: Solo dungeon escape. Normally, two kids have to be in the dungeon to escape. One kid pushes the loose brick, and the other kid then escapes through the open door. But by bringing up the New Kid menu after getting captured in Ed's room, Syd simply walks out while Ed is still talking to him in the dungeon.
In the basement, Syd gets the Silver Key, which is necessary to open the pantry door leading to the pool. He walks out of the basement and through the main entryway to the kitchen. Nurse Edna is waiting at the refrigerator, but one of the oldest known tricks is that you can switch kids to make her disappear. While I've switched to Dave, I have him open the water valve under the house to drain the pool. Back to Syd, it's critical to open the refrigerator to trigger Ed's "Gee I'm Hungry" sequence. Syd continues the long walk right until reaching the pool. At the bottom of the pool is the Glowing Key, which unlocks the door to the lab.
Syd walks left all the way back to the main entry. Then I move Syd and Dave simultaneously to position them so Syd pushes the gargoyle to open the basement door for Dave. Dave goes into the basement to turn off the power, which triggers Purple Tentacle to investigate. I switch back to Syd, who gets captured by the hungry Ed, and Syd unlocks the lab door in the dungeon. The timing is perfect since Dave is immediately captured by Purple Tentacle afterward. Syd enters the outer lab while Dave gets sent to the dungeon.
New major glitch #4: Fred cutscene skip. The Holy Grail of Maniac Mansion skips has been achieved. Near the end of the game, there's normally an unskippable Dr. Fred cutscene that takes about 50 seconds. Typically, the New Kid menu is disabled once a kid enters the lab. However since Dave got captured while Syd was in the outer lab, not only is Purple Tentacle frozen (he's supposed to stop Syd), but the New Kid menu is accessible in the lab! And so Syd walks through the lab, turns off the switch, and then I can use New Kid to get out of the long cutscene.
To finish the game, Syd grabs the Meteor and walks out the door to the right. He opens the garage, puts the Meteor in the trunk of the Edsel, and starts the Edsel with the Yellow Key. (It won't start with the Hamster.) The Edsel blasts off into space with the Meteor inside, and Fred apologizes to Dave and Sandy for his insane plan.
Screenshot:
Credits:
- ShesChardcore did a lot of research to break the game and helped me with the double skip, so co-authorship is warranted.
- Niss3 with a great real-time run.
- capnshrimpy, Sathdresh, and NeSs7or9 for contributing on speedrun.com.
nymx: Claiming for judging.
nymx: Amazing to see the history behind the improvements here. With roughly 19 years from the very first, the trend continues with another great piece of work. Congratulations to the both of you!
Accepting to "Standard" for publication.
despoa: Processing...