My rating: 9/10
Based on: one full playthrough

Full disclosure: I played and enjoyed the MS-DOS original around the turn of the century on my first home PC along with its predecessor embedded inside, Maniac Mansion, which I previously played on my Commodore 64 a decade or so back.

Pros:

(+) nutty storyline involving 3 playable characters (clever but awkward nerd Bernard, lazy but wise-cracking roadie fatso Hoagie and loopy but sassy Laverne) stranded in 3 distinct time periods (the present, the colonial past and the dystopian future) trying to stop a purple tentacle monster hell bent on world domination
(+) a varied cast of supporting characters including quirky archetypes, cheeky historical figures and anthropomorphic tentacles
(+) unique time travel, inventory sharing and character switching mechanics involving high-end, state-of-the-art porta-potties
(+) freedom to explore the interconnected time periods (worlds)
(+) the wickedly irreverent and hilarious writing by the supreme LucasArts trio of Dave Grossman, Tim Schafer and Gary Winnick, ranging from potty jokes and clever easter eggs to high-brow references, delivered through the remastered, deliberately cartoonish voice acting
(+) wacky, often slapstick humour and animations reminiscent of classic cartoons with the original hand-drawn art style by the masters Peter Chan and Larry Ahern redone completely, but respectfully and beautifully in high resolution and with full widescreen support
(+) the properly goofy SFX and music are a blast from the past, but hold up splendidly, especially remastered
(+) the classic point-and-click controls improved by substituting the original unintuitive SCUMM command syntax with a streamlined radial selection menu
(+) logically sound puzzles with only a few verging on the absurd, their solving aided a bit by some easily missable hints hidden in cutscenes, conversations and throw-away lines
(+) you can switch back and forth between the original and the remaster at the press of a button
(+) the first Maniac Mansion is still playable in-game, a feature unheard-of in 1993, but imitated many times since
(+) newly introduced Steam achievements make for thorough exploration and manic experimentation
(+) vast concept art gallery and extensive developers’ commentary by Schafer, Grossman, Chan and Ahern, along with the composers Peter McConnell and Clint Bajakian
(+) perfectly playable with a mouse and keyboard, but analogue controllers are also supported
(+) expanded language options: English, French, Italian, German and Spanish interface and subtitles options, but only English and German audio
(+) another fine and masterful remaster from Double Fine overall worth paying through the suction cup for (all puns intended)

Cons:

(−) developers’ commentary sometimes plays on top of the on-screen dialogue, which makes it confusing to hear
(−) infrequent, but annoying stops in character dialogue delivery while waiting for the subtitles to catch up
(−) some background dithering and low-framerate animations are more noticeable on a modern widescreen monitor
(−) occasional textual mistakes in developers' commentary subtitles (not enough proof-reading?)
(−) the first Manic Mansion playable in-game has not been remastered, only updated with a new menu, including a save/load/resume feature
(−) minimal hand holding (some easily missable hints can be gleaned from cutscenes or conversations, but there’s no journal nor check-lists to remind you)
(−) some of the more complex and multi-step puzzles may throw you for a (time) loop
(−) not nearly enough tentacles for hentai enthusiasts ;-)

Check out my reviews of other Double Fine’s games:
Broken Age
Brütal Legend
Full Throttle Remastered
Grim Fandango Remastered
Psychonauts

[b]My rating:[/b] 9/10 Based on: one full playthrough [b]Full disclosure:[/b] I played and enjoyed the MS-DOS original around the turn of the century on my first home PC along with its predecessor embedded inside, Maniac Mansion, which I previously played on my Commodore 64 a decade or so back. [b]Pros:[/b] (+) nutty storyline involving 3 playable characters (clever but awkward nerd Bernard, lazy but wise-cracking roadie fatso Hoagie and loopy but sassy Laverne) stranded in 3 distinct time periods (the present, the colonial past and the dystopian future) trying to stop a purple tentacle monster hell bent on world domination (+) a varied cast of supporting characters including quirky archetypes, cheeky historical figures and anthropomorphic tentacles (+) unique time travel, inventory sharing and character switching mechanics involving high-end, state-of-the-art porta-potties (+) freedom to explore the interconnected time periods (worlds) (+) the wickedly irreverent and hilarious writing by the supreme LucasArts trio of Dave Grossman, Tim Schafer and Gary Winnick, ranging from potty jokes and clever easter eggs to high-brow references, delivered through the remastered, deliberately cartoonish voice acting (+) wacky, often slapstick humour and animations reminiscent of classic cartoons with the original hand-drawn art style by the masters Peter Chan and Larry Ahern redone completely, but respectfully and beautifully in high resolution and with full widescreen support (+) the properly goofy SFX and music are a blast from the past, but hold up splendidly, especially remastered (+) the classic point-and-click controls improved by substituting the original unintuitive SCUMM command syntax with a streamlined radial selection menu (+) logically sound puzzles with only a few verging on the absurd, their solving aided a bit by some easily missable hints hidden in cutscenes, conversations and throw-away lines (+) you can switch back and forth between the original and the remaster at the press of a button (+) the first Maniac Mansion is still playable in-game, a feature unheard-of in 1993, but imitated many times since (+) newly introduced Steam achievements make for thorough exploration and manic experimentation (+) vast concept art gallery and extensive developers’ commentary by Schafer, Grossman, Chan and Ahern, along with the composers Peter McConnell and Clint Bajakian (+) perfectly playable with a mouse and keyboard, but analogue controllers are also supported (+) expanded language options: English, French, Italian, German and Spanish interface and subtitles options, but only English and German audio (+) another fine and masterful remaster from Double Fine overall worth paying through the suction cup for (all puns intended) [b]Cons:[/b] (−) developers’ commentary sometimes plays on top of the on-screen dialogue, which makes it confusing to hear (−) infrequent, but annoying stops in character dialogue delivery while waiting for the subtitles to catch up (−) some background dithering and low-framerate animations are more noticeable on a modern widescreen monitor (−) occasional textual mistakes in developers' commentary subtitles (not enough proof-reading?) (−) the first Manic Mansion playable in-game has not been remastered, only updated with a new menu, including a save/load/resume feature (−) minimal hand holding (some easily missable hints can be gleaned from cutscenes or conversations, but there’s no journal nor check-lists to remind you) (−) some of the more complex and multi-step puzzles may throw you for a (time) loop (−) not nearly enough tentacles for hentai enthusiasts ;-) [u]Check out my reviews of other Double Fine’s games:[/u] [url=steamproxy.net/id/CamAddLess/recommended/232790/]Broken Age[/url] [url=steamproxy.net/id/CamAddLess/recommended/225260/]Brütal Legend[/url] [url=steamproxy.net/id/CamAddLess/recommended/228360/]Full Throttle Remastered[/url] [url=steamproxy.net/id/CamAddLess/recommended/316790/]Grim Fandango Remastered[/url] [url=steamproxy.net/id/CamAddLess/recommended/3830/]Psychonauts[/url]