Editing Maniac Mansion (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Maniac Mansion.png|thumb|left|alt=A horizontal rectangular video game screenshot that is a digital representation of a domestic room. Two human characters stand beside a green tentacle in the middle of the room. Below the scene is a list of commands.|Bernard and Dave visit the green tentacle in the mansion. The game displays dialogue above the scene and the [[point-and-click]] command interface below it.]]

''Maniac Mansion'' is a [[graphic adventure game]] in which the player uses a [[point-and-click]] interface to guide characters through a [[2D computer graphics|two-dimensional]] game world and to solve puzzles. Fifteen action commands, such as "Walk To" and "Unlock", may be selected by the player from a menu on the screen's lower half.<ref name=zzap /><ref name=ace /> The player starts the game by choosing two out of six characters to accompany protagonist Dave Miller: Bernard, Jeff, Michael, Razor, Syd, and Wendy.<ref>{{cite web|title=Manic Mansion characters|url=http://www.maniacmansionfan.50webs.com/characters.html|website=Maniac Mansion Fans}}</ref><ref name=zzap /> Each character possesses unique abilities: for example, Syd and Razor can play musical instruments, while Bernard can repair appliances.<ref name="NP-14">{{cite magazine |title=Previews: ''Maniac Mansion'' |magazine=[[Nintendo Power]] |publisher=[[Nintendo]] |location=[[Redmond, WA]] |date=July–August 1990 |issue=14 |pages=62–63 |issn=1041-9551 |oclc=18893582}}</ref> The game may be completed with any combination of characters; but, since many puzzles are solvable only by certain characters, different paths must be taken based on the group's composition.<ref name=mmmanual>{{cite book | last=Laurel | first=Brenda | title=Maniac Mansion ''manual'' | publisher=[[Lucasfilm Games]] | pages = 1–5 | year=1987 | location=[[San Rafael, CA]]}}</ref><ref name=nintpower>{{cite magazine |date=September–October 1990 |title=''Maniac Mansion'' |magazine=Nintendo Power |publisher=Nintendo |location=Redmond, WA |issue=16 |pages=14–19 |issn=1041-9551 |oclc=18893582}}</ref> ''Maniac Mansion'' features [[cutscene]]s, a word coined by [[Ron Gilbert]],<ref name="GrumpyIn9">{{cite web |last=Gilbert |first=Ron |author-link=Ron Gilbert |title=''Maniac Mansion'' in 9 |publisher= Grumpy Gamer |date=April 12, 2007 |access-date=March 3, 2011 |url=http://grumpygamer.com/8139425|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415021118/http://grumpygamer.com/8139425|archive-date=April 15, 2007}}</ref><ref name="GS-Fame">{{cite news|last1=Buecheler|first1=Christopher|title=The GameSpy Hall of Fame|work=GameSpy|url=http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/mm.shtm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311072453/http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/halloffame/mm.shtm|archive-date=11 March 2011}}</ref> that interrupt gameplay to advance the story and inform the player about offscreen events.<ref name=zzap /><ref name=mmmanual />

The game takes place in the [[mansion]] of the fictional Edison family: Dr. Fred, a [[mad scientist]]; Nurse Edna, his wife; and their son Weird Ed.<ref name=mmmanual /> Living with the Edisons are two large, disembodied tentacles, one purple and the other green. The intro sequence shows that a sentient meteor crashed near the mansion twenty years earlier; it brainwashed the Edisons and directed Dr. Fred to obtain human brains for use in experiments. The game begins as Dave Miller prepares to enter the mansion to rescue his girlfriend, Sandy Pantz, who had been kidnapped by Dr. Fred.<ref name=mmmanual /><ref name=cgw>{{cite magazine | date=May 1988 | last=Ardai | first=Charles | authorlink=Charles Ardai | magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] | publisher=Golden Empire Publications | location=[[Anaheim, CA]] | title=The Doctor is in: An Appointment with Terror in Activision's ''Maniac Mansion'' | issue=47 | pages=40–41 | issn=0744-6667 | oclc=8482876}}</ref> With the exception of the green tentacle, the mansion's inhabitants are hostile, and will throw the [[player character]]s into the dungeon—or, in some situations, kill them—if they see them. When a character dies, the player must continue with the remaining of the three selected characters; the [[game over|game ends]] if all characters are killed. ''Maniac Mansion'' has five possible endings, based on which characters are chosen, which survive, and what the characters accomplish.<ref name=commodoremagazine2>{{cite journal |last=Addams |first=Shay |date=December 1987 |title=Animated Adventuring in ''Maniac Mansion'' |journal=Commodore Magazine |publisher=Commodore Magazine, Inc.|location=[[West Chester, PA]] |volume=8 |pages=48, 110 |issue=12}}</ref>