Grim Fandango

From WE Computers Museum
Grim Fandango cover.jpg
Grim Fandango
Developer LucasArts (original)
Double Fine (Remastered)
Publisher LucasArts (original)
Activision (original in Europe)
Double Fine (Remastered)
Platforms Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, PS4, Vita, Switch, Windows
Released Grim Fandango
Windows NA: October 30, 1998
Grim Fandango Remastered
Windows WW: January 27, 2015
Linux, macOS, PS4, Vita WW: January 27, 2015
Android, iOS WW: May 5, 2015
Switch NA: November 1, 2018
Added to
Museum
Linux, Mac, Win (Remastered): December 12, 2017

Grim Fandango is an adventure game by LucasArts that was released on October 30, 1998 for Windows.

A high definition version, Grim Fandango Remastered, was released for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, PS4, Vita, and Windows in 2015 and for Nintendo Switch in 2018.

Plot

A grim reaper named Manny Calavera is just trying to pay his dues to the Department of Death so that he can finally get to the land of eternal rest.

However, the best clients seem to be taken by other grim reapers, meaning Manny will never meet his quota, and thus will be stuck working off his debt to the Department of Death forever.

He decides to take matters into his own hands, and get himself a client who has led a good life, and in the process discovers a trail of death and corruption and a conspiracy within the department.

Development

Grim Fandango was the first adventure game by LucasArts that uses a 3D engine. The engine is called GrimE (Grim Engine), and is the successor to the SCUMM engine used in the previous LucasArts adventure games.

It was designed and led by Tim Schafer, who was the co-writer on the first two Monkey Island games, the co-leader on Day of the Tentacle, and the project leader on Full Throttle.

The game is modeled after the Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead, and features characters modeled after calaveras (Spanish for skeleton) in the festival. In fact, the main character, Manny Calavera is named after the calaveras themselves.

The game is set over four years, which is the traditional amount of time it takes in Mexican culture to travel to your eternal resting place.

The soundtrack is composed by LucasArts veteran Peter McConnell.

Grim Fandango Remastered

Tim Schafer's development studio, Double Fine, created a remastered version, Grim Fandango Remastered.

This version has improved textures, less compressed videos, improved controls, and re-recorded music.