Full Throttle (1995)

Not much about this LucasArts adventure struck me as particularly great or ambitious, and it has its annoyances, but it's still an entertaining game. It serves as a pretty approachable bridge between classic point-and-click titles and more modern adventure games with a relatively straightforward progression and light action elements.

Unfortunately, those action elements include several timing- and movement-based challenges and repetitive fight sequences that I didn't really enjoy. It resembles quicktime events sometimes, or at worst it might have been better as a quicktime event sometimes. I think the puzzles are pretty okay, though. They may be hard to piece together sometimes, but they make narrative sense and are relatively self-contained in a way that I guess helps out a bit.

The story is simple, but enjoyable enough. Characters tend to be a bit boring and forgettable, even the main character who is a bit too much of a straightforward biker dude. The writing doesn't really pop all that much and seems to use references and innuendo as crutches for humor more than it comes up with anything truly surprising, not bad but could be better. Either way, the plot's twists and turns are fun and set up some nice scenarios, and overall the pace is quick and engaging.

Hard to feel really passionate about this one, and I think most stuff besides the broad strokes will prove a bit forgettable in the long run, but I'm not mad I played it at all.

I remember having bought this game off a local bookstore as a kid and immersed myself in Lucasarts adventure games, alongside Grim Fandango and Monkey Island franchise. We've seen those games join the modern times again through remasters and Full Throttle has got its proper facelift while maintaining its mature, cartoon style. For those unfamiliar, the game story focuses on Ben, the bike leader of the Polecats that run the roads of the wasteland. He and his fellows get caught in a plot conspired by a greedy, motor manufacturing executive and it's up to him to save his friends in an event that could decide the fate of the motorcycle industry in the age of advanced technology.

The story isn't as long as its contemporaries, so it can be finished in just a few hours but it's rich with witty dialogues and colorful characters. Ben has a tough attitude and can get physical to solve his problems but he also got his heart at the right place, not desperate enough to let his gang serve others for a pay.

The gameplay experience hasn't changed a lot, aside from additional control options in this point and click adventure department. The puzzles require some out-of-the-box thinking at times and may not be so obvious at some point; even I had to consult a guide a few times to set myself right again. There is some action involved where you're pitting against other bikers in on-road fights. In its current design, it can get pretty grindy if you're unlucky with the timing of hitting enemies or knowing which weapons are right for the right opponent. In that respect, the part with the fights involved are more hit-or-miss for me. (pun intended)

The remastered version stands out with its difference in graphics, where the old-school pixel graphics have been shifted over to smoother illustrated renditions while staying true to the game's aesthetics. The sound effects sound punchy in general, in accordance to the game's rowdy environment. The soundtrack varies from cinematic ambience (courtesy to Peter McConnell) to country and blazing metal music that set the biker vibe at pivotal moments. Even the audible department gets its enhancement with better clarity and resolution for the modern rendition of the game.

Overall, Full Throttle is a worthy classic to be looked into for old and young gamers, especially for adventure fans who'd like to get a sense of road dust through the biker's story of retribution.

I've been excited to play this ever since finishing Day of the Tentacle Remastered and really enjoying it. I don't have nostalgia for point-and-click adventures, but DOTT and Grim Fandango both really appealed to me.

Strangely, I just didn't have the same experience with Full Throttle.

Certain aspects are really great. The puzzles feel more logical and less random than Day of the Tentacle, and the control scheme is much improved over the old "verbs along the bottom" design but without the frustrations that would plague Grim Fandango.

And yet, the final package feels a bit weaker than either of those titles. I just didn't fall in love with any of Full Throttle's mysterious (or just vague?) characters, and few sequences stood out to me as especially humorous or memorable.

I also found it particularly challenging to figure out which elements of a scene were interactive... the "highlight objects" feature from DOTT Remastered returns here, but it feels less complete somehow? The lower amount of interior scenes also means it's hard to figure out where exactly a scene ends, which caused me to frustratingly click along the edges.

But the aspects of this game that have aged most poorly are those that attempt to inject "action" into an otherwise point-and-click affair. The Mine Road sequence in particular nearly derailed my playthrough till I looked up the solution on YouTube.

I also found the remastered visuals to be hit or miss. It feels to me that the original game's design was very much a compromise between the grittier feel of the story and what was technically possible at the time. The higher-res repaint, while faithful to the source material, occasionally exposes flaws in lighting, animation and composition that weren't as noticeable when rendered with blocky pixels.

If you're a fan of Tim Schafer's games or of point-and-click adventures, there's a lot here to enjoy historically. If you're already a fan of the game, this is without a doubt the definitive version. But on its own merits, it's my least favorite of the Double Fine remasters.