Likewise, Peter McConnell’s jazz be-bop (and Peruvian pan-pipe, among others) score sets just the right tone for Art Deco offices, smokey Beatnik clubs and towering Mayan temples. There’s not a dud voice among them, and whoever was directing (and editing) the recording sessions made sure that the timing and emphasis on the gag lines is exceptional.
The first scene between Manny (Tony Plana) and Meche (Maria Carnals) has the same noir fizz as a back-and-forth straight out of Double Indemnity or The Big Sleep. The setting is unusual and magnificent in equal measure, with 2D backgrounds and 3D characters that do justice to Peter Chan’s incredible concept art (a great deal of which can now be viewed in-game through a special features menu.) Those characters deliver some of the best dialogue Tim Schafer has ever written, heightened by terrific voice acting performances. Grim Fandango is that rare example of a game where every department contributed their absolute best. Then adds the sort of Schafer-era LucasArts surrealism which finds perpetually flaming beavers building towering dams of bone in a forest where apparently unmanned industrial equipment sucks the marrow out of trees for some nefarious purpose. That’s the outstanding premise for an adventure game that pulls influences from Mexican Day of the Dead folklore, Raymond Chandler and 1930s Jazz. Morally upstanding types qualify for a trip on the “Number Nine” train. He sells travel packages to the skeletal dead, providing them with a mode of transport across the four year journey of the soul, commensurate to their behaviour in life. Manny, or Manuel Calavera, for those who don’t know, is the travel agent protagonist of this noir-flavoured tale. Sometimes the original source is a little … strange. The majority of additions are external, while the game remains resolutely faithful to the original source. No in-game hints, no object hot-spot highlighting toggle, and no changes to the (slightly clunky, let’s be honest) inventory system of shuffling through Manny’s jacket. There are changes and improvements, which we’ll come to later, but it’s notable that this re-release gives no ground to contemporary adventure game conventions. This pride is reflected in how much of Remastered stays true to the original source.
The 120-some minutes (I didn’t count, but that’s what’s advertised) discussing the various guises of late-90s game design offer glimpses of how Grim Fandango came to be, and how fiercely proud its creators are of the finished version. Of fights to buy more time, and concessions over cut features. There are tales of late nights and even earlier mornings.
They’re the regrets of perfectionists animators lamenting that the systems used couldn’t prevent sleeves clipping through character’s hands, and coders who wanted to shoot for techniques and effects that the run-of-the-mill PCs of the age wouldn’t be able to handle. Several of the former LucasArts staff who contribute to the optional commentary soundbites that accompany almost every scene express regrets. If you’re going to be the best, you may as well borrow liberally from Casablanca.
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