Full Throttle: Remastered (PC) - Part 1

Remastered -	Developer:	Double Fine	|	Release Date:	2017	|	Systems:	Win, PS4, PS Vita
Original Game -	Developer:	LucasArts	|	Release Date:	1995	|	Systems:	MS-DOS, Win & Mac OS

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This week on Super Adventures, it's the legendary LucasArts classic, Full Throttle! Remastered!

It seemed like a good time for me to get around to this one, with the original game's 25th anniversary being just around the corner. It came out on April 20th so I'm a month early, but Super Adventures is taking a break during April (and May) so I'm playing it now.

I've played the classic Full Throttle before, in fact I've beaten the game, but I've forgotten almost everything about it since then. I'm fairly sure I used a guide to get through it, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I used guides all the time back then, because assumed I wouldn't make it though a game without them.

I do know one thing about the game though: it actually sold pretty well, better than any LucasArts adventure that came before it (but maybe not as well as The Dig), which the company appreciated as it also cost a fortune (though maybe not as much as The Dig). It's possible that all the expensive CD-filling cutscenes were the reason the game was such a big hit for them, though some have theorised it was actually because it had a big explosion on the box art.

Okay, I don't usually do SPOILER warnings on Super Adventures, but I'm going to play through the first third of the game and spoil a big chunk of the puzzles and story, so you might not want to read this if you haven't played through it before.

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New menu! This wasn't in the original DOS game.

The classic game is also missing the option to play with new remastered graphics and sound, the music player, a developer's commentary and 147 pieces of concept art.

Though the DOS game does have one advantage, and that's that it comes on good solid physical media. It doesn't matter if Steam's servers all blow up; as long as I have a drive that reads CDs I'll always have Full Throttle.

Oh no, what's happened to my copy of Full Throttle? I was wondering why it was taking so long to read MONSTER.SOU so I took the CD out and found this bloody huge crack running down it. I'm not putting that back in my drive, I had enough of a shock the last time a disc exploded on me.

Well, that's crap. Possibly the worst thing that's happened to anyone in the whole of 2020 so far.

Anyway, the game begins with some biker noir narration about how the smell of asphalt always reminds the narrator of Maureen... and trouble. Then it cuts to two businessmen in a limo.

That's Malcolm Corley on the left, and the Spitting Image caricature with the melting jaw is Adrian Ripburger. I honestly had no idea Ripburger was played by Mark Hamill the first time I played this but I can kind of hear it now that I'm listening for it. It wasn't his first voice acting role though, as he would've been playing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series at the time. Not that he ever really stops for long.

Ripburger wants to hire bikers to escort them to their shareholder's meeting as it would be a good look for them, seeing as their company makes the motorbikes. Corley's not convinced, but when a biker gang literally falls out of the sky onto his limo (and breaks his little Tim Schafer cherub hood ornament) he decides he wants to chase them down and hang out.

The camera wants to hang out with them as well, leaving the limousine behind to focus on the leader, Ben, as the cutscene transitions into the opening credits. It's nothing but names and different angles of his shiny 3D rendered bike from now until the theme tune's over.

This is from the original DOS opening credits though, so it's a lot more pixelly and primitive than the Remastered edition. Here's what the game looks like now:

It's still more or less the same bike, but it's got a brand new look. I wasn't keen at first about how they'd changed it to a modern cel-shaded effect instead of just leaving it alone, but I was won over before the credits were done. Some strange looking scenery back there though (plus it's 100% cloudier now).

Another thing that's been changed in the remaster is the music. It's the same song, it's just so much clearer now. They went with an existing track instead of writing their own theme (a song by hard rock band The Gone Jackals called Legacy: YouTube Link), and it's more obvious to me than ever that they made the correct choice. Because it's great.

This is all skippable though if you want. All the cutscenes. Lines of dialogue too, if you can't be bothered waiting for the actors to finish their sentences and just want to read the subtitles.

The animated intro continues with Corley telling stories to Ben and his buddies in a biker bar. He's clearly been a biker himself and fits right in. Ripburger, on the other hand, not so much.

A minute ago Ben's friend was talking about how the Polecats need money desperately, but once Ripburger walks in Ben decides that they're not for rent. Even if it's just to escort the boss of Corley Motors to a shareholder meeting, a guy they actually like. Makes me wonder what the Polecats do for money. Maybe I should've watched Sons of Anarchy...

Ben and Ripburger go out back to chat, but the conversation's cut short by one of Ripburger's goons, Nestor, working him over with a two by four. Which is incidentally what Nestor had hoped the Polecats were going to do to Corley earlier.

Not the most interesting shot, but this is where the intro has left me. Now it's my job to notice that the cutscene's finished and figure out what to do with this cursor I've been provided with.

The trick is to notice that it turns red when it's over the top of the dumpster lid. Actually it turns red anywhere on the dumpster, but clicking the side just causes a temporary dint as Ben slams his fist into it. You gotta click that lid for Ben to punch his way to freedom and then leap out.

Nothing else to do on this screen though, except to move the cursor to the right until it becomes a red arrow and then click to walk out. Or double click to teleport. (I think I'll be doing a lot of a lot of double clicking).

Though I left the game on for a bit while I sorted out my notes and 3D vehicles started dancing on the screen! They're shy though, and when I touched the mouse they vanished.

This feature was in the original game as well, and they've updated for the Remastered release with new rotating renders just in case anyone would've missed it. This is actually supposed to be a screensaver, but it seems like it's only the virtual screen that's getting saved, as everyone playing it is getting the static frame burned into their monitors.

Here's a new feature for the Remastered version: a button that makes all the interactive objects glow! In the original game you have to sweep the mouse over everything and see what makes the cursor turn red, so this is a huge improvement. It's a shame they couldn't have also had it bring up a bit of text telling me what I'm pointing at, like in the old games.

Full Throttle followed Sam & Max: Hit the Road's lead and dropped the traditional grid of verb buttons on the bottom of the screen, but it hasn't gone full 'left mouse button walk, right mouse button does stuff' like modern adventures. Instead there's a verb tattoo that pops up, like the verb coin in Curse of Monkey Island, which gives me four ways to interact with the world:

The scroll tells me what I'm clicking on, hand can mean use or pick up, the mouth is for talking and other mouth-related activities, eyes are for looking at things, and the boot is for booting things.

So when I discovered that someone had stolen my bike keys I kicked open the Kick Stand's door on a mission to get them back.

It's one of those biker bars with a piano in it, so I gave that a kick as well and got it to play a bit of a tune for me.

The Polecats were tricked into riding off to escort Corley, so it's just the bartender here now, and he's not being very helpful. I like that they've gone back to actual lines of text instead of Sam & Max's dialogue icons though.

By the way, one unfortunate side effect of the backgrounds being painted over low-res graphics is that there's a lot of perfectly straight lines. Notice how the photo frames on the right wall look more natural than the ones at the back? That's because they weren't there at all in the original art and had to be drawn from scratch.

DOS version

Here's the original game for comparison.

Day of the Tentacle was basically widescreen to start with, thanks to the box of verbs covering the bottom quarter of the screen, so when that got a Remastered version they just redrew what was there. Full Throttle, on the other hand, dropped the verbs and stretched the image to fill every inch of people's 4:3 ratio monitors, so to make the backgrounds widescreen they either had to crop the top and/or bottom or extend the sides. Thankfully they decided to extend them.

Like Day of the Tentacle: Remastered and Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition you can toggle between the original and new graphics at any time, but they're not pixel sharp even in retro mode due to being stretched to 4:3. Even my shot of the DOS game running in ScummVM looks a bit fuzzy now that I've corrected the aspect ratio (click the pic to see the original sharp pixels).

A taller screen means a taller character apparently, as compared to earlier LucasArts adventure heroes Ben is bloody massive. Sure he's only up to Cartoon Guybrush's knee, but that's because he's from a 640x480 pixel SVGA game. Full Throttle's only 320x200 pixels by comparison, like the rest of them.

Anyway I tried chatting some more to the bartender, then I tried using my foot on him, then finally I tried using my fist.

That was pretty straightforward! I got the keys, a confession, an animated close-up, and more information about Ripburger's evil schemes (apparently he's going to ambush the Polecats up the road). And all I needed to do was grab him by his nose ring and slam his face into the bar.

Ben's different from a lot of adventure game protagonists, because he's actually intimidating. If a door's in the way he can just knock it down, if someone's in the way he can knock them out.

No really, someone's in my way right now and I need to knock them out if I want to catch up to the Polecats in time. Actually he's not directly in the way, he's off to the side, but that's still a problem to Ben, and it can only be solved with punching. Or maybe kicking. I can do both but I don't know which is better! All I know is that I'm steering the bike left and right with the mouse and clicking to do violence. It's like Road Rash, except I already wish it was over.

That's Rebel Assault's INSANE streaming video technology being used for the road by the way. Or at least it was in the original DOS version, I don't know what they've done to remaster it.

(Lines only vaguely point to the right month, especially for the earlier games.)

Full Throttle came out about a year and a half after Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max and technology had moved on in the meantime. Those two both had a full talkie CD release alongside a floppy disk version, but Full Throttle is the first LucasArts adventure to be CD or nothing. It absolutely depends on the extra storage space for all of its cutscenes and streaming bike brawling backgrounds.

Anyway Ben's front wheel falls off due to sabotage and his bike soon becomes a fireball.

Oh so that's what the bartender meant when he said Ripburger was planning to kill him and make it look like an accident! He should've known something was up when his pedals suddenly changed design.

Fortunately a photographer finds him lying unconscious next to the road and gets a few good photos. She also takes him to a mechanic, who apparently also fixes people. She mostly sticks to toasters though.

Ben wakes up next to his surprisingly intact ride and discovers it can be resurrected entirely if he can just collect three things: replacement forks, a welding torch, and some fuel. I just have to complete these three trials and I'm a real pirate! I mean a biker!

She also mentions that she brought him back from the dead too, which makes me wonder exactly what she did? Did she stitch up a cut leg or shove all his intestines back in and sow an arm back on? Is it okay for him to be up and solving adventure game puzzles in his state?

Oh this is Maureen by the way, from the noir narration at the start. She's not keen on giving her last name, but then Ben's not either. In fact we never learn what Ben's called.

But this piece of concept art I've unlocked calls him Ben Throttle, and so does everyone on the developer's commentary. They apparently decided to drop the last name when the Biker Mice from Mars cartoon became a thing, as it also had a biker called Throttle.

Biker Mice from Mars (SNES)

You couldn't really get the two confused though. I mean sure they're clearly both bikers, but one is also a mouse (who really loves his Snickers bars).

There's lots of good concept art to be unlocked in the gallery, but it doesn't seem like they were able to make any high resolution scans of the original background art. It's a shame that, as the game has the same problem as Day of the Tentacle: Remastered, where some of the art looks like they just took the 320x200 pixel backgrounds and smoothed them over automatically with a Super Eagle scaler or whatever.

The floor looks much nicer here and they've redrawn the metal pipe, but that gas can doesn't look like it's been touched by an actual artist (or at least an artist who knew what it was meant to be). It's not great considering that it's an item I'm supposed to notice and pick up. Oh, I should probably do that before I head out to find my parts.

I walked outside the shack and found that photographer who rescued me still hanging around. Somehow I knew she wouldn't be much help, but told her I needed to save my gang from being ambushed, and she raced straight to her car. Well actually she waited until I'd walked off screen first so she could go without me; I guess she thinks she'll get better photographs of the ambush if I'm not there to stop it.

This is the town of Melonwood, or what's left of it after all the houses started sinking into the ground. Unfortunately it's not entirely obvious what places I can visit, and it doesn't help that the red arrow only appears when the cursor's on top of something. They could've put an outline around them, or given them a label or something.

After scanning the mouse across the screen I've discovered that there's four locations here: Maureen's toaster repair shack, a trailer, a junk yard and a tower full of petrol.

The trailer's definitely where I'm going to find the welding torch, I can see the guy using it in his basement, but I don't see how to get to him. I don't see a radio either, though I can definitely hear one. It's playing some kind of yodelling country blues song about the apocalypse and there's nothing I can do about that.

It's probably technically illegal for me to be trespassing in someone else's home, pocketing their personal possessions, but it's an adventure game so I'm obligated to raid every cabinet and fridge I come across. This guy doesn't really have a whole lot though, just a t-bone and a lock pick. Both of which are now mine.

Though there's also a chest of drawers here I could check inside.

Oh it's locked, well that's a bit inconvenient for thieves. But wait a minute, I just picked up a lockpick! Those are usually really useful for lock related problems.

Oh, I guess I was mistaken.

To be fair to the game, it said it was locked up with steel brackets, not a lock. But it's bloody strange for someone to have to go to the trouble of prising bars off their drawers just to change their underwear.

Man, the welding torch is right there, I just don't know how to get to it.

The only things I can interact with here are the windows, the sandbags, the sand pit, the skylight, the chimney and the door, and I've already used the door (used my foot on it at least). I tried using various things to block the obvious chimney to smoke him out, but there's limits to what you can do with a gas can, a lockpick and some meat.

I came back here afterwards after visiting the other places but I was still clueless, so I looked up how to do it. Turns out you have to knock on the door to lure the guy over and then kick it, which is really confusing because I thought I did that already. Maybe I just tried the foot too soon instead of waiting for him to come up the lift. I need to be more patient next time.

Anyway: welding torch get... but not just yet, because before I solved this puzzle I visited the gas tower.

Well I can't climb over the top of wall, because it's electrified, but there's only a padlock on the door. Let's see if my lockpick is any more use here than it was in the trailer. If not I could always try the gas can or the slab of meat.

Hey it worked! I thought I might get a free padlock out of it, but adventure game heroes have a sixth sense for what items they'll need in the future and Ben clearly doesn't feel like he'll need it, as he just threw it on the floor. I'm going to click on the discarded padlock anyway just to be safe, then I'll head through the fence to see what the next puzzle is

Wait, hang on, he picked the padlock up? That actually worked? Wow, Ben is really not cut out for point and click adventure logic at all.

I walked across the next screen until I reached a ladder, but when I touched the thing it triggered an alarm! I figured I should keep climbing, but the sky cops thought otherwise, opening fire and driving Ben away.

Well it was worth it to see his goofy run, but it didn't get me anywhere and I can't figure out how to solve this. There's only one thing in this place and that's a ladder. No alarm box to sabotage, nothing to attach a rope to, no bulletproof vest to borrow.

By the way, I like how they went to the trouble of giving Ben new sprites for this area to change his lighting. The artists were apparently inspired by Mike Mignola's work on Hellboy when they came up with the style for the game, but all the black reminds me of Batman: The Animated Series. The purple skies and the searchlights too. It's a good look.

These two screenshots go pretty well together.

Well I figured out what to do in the end: check a walkthrough. Turns out that the problem was with me this time, as I've been programmed to expect every element of the puzzle to turn my cursor red when I hover over it. It never occurred to me to just hide behind something and wait for the sky cops to park.

The game didn't seem to want to give me any hints on how someone would get gas out of a gas tank once the vehicle is parked, but fortunately I already knew how to do that bit.

Achievement Unlocked! I've found the one thing in the game that Ben will actually put his lips on.

It took me a while though. Turns out that the hose I needed was hidden in plain sight right next to the gas can in Maureen's shack. It's right there in those screenshots I took earlier: a green tube on a green wall, blending into the background.

Item #2 collected. Next stop: the junk yard!

Well that plan didn't work. There's a chain on the right that opens the shutters on the left, but once you let go of the chain the shutters slam shut again. It's the perfect security measure against solo burglars! I tried to let go of the chain and then rush over before they were closed... but to be honest I only did it so I could see Ben dive onto the pavement.

I actually know the answer to this puzzle already, either because I'm really smart or because I just remember how I did it the last time, I'm not sure. I used the discarded padlock to lock the shutters closed and then used the chain to climb up onto the wall, easy!

Of course in real life he could've just pulled the shutters up and then continued pulling on the chain to climb up without using the lock, but the moment he let go that chain would've whipped back up again and I don't blame him for not wanting to risk it.

Oh there's a dog here! It's a junk yard, so of course there is.

It's given me a bit of room to explore inside the junk yard, but whenever I try grabbing anything the dog chases Ben right back up the wall again. I know I'm a Polecat but this is just annoying.

Hey I know, I'll use that meat I'm carrying as a distraction, so the dog will be more concerned with its dinner than with me. I can't put it on the floor, but a car seems like a good choice, seeing as cars are all that's here.

Wow, Ben actually made a comment on something I'm doing other than "A lockpick won't work here," and "I won't put my lips on that."

A lot of adventure games give you hints in the text when they recognise you're on the right track and just need a bit of assistance or clarification, but this hasn't being doing a whole lot of that. I suppose I'm supposed to call the hint line.

But for once they've made it crystal clear: I can't put the meat in a car, because it's a stupid idea. I guess I'll continue wandering to the right and see what else I can use in here.

Hmm, there's more cars over here. That gives me an idea: I'll put the meat in a car!

Hey it actually worked! The cars are all identical (it must have been a popular model), but I had a feeling this one would be special. That electromagnet hanging above it from a crane was the clue.

There's controls in the foreground, so the cameraman's found their way to the crane's control room, but getting up there myself is going to be trickier. I can't walk along the top of the wall, I can't get there from outside the junk fortress, and when I tried going further right I got chased back out by the dog again.

LOTS OF CLICKING AROUND LATER

Well it turns out that I can walk across the top of the junk yard wall, if I click right where the cursor is now.

You can't actually see the route to get there, because it's obscured with all those sheets of metal sticking up, but there is a hidden path. I've no idea how they screwed up the art so badly in a 1995 LucasArts game. Especially considering the control room in the foreground on the next screen along is so well done.

Anyway the dog's in a car and I'm in a crane so everything's going well.

Trouble is I don't know what to do with the crane. I keep trying different kinds of stacks, then running walking back down to grab the forks from a junk pile, but every time that bloody dog comes out of his car and chases me. Then I have to walk all the way back to the crane again. Actually I've had enough of this, I'm resorting to the walkthrough again. Maybe I'll solve a puzzle in this game on my own someday but it won't be this one.

Wait, what? The walkthrough says I just have to lift the car with the dog in it straight into the air. So the other cars, the crane movement controls, the stacking, all of it was a big red herring! They went to the effort of programming all of this just to distract me from the most obvious solution and waste my bloody time.

So let's sum up this junk yard puzzle chain: I had to use the padlock that Ben threw away to get in, I had to put the meat in the car after he told me not to, I had to use a hidden path to reach the crane, and then I had to solve the car stacking puzzle by not stacking any cars. What the fuck?

Anyway, I've got the gas, welding torch and the forks so I can finally leave this town forever and move on to the rest of the game!

This is where my article was supposed to end, but I kept playing for a bit longer just to get a couple of shots of the next part, then the bit after that, and I eventually ended up beating the whole thing. It happens sometimes! So I've decided to drag this article on for a second part, where I race through the rest of the game, which will be coming just as soon as I can get it finished!

TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART TWO

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Thanks for reading! If you've got any thoughts about the first third of Full Throttle you could leave a comment below! You could also have a guess at what the next game's going to be from the clue over on the left (it's Full Throttle).