Full Throttle Remastered

Full Throttle Remastered is a new version of the graphic adventure Full Throttle, which was released by LucasArts in 1995. Double Fine Productions upgraded the title in the same way as they did Day of the Tentacle Remastered last year. That is, the game received new hand-drawn art, remastered audio, a commentary track, achievements, modern operating systems support, and more — but there isn’t any new content. The adventure plays out exactly the same now as it did 22 years ago.

In case you missed Full Throttle when it originally came out, it takes place in the completely overused world of biker gangs. You play as Ben Throttle, leader of the Polecats, in a futuristic setting where hovercrafts are king and motorcycles are only being made by one company — Corley Motors. When Adrian Ripburger decides to murder Malcolm Corley so he can take over the company and produce minivans instead, it’s up to you to set things straight and make sure that bikers don’t become an endangered species.

The interface for Full Throttle Remastered is exactly the same as it was in the original game. You left click to move Ben around, and when you left click on a hotspot, an action diagram springs up allowing you to use Ben’s eyes (to examine), mouth (usually to talk), fists (usually to grab), or feet (to kick). When you pick up an item, right clicking allows you to access it in Ben’s inventory. This is all standard fare for adventure games, so it’s easy to start up Full Throttle Remastered and start playing. The only nod to modern games in the interface is that pressing the shift key now shows you all the hotspots for the current scene, which makes it a little easier to complete the game. There is also gamepad support, untried by me.

Most of the puzzles in Full Throttle Remastered are inventory-based, where you have to pick up objects and then use them in the right place. But there are also some puzzles where you have to do things at the right time or use objects in the right way, or repeat yourself when you’re not successful on the first try. So simple trial-and-error won’t see you through. One puzzle also requires you to play a fighting mini-game against other bikers, but luckily the controls aren’t too complicated, so you should be able to complete the sequence even if action games aren’t your thing.

Full Throttle had excellent production values when it first came out, and the remastered version only looks and sounds better. The game features a few songs from the biker band The Gone Jackals (which might do more for you than they did for me), plus excellent voice work from the likes of Roy Conrad (now sadly deceased), Kath Soucie, and Mark Hamill (in his second and better career as a voice actor). The Double Fine artists also did a nice job in recreating the graphics for the game, so it still looks like you’re playing Full Throttle rather than something else.

Overall, Double Fine Productions did a nice job in remastering Full Throttle. The game looks and sounds better, it supports wide screen monitors and modern operating systems, and there are just enough new things included so that even veterans of the game have something new to see.

But for me, Full Throttle was one of my least favorite of the LucasArts adventures, being about half the length you’d expect from an adventure and using a setting that I didn’t really care about. So I’m mixed in my feelings here. If you’ve never played the original version of the game, then it’s worthwhile to try out the remastered version — just to see some adventure game history if for no other reason. But if you’ve played Full Throttle before, then the remastered version is more of an iffy proposition. There is some new stuff to see (and hear) but it’s basically just the same game, and you’ll have to decide if that’s worth $15 to you.

Reviewed By: Steven Carter
Publisher: Double Fine Productions
Rating: 78%

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This review is based on a digital copy of Full Throttle Remastered for the PC provided by Double Fine Productions.