Back when George Lucas was riding high on the success of the originalStar Warstrilogy, he created his own production company called Lucasfilm. This company included a subdivision called the Gaming Group, which would eventually go on to become LucasArts. LucasArts created dozens ofStar Warsvideo games, along with some of the most beloved adventure games of the 1980s and 90s.
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LucasArts would later be dismantled in the 2000s, and Lucasfilm-licensed games made since then have been made by other developers. However, gamers can find most of the old catalog online, and some former LucasArts employees arekeeping the old franchises alive. Collectors are also trading old copies of some of the rarest LucasArts games at incredible prices.
All prices were taken fromPriceCharting.comand were accurate at the time of publication.
$44.78
$179.95
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$360.00
In the mid-90s, the idea of a home computer with a mainly graphical interface like Windows 95 or the Apple Macintosh was still new and exciting. LucasArts decided to cash in on this interest with a couple of licensed games:Indiana Jones and His Desktop AdventuresandStar Wars: Yoda Stories.
Desktop Adventuresisn’t the most interesting game withtheIndiana Joneslicense. It uses a simple, repetitive quest system, a set number of enemies, and no larger plot to solve, plus it can be hard to emulate on modern computers. Still, the game is a good way to pass some time, and it’s a unique and rare entry in a famous franchise.
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Loomis a fairly experimental adventure game, both for its interface and its plot. Unlike other LucasArts adventure games, inLoomplayers must interact with the environment by casting magical spells, spells that activate by playing four notes on the distaff that takes up the entire interface. The game also takes place in a unique fantasy world in which single-minded guilds each control their own part of the world.
The lead developer Brian Moriarty imaginedLoomas the first part of a trilogy, but poor sales meant that it would never get a sequel. Still, it was loved by critics, and the voice acting on the rare CD-ROM version was unusually good for the early 90s. Many versions came packaged with a 30-minute audio drama, making a complete-in-box version especially valuable to collectors.
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The single most successful adventure game franchise to come out of LucasArts would have to be theMonkey Islandseries. The first game was a landmark of the adventure game genre, and even beforethe lead developer Ron Gilbertknew it was a success he was hard at work at its sequel,Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge.
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LeChuck’s Revengewould build upon the setting and humor ofThe Secret of Monkey Islandwith an even bigger and more ambitious game that included more locations, puzzles, characters, and plot elements.Monkey Island 2would eventually be remade in 2010, and the new version features crisper voice acting, smoother graphics, and a streamlined interface, but the original floppy disks are hard to come by.
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According to the lead developer Ron Gilbert, the idea forThe Secret of Monkey Islandcame (at least in part) from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. Disney didn’t own Lucasfilm at the time, but that didn’t stop Gilbert from creating a pirate-themed adventure game that wouldeventually spawn five sequels.
The game’s sense of humor andrelatively straightforward puzzlesmake it a decent game even by modern standards, which is how it got a special edition rerelease in 2009. The game also came out on a dozen different PC platforms, like Amiga and Atari ST, so collectors may need to spend extra to get every version.
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Maniac Mansionwasn’t the first adventure game created by LucasArts, but it was the first one to use the SCUMM engine that the developers would later use for almost every adventure game they created. In fact, SCUMM stands for Script Creation Utility forManiac Mansion. The game’s plot isa nod to old sci-fi B-movies, and it’s about a group of teens exploring a mansion inhabited by a mad scientist and his wacky relatives.
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The game is very rough around the edges, but it set a lot of precedents for the genre.Maniac Mansionfeatures a fully visual interface that lets players choose verbs from the list at the bottom of the screen and use them to interact with objects and locations. Earlier adventure games forced players to type in commands using the keyboard, and often they had to guess which words and commands the game could understand. This new interface also meant LucasArts could create a version compatible withconsoles like the NES and Commodore 64.
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$735.00
Maniac Mansionwould eventually get a sequel calledDay of the Tentacle, butZak McKracken and the Alien Mindbendersis another one-off title likeLoom. It stars Zak McKracken, a tabloid reporter who needs to collect parts scattered across Earth and Mars tostop aliens from taking over the Earth. The lead developer, David Fox, originally intended to make a serious game, but Ron Gilbert convinced him to add more humor to the story.
Zak McKrackenwouldn’t get the same attention as the earlier gameManiac Mansionor the later gameThe Secret of Monkey Island, but it would still develop its own fan base that loved its unusual sense of humor. Its significance as the second SCUMM game and rarity in the United States are two of the biggest reasons whyZak McKrackenis the rarest LucasArts game, and also the most expensive.
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