Grim Fandango Remastered

Time has done little to diminish Grim Fandango's beauty or relevance. It is an adventure game not to be missed.

Grim Fandango remains an absolute delight--funny, good-hearted, and fun to play.

Definitely be careful of rose-tinted memories. The puzzles and its relatively early peak can't and shouldn't be ignored. Nor though can everything that it does right, from its sheer heart and creative polish, to the genius of its ideas and characters. Even when it stumbles, it stands as a fine reminder of why LucasArts at its prime was seen as the industry at its best, and few other adventures have deservedly gathered so much affection. It was an instant classic back in 1998. It's still very much a journey worth taking today, albeit ideally with a walkthrough.

A confident remaster of a true classic. The puzzles have aged badly, but the sparkling humour and world design still shine.

The remastered version is a nice reminder of – or introduction to – the heyday of adventure games, warts and all

Call me selective, but I wanted the comedy without the tedium which broke the cinematic effect. Perhaps this inability to fawningly linger over "Grim Fandango's" highly static environments is a product of time. Regardless, the bony truth is that our lives sometimes intersect with games at inopportune moments.

The Remastered edition might not be quite as modernised as we'd hoped, and it's sorely in need of a little more PC-specific TLC, but it is such a pleasure to have it back, so much happier on a modern monitor and good speakers than the original edition, and with non-crazy controls too.

The comedic beats Grim Fandango hits in the opening cinematic alone are delightful. Reminds you how rare “funny” is in games. Some adventure game puzzle logic and Glottis’ chunky orange polygons aside, it doesn’t feel dated. It’s well-written, rich, heartfelt, funny, and I’m glad as heck it’s readily available for everyone to play.

Grim Fandango is undoubtedly one of the greatest adventure games ever made, and, a few niggles aside, this remaster does its legacy justice. The occasionally obtuse puzzles do date the game in some ways, but the plot and setting is as refreshing as ever. If you're yearning for something a little different, then a trip to the Underworld may be what you need – just make sure that you get a good package.

The fact you've been able to play Grim Fandango Remastered on your TV and in handheld form elsewhere for years doesn't matter one bit, because this gem of a game is still as enchanting and evocative as it was the first time you popped open that oversized cardboard box back in PC in 1998. Here and now on Nintendo Switch, this port looks and runs noticeably smoother than its fellow portable versions thanks to Double Fine's deft adjustments, so if whether you've already joined Manny on his afterlife odyssey or this is your first time among the dead, Switch is 100 percent better for its inclusion.