Full Throttle

Overview

Full Throttle, a graphical point-and-click adventure game, was developed and published by LucasArts. The game was released on April 30, 1995 in North America. It was designed and written by acclaimed adventure game designer Tim Schafer, creator of Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle.

Full Throttle was released on CD-ROM, featuring a fully voiced script, quite unusual at this time. It was also one of the few LucasArts games at this time to use licensed music, provided by The Gone Jackals, a San Fransisco rock band. Several songs from their 1995 album, Bone to Pick, were featured in the game. Full Throttle also featured several voice acting professionals, such as Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, Steven Blum and Mark Hamill. Full Throttle was one of the first computer games to predominantly hire Screen Actors Guild-registered professional voice actors instead of relying entirely on in-house talent, and also featured licensed music.

Gameplay

Full Throttle is a classic point-and-click PC adventure game, where the the player directs the character (Ben) around in a 2D playing field, left-clicking the mouse to direct Ben. Full Throttle uses a Pie menu, as a way to choose different ways to interact with other characters and objects in the game. A Pie Menu is a circular pop up menu which is activated by clicking and holding the left mouse button on any item or character to allow a roundish (Pie) menu with different selectable choices to appear. Pie menus are often context-sensitive, showing different options depending on what the mouse cursor was pointing at when the menu was requested.

Using this system interface: holding the left mouse button over an intractable item would bring up a graphic menu designed as a flaming skull (a biker tattoo), with icons featuring a fist ("use" or "hit"), eyes ("examine"), tongue ("speak" or "taste") and boot ("kick"). After the menu appears, the player clicks one of these icons to apply selection. The inventory (a horizontally stretched skull with a wide mouth containing the items) can be used by right-clicking anywhere on the screen.

Beside pointing and clicking Ben to desired locations and various actions, players can also ride a motorcycle in Full Throttle. This is done in certain portions of the game, where Ben is required to drive down canyon roads (the game takes place in the desert), fighting rival biker gang members. The fighting is done by using fists and kicks. When Ben beats an opponent he can then claim his reward from his beaten foe. This way Ben can upgrade his motorcycle fighting arsenal, going from bare fists to chains, planks and even a chainsaw.

Story

The main protagonist in Full Throttle is Ben, the leader of biker gang outlaw group called the Polecats, one of the meanest and toughest gangs out on the road. Ben and his gang's adventure is set in a semi-apocalyptic future where hovercrafts is making it's way onto the vehicular industry, and motorized cars and motorcycles are considered ancient.

Full Throttle begins with Ben and his gang riding down Highway 9, when a huge, expensive-looking limousine lurks in the distance ahead of the gang.

Ben, in the lead, unceremoniously drives over the limousine, crushing the hood ornament. This excites the occupants, who later catch up with the gang to find out who they are. Ben and his gang relax at the Kick Stand bar where he is approached by Malcolm Corley, the CEO and founder of the last domestic motorcycle manufacturer in the country, Corley Motors.

Minutes later, all are laughing about Malcolm's past adventures when he was a biker. Before long, Corley's sinister vice president Adrian Ripburger enters the bar and asks to speak to Ben privately. He asks Ben to have the Polecats appear at the upcoming annual Corley Motors shareholder's meeting. When Ben declines, he is knocked out and thrown in a dumpster by Nestor and Bolus, personal bodyuards and hired goons of Adrian Ripburger, who seems to have designs on taking over the company.

Ben later wakes up, starts up his Bike, and rides fast for revenge! The front wheel has been loosened and Ben crashed hard. He wakes up at a crappy mechanics house, where he'd been brought by a reporter named Miranda, who manages to bring him there when unconscious. The mechanic on site is Maureen (Mo) who patches up his bike with a few parts she asks Ben to gather...

Ben later catches up with his gang in time to witness Ripburger cowardly murder Malcolm and later pin the murder on the Polecats. As a fugitive, Ben must cross the desert to find a way to clear his name, save his gang, and prevent Ripburger from turning Corley Motors into a hovercraft-minivan producer.

Characters

Ben Throttle

Ben is the protagonist of the game and leader of the Polecats. Ben's name is only written as Ben Whatsisname in the game manual, and nowhere in the game is his last name referenced due to fears of legal action being taken from the makers of Biker Mice from Mars, an animated television series which featured a character by the name of Throttle.

Maureen "Mo" Corley

Maureen is Malcolm Corley's daughter and member of the chick biker gang The Vultures. She also works as a mechanic. Later, she inherits her father's company and abandons her biker lifestyle to run the company.

Malcolm Corley

Malcolm is the owner of Corley Motors, the last domestic motorcycle manufacturer, and highly regarded by all motorcycle gang. He's a legendary Motorcycle designer.

Adrian Ripburger

Adrian is the Vice-President of Corley Motors and the main antagonist of the game.

Bolus & Nestor

Bolus and Nestor are Malcolm Corley's bodyguards and personal drivers, though are secretly working for Adrian Ripburger as the thugs they are.

Father Torque

Father Torque is the former leader of the Polecats. As the "wise old man", he gives Ben advice on his journey. Looks like a Priest.

Suzi

Suzi is the leader of the Vultures. She is the brains behind an operation to stop Adrian Ripburgers evil plans.

Todd Newlan

Todd lives in a trailer in Melonweed. He owns a junkyard. His best (and only) friend is his dog (Here poochie-pooch, pooch!).

Motorcycle Gangs

• The Polecats are the biker gang led by Ben. They spent most of the game off-screen in prison.
• The Cavefish are an underground biker gang/sect known for their eccentricities.
• The Rottwheelers are another biker gang whose members are considered dumb and ugly.
• The Vultures are a gang known for their secrecy.

Additional Information

• The Cavefish's suits are based on the Tusken Raiders/Sand People's suits from Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
• Emmit, the trucker, has an Imperial logo tattoo (from the Star Wars universe) on his right arm
• Some of the Vultures are named after characters from LucasArts' Maniac Mansion (1987) for instance Wendy, Razor, and Sid.
• Roy Conrad, the man who voiced Ben, passed away January 18, 2002, at the age of 61.
• At one point Miranda says, 'Help me Ben, you're my only hope' which of course is a reference to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).
• If players ask Emmet at the Melonweed Bar enough times, he'll let the player try out his 5-finger filet game.

Merchandise

Lucasarts sold a Corley Motors shirt that had Ben's motorcycle on the front with a character that could be a younger Malcom Corley standing next to it. Above the image read "Can't beat a Corley". The back had a large Corley Motors logo.