Headscratchers / Maniac Mansion

• Okay, seriously, why can't the Meteor Police officer just teleport into the lab without making you go through all the rigmarole of unlocking the door? Once you've got the door open, the cutscene shows that he's perfectly capable of teleporting out once he's got the meteor in custody.
  • I think he's saving that power so that he can teleport out with the criminal in the first place. Plus, you know, that would kinda ruin the game.
• Why does Dr. Fred have a self-destruct feature on his machine? Even if the Meteor had him put it there, wouldn't it blow up the Meteor along with the rest of the house?
  • Because the Meteor is a Sore Loser. He's willing to let himself be blown to kingdom come rather than let his plans be thwarted.
    • In that case why does the Meteor give up his plans for becoming a famed writer?
    • The Meteor hates being prevented from achieving his goals. If he gets a publishing contract, he willingly changes his mind about taking over the world and decides to become a rich celebrity instead. If you try to stop him any other way, he's still going to be pissed because you're hindering his plans.
• Who the heck hides a key in a chandelier?
  • Someone who doesn't want the key to be found. That was easy.
• Early on in the game, when one of the trio first enters the house and decides to walk into the kitchen, Nurse Edna is present and chases the character being played until said character is successful enough to outrun her and exit the kitchen in time. Once said character is back in the foyer, and re-enters the kitchen, why is Edna no longer there? It makes no sense.
  • Good Bad Bugs on certain versions. The Apple II and Commodore 64 version needed you to wait a few minutes to avoid Edna. It also had Ed catch you if you were in a public area on the way to the kitchen if he came down to check his package or feed his hamster.
• Why does shutting off the power with the circuit breakers cause the reactor to explode? At one point, Dr. Fred even turns the power off himself to fix a problem with the Zom-B-Matic, so why doesn't the reactor go critical then?
  • The reactor is shoddily built and needs coolant from the pool. When Dr. Fred turns the power off to fix a problem with the machine, he presumably sets up a failsafe. If you turn the power off, he can't set up the failsafe.

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