It's not necessary to have played Maniac Mansion beforehand? I'll admit this has been my main hesitation. I remember when Monkey Island III was big in the late 90s, I was hesitant because I hadn't played the two games that came before it.
I ended up doing it anyway at the time, but later I would play all three, and the third one really benefits - in my view anyway - from having played the first two ones, even though they can all stand on their own. So I wonder whether Day of the Tentacle is similar?
You don't need to have played or know anything about Maniac Mansion to enjoy Day of the Tentacle. I would not even recommend to play MM first, because MM is stupendously hard and frustrating compared to DotT. Play it after.
BTW: In the version of DotT I played in the 90s there was a funny easter egg: A computer in the game was running a playable version of Maniac Mansion. I don't know if this is part of the remastered version though.
Remastered has it too. Steam version even has achievements for doing things that require you to get a small way through the original.
Agree on not needing to play Maniac Mansion first, too. I came to the original having no idea that MM even existed. The characters and story are great even if you don't know the references.
DOTT is a totally free-standing game -- and amazing.
They address this in the linked article (also from personal experience) -- you really don't need any context from Maniac Mansion to thoroughly enjoy DOTT and they are really totally different games in style and substance.
The whole George Washington/ Cherry tree thing was strange to me. I felt there was some joke going on there, but no idea why he wanted to 'cut the sucker down'. Today you'd just google it, of course.
Nah. I played it before Monkey island and have never played manic mansion. I remember being addicted to it right away and thinking it was hilarious. I remember having to load about 10 floppy discs sitting next to the PC. Good fun.
I ended up doing it anyway at the time, but later I would play all three, and the third one really benefits - in my view anyway - from having played the first two ones, even though they can all stand on their own. So I wonder whether Day of the Tentacle is similar?