According to Variety and Eurogamer, one of the most acclaimed graphic adventure games comes to Nintendo Switch. Tim Schafer's "Grim Fandango" was beloved by critics in 1998, but suffered from extremely dismal sales. Its commercial failure was considered to be the main reason for the death of the graphic adventure genre. Once the game was out of print, it seemed as if it and other LucasArts adventures would be lost forever in the mists of time.

Fifteen years later, Disney, Sony, and Double Fine collaborated to bring about a remastered version with updated textures, a re-orchestrated soundtrack, and optional point and click controls.

"Grim Fandango Remastered" was released to PlayStation 4, PC, and iOS devices in 2014. After "Grim," another LucasArts classic, "Curse of Monkey Island," would be re-released on Steam and Double Fine would remaster another of Tim Schafer's titles, "Full Throttle."

The Land of the Dead

For the uninitiated, "Grim Fandango" takes place in the Land of the Dead, where the deceased must journey to their final resting place. Some souls who've led a very poor life must pay off their debt to the powers that be by providing travel packages to those who've just died. Manny Calavera is such a soul, and he can't seem to get any virtuous clients. Souls who've led a very good life are eligible for a ticket on the No.

Nine Express train which takes spirits to the land of eternal rest in a mere four minutes. However, the best package Manny can provide for the sinful souls he's assigned to is a mere walking stick. Frustrated by the low commission clients he keeps getting, Manny attempts to cheat the system by stealing a lead from a rival salesman.

Enter Mercedes "Meche" Colomar, a recently deceased woman who's led a life free of sin. Despite having a spotless record, Manny can't seem to find a good travel package for Meche. It's not too long before he discovers that the Department of Death is robbing innocent souls of their rightful destinies and selling their tickets to wealthy undeserving souls.

It's up to Manny to expose the Department of Death's scheme, save the souls who've been cheated, and redeem himself for the sins he committed in life.

Funny bones

The game blends a 1940's film noir atmosphere with witty humor and a quirky calaca-styled cast. Throughout his journey, Manny comes across some fascinating characters including a demon named Glottis who regards driving as his sole desire and purpose, a Peter Lorre-esque conman named Chowchilla Charlie, and Eva who is a sassy secretary by day and member of an underground alliance by night. Adding to the noir presentation is a jazz-heavy score by Peter McConnell.

On the game's 20th anniversary, Double Fine Productions announced a Switch port of the game. The Switch version is currently available on digital download services for $14.99. Physical copies of the PlayStation 4 version will be available in stores sometime in 2019.
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