Grim Fandango

All time rank:
86
1990s rank:
23
1998 rank:
5
Developers:
LucasArts
Platforms:
PC
Year of release:
1998
Genres:
Adventure , Point-and-click , Puzzle
IGDB Link:
https://www.igdb.com/games/grim-fandango
from igdb.com

The game is divided into four acts, each taking place on November 2 on four consecutive years. Manuel "Manny" Calavera is a travel agent at the Department of Death in the city of El Marrow, forced into his job to work off a debt "to the powers that be". Manny is frustrated with being assigned clients that must take the four-year journey and is threatened to be fired by his boss, Don Copal, if he does not come up with better clients. Manny steals a client, Mercedes "Meche" Colomar, from his co-worker Domino Hurley. The Department computers assign Meche to the four-year journey even though Manny believes she should have a guaranteed spot on the "Number Nine" luxury express train due to her pureness of heart in her life. After setting Meche on her way, Manny investigates further and finds that Domino and Don have been rigging the system to deny many clients Double N tickets, hoarding them for the boss of the criminal underworld, Hector LeMans. LeMans then sells the tickets at an exorbitant price to those that can afford it. Manny recognizes that he cannot stop Hector at present and instead, with the help of his driver and speed demon Glottis, he tries to find Meche on her journey in the nearby Petrified Forest. During the trip Manny encounters Salvador "Sal" Limones, the leader of the small underground organization Lost Souls Alliance (LSA), who is aware of Hector's plans and recruits Manny to help. Manny arrives at the small port city of Rubacava and finds that he has beaten Meche there, and waits for her to show up.

A year passes, and the city of Rubacava has grown. Manny now runs his own nightclub off a converted automat near the edge of the Forest. Manny learns from Olivia Ofrenda that Don has been "sprouted" for letting the scandal be known and that Meche was recently seen with Domino leaving the port. Manny gives chase and a year later tracks them to a coral mining plant on the Edge of the World. Domino has been holding Meche there as a trap to lure Manny. All of Domino's clients who had their tickets stolen are also being held there and used as slave labor, both to make a profit with the coral mining and as a way to keep Hector's scandal quiet. Domino tries to convince Manny to take over his position in the plant seeing as he has no alternative and can spend the rest of eternity with Meche but he refuses. After rescuing Meche, Manny defeats Domino by causing him to fall into a rock crusher. Manny, along with Meche, Glottis and all the souls being held at the plant then escape from the Edge of the World.

The three travel for another year until they reach the terminus for the Number Nine train before the Ninth Underworld. Unfortunately, the Gate Keeper to the Ninth Underworld won't let the souls progress without their tickets, mistakenly believing they have sold them. Meanwhile, Glottis has fallen deathly ill. Manny learns from demons stationed at the terminus that the only way to revive Glottis is to travel at high speeds to restore Glottis' purpose for being summoned. Manny and the others devise a makeshift fuel source to create a "rocket" train cart, quickly taking Manny and Meche back to Rubacava and saving Glottis' life. The three return to El Marrow, now found to be fully in Hector's control and renamed as Nuevo Marrow. Manny regroups with Sal and his expanded LSA and with the help of Olivia, who volunteered to join the gang earlier in Rubacava, and is able to learn about Hector's current activities. Further investigation reveals that Hector not only has been hoarding the Number Nine tickets, but has created counterfeit versions that he has sold to others. Manny tries to confront Hector but is lured into another trap by Olivia, who has also captured Sal, and is taken to Hector's greenhouse to be sprouted. Manny is able to defeat Hector after Sal sacrifices himself to prevent Olivia from interfering. Manny and Meche are able to find the real Double N tickets, including the one that Meche should have received. Manny makes sure the rest of the tickets are given to their rightful owners; in turn, he is granted his own for his good deeds. Together, Manny and Meche board the Number Nine for their happy journey to the Ninth Underworld.

A neo-noir adventure to the Land of the Dead.
Something's rotten in the land of the dead, and you're being played for a sucker. Meet Manny Calavera, travel agent at the Department of Death. He sells luxury packages to souls on their four-year journey to eternal rest. But there's trouble in paradise. Help Manny untangle himself from a conspiracy that threatens his very salvation.

from IGDB.com

All Time Lists

Publication List Year Rank
Empire The 100 Greatest Games 2009 60
SVG 98 Best Video Games Of All Time Ranked 2022 62
The Age The 50 best games 2005 38
Game Informer The Top 300 Games of All Time 2018 169
Gamereactor Gamereactor's Top 100 bedste spil nogensinde 2017 33
Game Reactor top 100 2011 16
GameSpot The Greatest Games of All Time 2003 1
GameSpot's 100 Games of the Millennium 2000 22
GamesRadar+ The 100 best games of all time 2011 50
The 100 best games of all time 2012 52
The 100 best games of all time 2013 75
The 100 best games of all time 2014 79
The 100 Best Games of All-Time 2015 60
GamingBolt Top 98 greatest video games ever made 2013 18
GQ Spain Los 100 mejores videojuegos de la historia 2020 91
Hardcore Gaming 101 HG101 Presents: The 200 Best Video Games of All Time 2020 1
IGN The Top 100 Games of All Time 2007 36
IGN's Top 100 Games 2005 49
Top 100 Games of All Time 2015 61
Top 100 Video Games of All Time 2018 80
Jeuxvideo Top 100 des meilleurs jeux de tous les temps 2017 63
Les 100 meilleurs jeux de tous les temps 2011 73
Next Generation The Fifty Best Games of All Time 1999 26
Polygon The 500 best games of all time 2017 415
Popular Mechanics The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time 2019 72
The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time 2014 61
Slant Magazine 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time 2014 75
The 100 Best Video Games of All Time 2020 62
The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time 2018 62
Time All-TIME 100 Video Games 2012 1
WatchMojo Top 100 Best Video Games of All Time 2023 85

Decade Lists

Publication List Year Rank
Fellowship of the Screen The Best 50 Games of the 1990s 2017 15

End of Year Lists

Publication List Year Rank
D.I.C.E. Awards Game of the Year 1998 1999 2
Goomba Stomp The Best Games of the 1990s (1998) 2021 2

All Time Lists

Empire
The 100 Greatest Games
60
2009
The Age
The 50 best games
38
2005
Game Informer
The Top 300 Games of All Time
169
2018
Gamereactor
Gamereactor's Top 100 bedste spil nogensinde
33
2017
Gamereactor
Game Reactor top 100
16
2011
GameSpot
The Greatest Games of All Time
1
2003
GameSpot
GameSpot's 100 Games of the Millennium
22
2000
GamesRadar+
The 100 best games of all time
50
2011
GamesRadar+
The 100 best games of all time
52
2012
GamesRadar+
The 100 best games of all time
75
2013
GamesRadar+
The 100 best games of all time
79
2014
GamesRadar+
The 100 Best Games of All-Time
60
2015
GamingBolt
Top 98 greatest video games ever made
18
2013
Hardcore Gaming 101
HG101 Presents: The 200 Best Video Games of All Time
1
2020
IGN
The Top 100 Games of All Time
36
2007
IGN
IGN's Top 100 Games
49
2005
IGN
Top 100 Games of All Time
61
2015
IGN
Top 100 Video Games of All Time
80
2018
Jeuxvideo
Les 100 meilleurs jeux de tous les temps
73
2011
Next Generation
The Fifty Best Games of All Time
26
1999
Polygon
The 500 best games of all time
415
2017
Popular Mechanics
The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time
72
2019
Popular Mechanics
The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time
61
2014
Slant Magazine
100 Greatest Video Games of All Time
75
2014
Slant Magazine
The 100 Best Video Games of All Time
62
2020
Slant Magazine
The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time
62
2018
Time
All-TIME 100 Video Games
1
2012
WatchMojo
Top 100 Best Video Games of All Time
85
2023

Decade Lists

Fellowship of the Screen
The Best 50 Games of the 1990s
15
2017

Miscellaneous Lists

End of Year Lists

D.I.C.E. Awards
Game of the Year 1998
2
1999
Goomba Stomp
The Best Games of the 1990s (1998)
2
2021