Animators Reimagine LucasArts Classic Full Throttle In Modern 3D

Full Throttle was one of many amazing adventure games developed by LucasArts throughout the 1990s. It got a remastered release in 2017, but an independent studio recently took things a step further with an incredible reimagining of what the game might look like if it was developed today.

The short video, an unofficial project from London-based animators Red Knuckles, moves away from the beautiful sprite graphics that defined Full Throttle’s era of point-and-click adventures in favor of more detailed, realistic visuals, but it still gets the little things right. Protagonist Ben is lovingly rendered in high definition astride his imposing motorcycle, looking like he hasn’t missed a beat since 1995. The video even uses voice lines and music from the original’s opening.

“When a character is successful, it is simple, clear, charismatic, and you get the essence of that individual straight away,” Red Knuckles creative directors Rick Thiele and Mario Ucci wrote on the studio’s website. “The hardest part was to take the essence of the character so perfectly defined by its original appearance and update it without losing any of its soul – and more, adding to it. I think we’ve managed to accomplish this feat here.”

While I’m not 100% sure that I want to see an entire Full Throttle remake in this style—the original is so gosh darn charming—Red Knuckles did an amazing job bringing Ben into the 21st century. Sure, the grizzled motorhead never actually played chicken with a space shuttle, but doesn’t that feel like something he would do without breaking a sweat?

(h/t Colter Freeman)