Reception
Day of the Tentacle was a moderate commercial success; according to Schafer, it sold around 80,000 copies upon release. The game was critically acclaimed. Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World wrote, "Calling Day of the Tentacle a sequel to Maniac Mansion is a little like calling the space shuttle a sequel to the slingshot". The reviewer enjoyed the game's humor and interface, and praised the designers for removing "dead end" scenarios and player character death. He lauded its voice acting with the statement that it "would have done the late Mel Blanc proud", and compared the game extensively to "Looney Toons gems from the 40's and 50's"—particularly with regard to its humor, animation and camera angles. The review ended with the statement that "I expect that this game will keep entertaining people for quite some time to come". Sandy Petersen of Dragon stated that its graphics "are in a stupendous cartoony style", while praising its humor and describing its sound and music as "excellent". Although the reviewer considered it "one of the best" graphic adventure games, he noted that, like LucasArts' earlier Loom, it was extremely short; he wrote that he "felt cheated somehow when I finished the game". He ended the review, "Go, Lucasfilm! Do this again, but do make the next game longer!".
Phil LaRose of The Advocate called it "light-years ahead of the original", and believed that its "improved controls, sound and graphics are an evolutionary leap to a more enjoyable gaming experience". He praised the interface, and summarized the game as "another of the excellent LucasArts programs that place a higher premium on the quality of entertainment and less on the technical knowledge needed to make it run". The Boston Herald's Geoff Smith noted that "the animation of the cartoonlike characters is of TV quality", and praised the removal of dead ends and character death. He ended, "It's full of lunacy, but for anyone who likes light-hearted adventure games, it's well worth trying". Vox Day of The Blade called its visuals "well done" and compared them to those of The Ren & Stimpy Show. The writer praised the game's humor, and stated that "both the music and sound effects are hilarious"; he cited the voice performance of Richard Sanders as a high point. He summarized the game as "both a good adventure and a funny cartoon".
Lim Choon Wee of the New Straits Times highly praised the game's humor, which he called "brilliantly funny". However, the writer commented that the game's puzzles relied on "trial and error" with "no underlying logic". He stated that the game "remains fun" despite this issue, and finished by describing Day of the Tentacle as "definitely the comedy game of the year". Daniel Baum of The Jerusalem Post called it "one of the funniest, most entertaining and best-programmed computer games I have ever seen", and lauded its animation. He wrote that the game provided "a more polished impression" than either The Secret of Monkey Island or Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. The writer stated that its high system requirements were its only drawback, and believed that a Sound Blaster card was required to fully appreciate the game. In a retrospective review, Adventure Gamers' Chris Remo wrote, "If someone were to ask for a few examples of games that exemplify the best of the graphic adventure genre, Day of the Tentacle would certainly be near the top".
Day of the Tentacle has been featured regularly in lists of "top" games. In 1996, Computer Gaming World ranked it as the 34rd best game of all time, writing: "DOTT completely blew away its ancestor, Maniac Mansion, with its smooth animated sequences, nifty plot and great voiceovers." Adventure Gamers included the game as the top entry on its 20 Greatest Adventure Games of All Time List in 2004. The game has appeared on several IGN lists. The website rated it number 60 and 84 on its top 100 games list in 2005 and 2007, respectively. IGN named Day of the Tentacle as part of their top 10 LucasArts adventure games in 2009, and ranked the Purple Tentacle 82nd in a list of top 100 videogame villains in 2010. ComputerAndVideoGames.com ranked it at number 30 in 2008, and GameSpot also listed Day of the Tentacle as one of the greatest games of all time.
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