Muppets Inside

{{Infobox video game

| title = The Muppet CD-ROM: Muppets Inside

| image = Muppets Inside cover.jpg

| developer = Starwave

| publisher = Starwave

| engine =

| platforms = Windows

| released = {{vgrelease|NA|March 1996}}

| genre = Adventure

| modes = Single-player

| director = David Gumpel

| producer = {{ubl|John Cutter|Ritamarie Peruggi}}

| designer = John Cutter

| artist = {{ubl|Joan Delehanty|Derek Brown}}

| writer = Craig Shemin

| caption =

| alt =

}}

The Muppet CD-ROM: Muppets Inside is a 1996 video game based on The Muppets franchise produced by Starwave for Windows. The title is a play on Intel's advertising slogan, "Intel Inside". The game's plot consists of several Muppets characters getting trapped inside a computer, and Bunsen sending Kermit and Fozzie Bear into the computer to rescue them.

Muppets Inside's gameplay contains over an hour of new audio and video footage, as well as five new songs and classics from The Muppet Show. The game also contains a bonus "Muppetizer'" feature that provides custom cursors, sounds and wallpapers. The game's CD-ROM also came packaged with a 6x6 inch, 30-page booklet with Henson history, character profiles, game instructions, and credits.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Gameplay

As players rescue the Muppets, they encounter seven "Muppetized" minigames:

Kitchens of Doom: A parody of Doom, with the Swedish Chef fighting giant vegetables in a crypt-like kitchen.
Beaker's Brain: The player helps Bunsen unscramble Beaker's memories of Muppet Show clips.
Two Thumbs Down: The player rotates boxes to unscramble Statler and Waldorf's video clip.
A Wocka on the Wild Side: In a parody of Missile Command, the player shoots down flying tomatoes that the audience throws at Fozzie Bear as he crosses the Muppet Theater stage.
Death Defying Acts of Culture: The player positions Gonzo's cannon so he flies through a target.
Scope That Song: Clifford hosts a version of Name That Tune, with the songs played by Lew Zealand's fish or Marvin Suggs and the Muppaphone.
Trivial but True: A Hollywood Squares game hosted by Kermit, with Fozzie Bear as the center square.

Development and release

Starwave was the lead developer of Muppets Inside, while other developers produced most of its minigames: Trivial but True and Death Defying Acts of Culture by Socha Computing; Kitchens of Doom by Gravity;{{cite web |url=http://www.gravity.com/games.html |title=Games |publisher=Gravity |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980128202351/http://www.gravity.com/games.html |archive-date=January 28, 1998 |access-date=September 11, 2024 |url-status=dead }} A Wocka on the Wild Side and Two Thumbs Down by Randy Pratt; and Beaker's Brain and Scope That Song by Riedel Software Productions.{{cite news |last1=Auerbach |first1=Jon G. |last2=Stecklow |first2=Steve |date=October 16, 1997 |title=RSP Provokes Controversy Over Its Gory Software Game |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB876951901156397000 |work=Wall Street Journal |access-date=September 11, 2024 |quote=In the Muppets CD-ROM game, released last year, RSP created a segment in which Miss Piggy plays a game-show host and child contestants must name such tunes as, "I've Been Working on the Railroad". In another, called "Beaker's Brain", players must reconstruct animated images to put the flask-headed character's brain back together. }} The game was developed in a year, with a headcount of over 150 people between all involved studios.{{cite news |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/compcol/0312compcol-manes.html |last=Manes |first=Stephen |title=There's a Muppet in the Machine! |newspaper=New York Times |date=March 12, 1996 |access-date=October 20, 2024 }}

The full-motion video sequences for the game were shot in London, concurrently with the Muppet Treasure Island film and its video game adaptation.{{cite web |url=https://toughpigs.com/craig-shemin-part-1/ |last=Roe |first=Ryan |title=An Interview with Craig Shemin, Part 1: Through the Eyes of a Fan |work=ToughPigs |date=April 9, 2014 |access-date=October 18, 2024 }}

Muppets Inside was initially slated for release in January 1996.{{cite magazine |url=https://toughpigs.com/muppetzine-issue-15/ |title=Muppets Take a Byte Out of Your Computer |pages=7–8 |magazine=MuppetZine |issue=15 |date=1996 |access-date=October 20, 2024 }} However, the game would not arrive in stores until March.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newsweek.com/many-more-muppets-176038 |title=Many More Muppets |magazine=Newsweek |date=March 17, 1996 |access-date=September 27, 2024 }}{{cite web |url=http://vr.ncsa.uiuc.edu/BS/Muppets/muppet_news.html#Contests |last=Sage |first=Rose |title=Muppet Web Contests |date=March 17, 1996 |work=Muppet News Flash |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050405214151/http://vr.ncsa.uiuc.edu/BS/Muppets/muppet_news.html#Contests |archive-date=April 5, 2005 |access-date=September 27, 2024 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-03-18-fi-48377-story.html |last=Harmon |first=Amy |title=Pulse Has a Finger on New Ideas |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 18, 1996 |access-date=October 20, 2024 }}

Reception

{{Video game reviews

| PCGUS = 88%{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000302095951/http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/718.html | url=http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/718.html | title=Muppets Inside | date=September 1996 | author=Wolf, Scott | archive-date=March 2, 2000 | work=PC Gamer US | url-status=dead | access-date=April 10, 2020 }}

}}

Muppets Inside was received positively by critics upon release. CNET praised the game's graphics and design, describing it as a "day-brightener".{{cite web |url=http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reviews/Cdcentral/Reviews/0,50,317,00.html |last=Atelsek |first=Jean |title=The Muppet CD-ROM: Muppets Inside |work=CNET |access-date=October 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970420170228/http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reviews/Cdcentral/Reviews/0,50,317,00.html |archive-date=April 20, 1997 }}

In a retrospective review, PC Gamer praised the humor of the videos and game concepts, while criticizing the tedium of the small number of games.{{cite web|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/saturday-crapshoot-muppets-inside/|title=Muppets Inside was a classic of the 'CD-ROM full of stuff' era |last=Cobbett |first=Richard |website=PC Gamer |date=January 21, 2023 |access-date=September 11, 2024 }}

=Awards=

Muppets Inside received a CODiE award in 1997 for Best Overall Multimedia Production.{{cite web |url=https://siia.net/codie/1997-winners/ |title=1997 Winners |work=SIIA CODiE Awards |publisher=Software and Information Industry Association |access-date=October 18, 2024 }} The editors of Computer Games Strategy Plus nominated the game as their pick for 1996's best "traditional" game, but the award ultimately went to Power Chess.{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970614161401/http://www.cdmag.com/news/0325971.html |url=http://www.cdmag.com/news/0325971.html |title=Computer Games Strategy Plus announces 1996 Awards |date=March 25, 1997 |work=Computer Games Strategy Plus |archive-date=June 14, 1997 |url-status=dead }}

References

External links

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991005041932/http://www.starwave.com/cdrom/muppets/demo/ |date=October 5, 1999 |title=Official website}}
{{IMDb title|0206161}}

Category:1996 video games

Category:The Muppets video games

Category:North America-exclusive video games

Category:Riedel Software Productions games

Category:Single-player video games

Category:Starwave games

Category:Video games about amphibians

Category:Video games about bears

Category:Video games about mice and rats

Category:Video games about pigs

Category:Video games developed in the United States

Category:Windows games