LGR - I.M. Meen - DOS PC Game Review

It had to be done. Thus begins Edutainment Month 2016 on LGR.
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● Music used in order of appearance:
Sneaky Snooper, Giant Leap, and Newsroom
kzbin.info...

[@birdiemcchicken1471]

If Animation Magic just stopped making games and started making a full length cartoon instead, it would have been the best thing ever.

[@1secondarysmile]

it would be an absolute GOLD MINE for ytp sources.

[@niceshock]

Some workers from Animation magic created cartoons in russia, like Melnitsa studio and Saint Petersburg created KiKoriki or GoGoRiki

[@magnusm4]

A whole season's worth of YTP material to meme out!

[@JimmyDPooper]

It's always a bit weird hearing a normal KZbinr talk about something YTP related. This was a pretty good review. I think I'll subscribe.

[@1secondarysmile]

Of course you’re here, Jimmy. Why wouldn’t you be?

[@JimmyDPooper]

@@1secondarysmile Of course I'm here, zoomer4548. Why wouldn't I be?

[@ProfRenderer]

Enough. My ship sails in the morning. I wonder what's for dinner.

[@obstacle1667]

I HOPE SHE MADE LOTSA SPAGHETTI

[@kingdededelicious]

Sorry link I can't give credit, come back when you're a little MMMMMMMM richer

[@clockwerk35]

How about quiche for lunch?

[@gumballfan13]

@@clockwerk35 Lunch is not the same as dinner.

[@namelessanonymous2090]

*GeE, iT sUrE iS bOrInG aRoUnD hErE*

[@maxsayo]

Their animation looks like it was drawn freehand without reference guidelines. what I mean by that is each cell is drawn with respect to the previous frame order going one at a time. unlike the traditional method where lead animators establish key frames first and then send them off to the intern or lesser animators on the team to fill in the tween motions. if you want a better example of this kind of animation look at the animated series Superjail!

[@mr3urious]

Captain Pronin probably used the same technique, too.

[@Pepperoni290]

How can you tell?

[@Pepperoni290]

@@mr3urious How can you tell?

[@mr3urious]

@@Pepperoni290 Just looks that way, is all.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Wow, the sprites during the first person segments are actually really good! Those monsters animate wonderfully.

[@LGR]

Yep, the animations are the best part of the game!

[@freakishuproar1168]

+BlazeHedgehog I agree with you there. I particularly liked the way those reaper guys disintegrate whilst their boggle-eyed skulls float in mid-air for second, loony tunes style... :D

[@Allerdyne]

+BlazeHedgehog I was thinking exactly the same thing. The enemies are actually pretty cool, including the dragon with the old man's head and those owl/gargoyle things. And actually, the idea of using grammar as puzzles isn't so bad either. This game had potential, they just made some bad decisions.

[@magnusm4]

My favorite is the grim reaper. Hes walking along like a happy cartoon and when he dies his skull has that stretched out falling animation that otherwise only cartoon used plus the surprised eyes, as well as the serious and badass design of him which adds to the comedy of his animation and eyes

[@morgansinclair6318]

One almost wants to take all those beautifully created and animated sprites and make a GOOD game with them.

[@Cytroen]

I.M. Meme

[@theblocksays]

He seems like a more "kid friendly" version of Henry Stauf LOL

[@big-godon]

haha good one Cytroen, cool.

[@Sarioya]

I.M. Meen's sequel, Chill Manor, actually improves the inventory by giving you a Hexen-like bar at the bottom, as well as weapons with honest to God ammo. Losing all your stamina also leads to the game's antagonist, Ophelia Chill, erasing you from time completely rather than throwing you into a cell. Sadly, there's a lot less of the awesomely cheesy and weird animation. It was released some time in '96, so my guess is that the animation department was focusing more on Lord of the Clans at the time. Also, I.M. Meen got a sequel. That in itself still blows my mind a bit.

[@W3Rn1ckz]

Too bad there wasn't as many crazy cutscenes.

[@guilhermehank4938]

The sequel actually ends on a cliff hanger by having Meen free Chill and they both escape together, with the former saying he feels you will meet again soon. Sadly a third game never happened

[@Sarioya]

I have to wonder what the subject for the third game would have been. Maybe science? They're both magic characters, so taking down science would make sense.

[@Organous]

Here's a bit from someone who actually played it back in the day when it was new. Yes, a lot of the concerns you expressed are valid. This game isn't worth much more than a nostalgia trip now. However, a lot of what you expressed as a negative actually worked for me. As a kid, I absolutely loved mazes! This was a great game for explorers. There were tons of secrets to find, and if you paid attention, some of the grammar puzzles actually helped point you to them. It was long enough ago that I don't remember exactly how many, but there were plenty of puzzles that offered hints to secret rooms in the future. Also, again if you paid attention to the writing instead of just taking a test, there's a TON of lore here. It's extremely campy, and it eventually grew on me. Reading those stories is kind of like the Tek Jansen shorts that would occur on the Colbert Report. The author, obviously Meen himself, inserts himself in all sorts of adventures as a total Mary Sue. It's so over the top, and I adore it! The antagonist is both narcissistic & vengeful, almost like a "force of nature" villain. Kind of like the motivation of Monsters Inc., he hates smart children because they don't scare easily. That's why he runs a library, so he can capture children actually interested in reading that he can't scare. This is definitely not a story to be taken seriously in any way. Now yes, the interface is nothing special, but you can work around it. It's somewhat clunky to play. I eventually got used to it, and though it definitely doesn't play as smoothly as the Doom it hopes to replicate, it's still manageable. The fact that the controls are far from ideal means you actually have to play more tactically. You can't go guns blazing. Occasionally there's the large arena like the sewers level you showed, and I definitely had a lot of fun frantically running around the place dodging those projectiles. For the most part though, because you're usually in tight corridors without much maneuverability (and maybe you can attribute that to being a geeky, unathletic kid), the game teaches you patience. The focus is on exploration & careful navigation, as a maze should do. However, I will concede that I am personally an extremely patient person. Most people could be forgiven for passing on this game due to the clunky controls & "edutainmenty" switch from action to a grammar test. I'm probably in a very small minority that can appreciate the challenge of lackluster controls and forgive the pace-changing of the actual education part to really enjoy the joke it always was. Having been able to appreciate it, I think there's actual potential to make something out of this with a remake or sequel if you improve the controls. The license would obviously be cheap as free to pick up. It wouldn't be too hard to reimagine it with better game design and keep the joke. In the end, I'll agree it's a really hard game to recommend. It's got a super-niche audience, especially now. I recognize this is the internet and I'll get flamed hard for this, but I still have a place in my heart for Gnorris the Gnome.

[@NintenGunner]

Underrated Comment

[@pianogame8700]

This person gets it.

[@guilhermehank4938]

There was a somewhat "sequel" that features his wife

[@voltcorp]

to be fair, the ingame pixel art/animation is really nice

[@Cpt.Sailor]

I would love to see those guys animate a show

[@tuli0hwut78]

Reminds me of Faces of Evil/Wand of Gamelon

[@Annausagi2]

@@tuli0hwut78 Same studio. :D

[@RaccoonRevolution]

I.M. Suffering from a devastating injury

[@tac7288]

Honestly, I. M. Meen's voice actor definitely had fun voicing this guy you can tell, especially with his song in the beginning. I don't think this game is too bad, I had fun with it when I played it.

[@CoolDudeClem]

For a LONG time, I actually thought the cutsceenes from this were actually part of the CDi Zelda games! Now knowing that they were done by the same people it makes sense.

[@juant8631]

Thought I was the only one.

[@stevekovoc3939]

+CoolDudeClem Same here, man. I literally thought these cutscenes were from the Zelda CDI games... You're not alone. lol

[@dickhuntz6962]

Do a Tech Tales episode about Animation Magic. I need to know why God allowed such a thing to exist.

[@retropirate1]

Oh god yes please

[@bobthegodofmemes2249]

Because he's a good guy that's why

[@wallie1994]

When I saw the thumbnail it directly put me in a nostalgic trip back to 2007.

[@wesleybcrowen]

Blizzard must've been terrified of who they were working with when they saw THIS as part of their portfolio.

[@wesleybcrowen]

+WesleyB Crowen In hindsight I'm being needlessly cruel, their work on Warcraft Adventures was their best (relatively) and the game was most likely cancelled due to not meeting deadlines and adventure game decline (and starting to look dated when compared to Grim Fandango)

[@sethfinley8378]

I'm surprised this wasn't on CDi

[@thepirategamerboy12]

The CDi probably wouldn't be able to handle the raycasting engine used in the game. There was actually going to be a Sega CD version, but it was canceled pretty quickly.

[@theblocksays]

Yeah the CDi REALLY wasn't designed as a "gaming" console (hence those broken controls in the Zelda games, was like their canary in the coal mine of staying power), that was really its death nail, if they wanted to focus on "educational" then why didn't any schools pick it up? We just had Macs with Math Blaster & Number Munchers installed

[@chrisfratz]

@@Bauglir100 but the thing is, the CDi did have traditional controllers that you coulx buy for it

[@cube2fox]

@@thepirategamerboy12 I'm a bit late but the CD-i probably would have handled the 3D raycasting sections. It had a 15.5 MHz CISC CPU.

[@jasonblalock4429]

I think the problem with Animation Magic's animation is that it looks like it was composed directly as pixel art, rather than using the more common method of drawing traditional cels and then scanning them in. So there's far less detail in the artwork than in traditional animation, making it look sloppy and cheap.

[@TuxxyBrown]

nice of i.m. meen to invite us over for a picnic, eh lgr?

[@W3Rn1ckz]

I HOPE SHE MADE LOTSA SPAGHETTI

[@filecabinetcoffee436]

SPAGHETTI?!?!?!?!?!

[@SirTriopsKing]

That video image tag made me believe that LGR made a youtube poop.

[@McFlingleson]

"...although why someone who hates children and learning would become a librarian is beyond me." Well, maybe he wanted to destroy the system from the inside.

[@Zxzero36]

Oh dear God I'm having Zelda cdi flash backs

[@Ropetupa]

at least cd-i zeldas didn't have SONGS!

[@retropirate1]

+Joni Heinonen Honestly that would be great. Imagine Link singing about how bored he is.

[@Ropetupa]

retropirate1 *shudders*

[@YuriXEstelle]

+Joni Heinonen Songs?! Oh god , it get's even worse?!!

[@DeadHandtheSurvivor]

+Zxzero36 And in your head, as you're having your flash backs, you hear a fade echo. You can't quite make it out at first, but once you clear your mind it becomes clear of what it is, and it is the only word terrifying enough to give you nightmares: *"Dinner."* You start to feel dizzy.

[@851852093114208513]

God that 60 frames a second is glorious

[@jj72610]

I remember watching a report on my local news station about the DooM craze when I was little and it talked about a "Doom for kids" and showed a few seconds of a fps where youre killing giant spiders and Ive wondered what game they were showing ever since, this must be it?!

[@gibbyethridge6079]

+James L probably.

[@AwdryFan1997]

Well, it makes sense that Zelda CDI and I M Meen were done by the same studio. I can't wait to see I M Meen in Smash.

[@thetman0068]

Meen reminds me of an even more insane Rick from Rick and Morty.

[@klashicola3532]

I can’t stop myself from saying it.. lamp oil,rope,bombs? You want it? It’s yours my friend

[@Germandemza]

Mr Meem himself is way creepier than any bloodshed on any game ver.

[@magnusm4]

Wait WHAT?! DODGE a bullet?? Warcraft adventures looked and sounded amazing! The gameplay on youtube has amazing atmosphere, calm drawn out notes combined with the environment sounds that really shape and paint the world through you hearing. The animation looked fun and simple yet unique and I loved it. Small things like the goblin pilot giving a thumbs up while saying: Oh no, oh no it's worse than we thought, this design is brilliant! And the two headed ogre's fabulous pose when in front of a piece of meat you place over a fire, also the goblin in the tinkerer shop who I love a lot. I couldn't guess they made that animation at all, sad these guys and the humungus entertainment animators never got to do more :,(

[@SuperSmashDolls]

Edutainment Month 2016 IT BEGINS

[@MrSlashStudios]

+Alexander Clam Bell LUIGI LUIGI LUIGI I HOPE SHE MADE LOTS OF SPAGHETTI

[@pastaroni8683]

Whenever I saw clips from this game I always assumed I M Mean was just some character from one of the Zelda CDi games. Little did I know he had an entire game made about him

[@SolarFarle]

Same.

[@CattyMintgum]

BEcAUSE KZbin IS WHERE THE poop IS!.. WE WE WE WE WE WHEEEEZEEEE... !

[@lazyzephyrus8295]

SnooPINGAS usual, I see!?

[@W3Rn1ckz]

YTP. Where there's smoke, They pinch back! (tm)

[@bobalinx8762]

It's you!

[@Thekinggamelon]

I.M. Meen: Oh look, what clever reviewer! See him play, review and post it. How love that goodie-goodie. He he makes my heart happy!

[@dimitripia5156]

To quote Jim Sterling, "Is this memes?"

[@toastdtech3597]

I wonder whats for DINER?

[@Faapu]

Dodongos.

[@sofiv95]

+King Harkinian Great! I'll grab my stuff!

[@rommix0]

+Creepboom Labatory (Creepboomlabatory) I'm so hungry I could eat an octorok

[@McDuders]

+Creepboom Labatory (Creepboomlabatory) You know what they say, all dinner toasts spaghetti

[@Earthium]

+Creepboom Labatory (Creepboomlabatory) Oh look what clever children, see them comment watch them learn. how I *HATE* those goodie goodies.

[@LeviDaManJabroni]

great way to start this friday off with watching another classic LGR review

[@richardphilip9028]

I've honestly been waiting forever for you to review this one. This was amazing.

[@11Enix]

i.m. meme

[@RealGengarTV]

+11Enix DAMNIT beat me to it -,-

[@chadough_7014]

I.M. Meme*

[@pixellord2370]

*I.M Meem

[@SawedOffLaser]

I wasn't subbed to your channel this time last year, so I am super hyped for Edutainment month.

[@HeadsetGuy]

Yes, YES! I've been waiting for you to review this for a long time! Ever since I found out you had a copy.

[@SarahWattCA]

Re: the engine, raycasting is a really easy algorithm to implement (and fun too - I wrote a raycaster in a few days a couple years ago for kicks) so I. M. Meen very likely doesn't use a licensed engine.

[@andrewguy479]

This was a favorite growing up, thanks for showing off it's majesty!

[@RetroIslandGaming]

Finally, I get to watch your video! I was working on a review of this, but I didn't want to get influenced. Which was hard to do, cause I love your channel. Looks like you didn't enjoy the game too much. LOL, yeah it's pretty rough going. I dragged myself to the finish line and was able to beat it after much personal convincing. You didn't miss much, aside from new levels, recycled bad guys, and more scroll reading material. I will say that the scrolls get better and better the further you play. There's a lot of backstory to pick up on that fleshes out our evil little friend, Meen. Reading all the scrolls is fun, and it's the only thing I'd recommend out of this game aside from the glorious animations. I played some of Chill Manor but the game crashed on me at level two... so yeah, hard to say if that game is any better. It certainly feels like they tried to improve things! The sleepy kids crack me up. Thanks for giving Meen some love with the video! DOS games always need more attention!

[@PenguinDT]

I didn't know anything about this game prior, but the moment I saw the animations I just KNEW this was from the folks behind CD-I Zeldas. It's just unmistakable.

[@9nineofdiamonds]

Another video suggested to me because I watched the WayneRadioTV stream but I never know that you cover this game before,

[@daviddeltoro1808]

Great videos. Keep 'em coming.

[@TheCivildecay]

I think the animations have their own charm to it :)

[@acn1580]

The way you opened that jewel case gave me shivers

[@randomjoh]

As a teacher, I loved using this in dosbox when I taught 5th grade English.

[@Meleemario720]

Goodie Goodies! Zeedookiedook!

[@nrdesign1991]

It's been so long since I've made anything YTP related with I.M. Meen; where has the time gone??

[@kellygymnastt]

I love when you review bad games. Those are my favorite reviews of yours!!

[@bubullus1169]

this brings me back to the early days of youtube

[@PEZhead5432109876]

Oh yeah, gotta love me some LGR Edutainment goodness. Hoping you'll finally get to the Humongous Entertainment or Living Books games this year.

[@goodnighttroy]

i've been waiting for this one

[@rockymm10]

he knows about ytp ya

[@LGR]

I've been the subject of lots of them, kinda don't have a choice :P

[@Cade_The_Squirrel]

+Lazy Game Reviews It's because we love you :3

[@DelRio1991]

+Lazy Game Reviews It's your voice man. also, you have to admit, you kinda walked into one when you put a floppy in mashed potatoes.

[@CMSonYT]

what. really? I MUST FIND THEM

[@ais4185]

@@LGR Clint, you just made my day! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWLRfWR5lpxracU I had no idea haha!

[@fireglo450music]

When Meen says "Frightened? Confused? GOOD HAHAHA" I think he was channeling the head Blue Meanie from Yellow Submarine.

[@deathpallie325]

I wonder how many 90s kids have played this game when they were children and rediscovered this game through KZbin Poops and laughed at the humorous edits of the cutscenes from this game they may have had to play after school, or may have even played in school during English Language Arts class on the school computers.

[@Goreface69]

DAMN YOU ANIMATION MAGIC!!!!

[@DotGamesLive]

When you say "It's a dull, tedious grind to play" your character even looks bored. Thank you for this video on a game I did not know existed X_x

[@room___]

"i'm meme" the penultimate ytp title of 2008

[@karoomay]

I remember discovering I.M. Meen through TorNis7's YTPs back in 2009.

[@rottingsoul9]

you're videos are great

[@Rose-ys9gn]

This took me back to my childhood. I used to play this in 3rd grade during free time with my best friend Alice. 3rd grade was pretty lame.

[@teamcannonfodder3410]

I was literally about to say "looks like the cdi Zelda games" and then you said it lol

[@littleNorwegians]

IM Meen never quits! You'll see! (Kinda, if you also consider doing Chill Manor as well.)

[@LGR]

I have yet to run across a complete copy of that one, but I'll cover it when I do!

[@Meleemario720]

+Lazy Game Reviews I have a copy of that from a charity shop. Meen only shows up at the end but Ophelia Chill is an entertainingly strange librarian person as well

[@stevemclovin1566]

Good video, will you ever cover gpd win when it comes out? it like the oqo model 2 you had on your earlier.

[@DottaNatural]

I.M. Meen never quits. He'll be back!

[@TheOffenderBlog]

So it is that time again, edutainment month. Kind of a nice change of pace every year.

[@naota3k]

Hell yes. We absolutely need an Animation Magic Tech Tales.

[@spooty75]

Man I had this game as a kid. Hated it. Hadn't thought about it since then. Thanks LGR! :D

[@m1rock]

I forget have you ever done a video on Froggman Software? They where my introduction to PC gaming with their release of Curse of the Catacombs. At the time I didnt even know they where re-releases.

[@UoirLocer]

6:00 rouxls kaard also says that, TOBY YOU LAZY GENIUS

[@nononononono7834]

I really really like the animation style of Animation Magic's work for some reason. I wish they still existed and made stuff

[@tyleradam4836]

Did you ever consider covering the Thinkin' Things Collection series? I'd love to see you cover that for edutainment month.

[@subzerobadass]

Saw LGR did a review of I.M. Meen. Hoped for some reference to YTP. Instant gratification.

[@atomicskull6405]

OMG this thing is a meme goldmine.

[@GuyOnAChair]

It was.

[@BearJoyner00]

Have you covered any Leap Frog or JumpStart games?

[@tictacsnack]

No. Seriously. You said the word poop. I am going to get that one clip, and repeat it all night to help me go to sleep. Thanks LGR.

[@fzerowipeoutlover]

My shit sails in the morning! I wonder what's for dinner?

[@OrangeStar222]

All of a sudden I'm transported back to the early days f KZbin when YT Poops where still a thing. Such a better time. *sigh*

[@THEmuteKi]

YESSSSS EDUTAINMENT MONTH IS BACK

[@ClydeLeeM]

I love his expressionless response to just destroying these monsters.

[@JessHull]

I Love your channel, the odder and thrifts is what got me hooked. BUT I love your old school game reviews. I recently have become interested in the apple 2gs after seeing your video on it. I have even started buying apple 2gs games even though I don't have an apple 2gs, but I'm looking for one atm. I was wondering if you could do some game reviews for the apple 2gs. I just got "Legacy of the Ancients" in folio, perhaps you have it or have heard of it? would love to see someone play this as I have no means to play it and I don't like emulators. Thank you

[@justinweathers7180]

The kid is Doom Guy when he was young!

[@beetleguy9446]

Didn't even watch this, and I already liked it.

[@wvecst]

hell yeah dude i played this way back in the 90s lol nobody ever knew what game i was talkin bout

[@MyHeartIsOpen2You]

Classic YTP materiel in I M Meen

[@leonidas566]

YEAH EDUTAINMENT MONTH BABY

[@ulisses18]

Do you have the game Silver? Could do a review? Thanks and good job!!!

[@adultmoshifan87]

I had a demo of this back in the day! (Courtesy of a CD Rom Today cover disc)

[@CthulhuianBunny]

Honestly, the cut scenes are quite the improvement on the Zelda CD-i games. I. M. Meen himself isn't nearly as amorphous as Ganon, and he's not doing gross stuff like wiping his nose with his knee, or doing that ugly fish-eye lens mugging that Morshu does which makes him look like he should be singing some horrible rap about the items he has for sale.

[@KaizouKazurei]

I bought a CD of this game, the intro song in this game is amazing

[@Cade_The_Squirrel]

I love humanity for this character

[@Disthron]

I remember playing the demo of this game back in the day. I had no idea they were the same people who made the 3DO Zelda games.

[@Spankytimez]

Mah Boi, This dinner is what all true warriors strive for.

[@YuukitheMighty1]

When I saw that animation the first thing I thought was the Zelda CDI games. When u mentioned that the same people who animated that game did this one I was like YES I KNEW IT

[@erainmartinez8175]

I love I.M. Meen

[@katecastellana8196]

I loved this game.

[@zetamaniac]

This should get a remake. I absolutely love Meen.

[@teamhex]

Clint are you going to do any reviews on the new VR tech hitting shelves? Specifically the HTC VIVE :) ? KZbin poops are sooo awesome. King of the Hill has some amazing ones. They are almost like pieces of art sometimes.

[@LGR]

If I can get my hands on any of the new VR tech, I sure will