After nine years in development, ScummVM offshoot ResidualVM is finally ready for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Grim Fandango is one of the most beloved games of the 1990s, but 14-year-old software makes it nearly impossible to play on modern systems. That is, until ResidualVM set out to make a program that could recreate 3D games that utilized LucasArts' GrimE engine. More than nine years after the project began, ResidualVM has announced its stable release, making it possible to play Grim Fandango on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux--assuming you've still got your copy of the game.

Like its sister emulator ScummVM, ResidualVM was created to allow gamers to enjoy old-school classics that are no longer compatible with modern technology. The project began in 2003, when a former ScummVM designer felt the need to expand the emulator's horizons beyond games using the SCUMM engine (such as Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island). In 2009, its focus was expanded to support other 3D game engines; though Grim Fandango is the only title currently supported, Escape From Monkey Island and The Longest Journey are works in progress.

Though ResidualVM is finally stable, glitches present in the original Grim Fandango might still be an issue. "While we have tested ResidualVM quite thoroughly, there MIGHT be cases where you end up in a situation where the game is incompletable," states the program's site. "Some of these were actually also existent in the original game... So, please follow the old adventure-game mantra of 'save early, save often'."

I used ScummVM to replay all of my old LucasArts adventures a few years back (after tracking the discs down in my parents' house). I'm hoping to locate my copy of Grim Fandango over the holiday season, so that I can play it for the first time in nearly 15 years.

Source: ResidualVM