Decided to see why it was always refered back to for great accomplishments. I definitely agree with them!
As far as adventures go, this one is unique. Playing on the old Mexican legends of the afterlife, Grim Fandango creates a never before seen concept in games. Throwing in some film noire content and truckloads of humor, the game is one of the linear adventure games I'd play over and over and over again!
The controls, not different from the original Alone in the Dark, are easy to learn and well adapted. Sometimes you may find the path through a certain area hard to locate, but nothing 30 seconds of repeated attempts won't fix. One complaint I have is the overall difficulty one might have solving the puzzles, as the game has no way but the right way type puzzles. I am ashamed to say that after 2 hours of frustration, I often had to consult a walkthrough. But it took nothing away from the intriguing storyline. Other than minor glitches, it played through beautifully.
The graphics were pretty standard to me. Your average prerendered environments with 3-D characters. Liked it in Final Fantasy 8 and 9, still like it here. Beautifully done to match the film noire style and creatively tweaked to reveal the land of the dead.
Beautiful musical score from 50's film noire to Mexican celebration. The voices were flawless and only added to the impressiveness of the game.
The game is a classic definitely worth playing. Those who haven't because they don't enjoy this type of adventure game, you will LOVE the characters and the story. Try it, you owe it that much.