Monkey Island is still funny, challenging, and unique. The updated graphics are just a bonus
I first played The Secret of Monkey Island at a very different point in my life, when I was 10 years old and had all the free time in the world. A couple of weeks ago, a special edition of Monkey Island was released with updated graphics, soundtrack, and voice overs, and for better or for worse, it’s incredibly faithful to the original (you can switch between versions at the touch of a button).
For the record, my favorite 3 point and click adventure games ever are Full Throttle, Monkey Island 2, and Monkey Island, in that order. Point and click adventures seem to be having a bit of a resurgence, LucasArts and Sierra are both putting out their old games on Steam, which I think is a great thing. For those of you who may have missed the point and click craze, these adventure games are conquered by exhausting a bunch of dialog trees and combining items in your inventory in unique and creative ways.
The Secret of Monkey Island puts you in the shoes of Guybrush Threepwood, a wanna-be pirate who gets caught up in a complicated love triangle with Elaine Marley, governor of Melee Island, and her ghost pirate stalker, the evil LeChuck. It is a zany story that is moved along with even zanier gameplay and wacky humor. For example, early on in the story you pick up a chicken attached to a pulley. What could you possibly use that for? You’ll have to play the game to find out.
Monkey Island’s gameplay holds up for the most part even though it was first released 19 years ago. The special edition’s graphics look excellent (except for Guybrush’s weird hair-do), and the voice work is okay (but turn on the subtitles to get the full effects of some of the jokes). The jokes are a little less funny than when I was 10 years old, but there are still some laugh out loud moments. The game has implemented a progressive hint system, which is a blessing and a curse (I recommend staying away from it, the majority of the puzzles are fair and just require out of the box thinking). For fans of the original, I think the game is a must-buy. I still love this game and am hoping they give Monkey Island 2 the same treatment. If you’ve never played Monkey Island, I still highly recommend checking it out – it only costs 10 bucks, which is well worth it (think of it as a history lesson). After all, if Monkey Island taught me anything, it was this: “Never pay more than 20 dollars for a computer game”. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to dig up my old Monkey Island 2 CD-ROM.
