Look! A Three-Headed Monkey!
Written: Aug 26 '03 (Updated Jan 31 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Monkey Island 1 and 3 are classics that should be in every adventure gamer's collection
Cons: Monkey Island 2 is disappointing
The Bottom Line: Fantastic for those more interested in great gameplay than flashy graphics.
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| captaind's Full Review: LucasArts Archive Series: The Monkey Island Archiv... |
This is also available in the UK, although here it goes by the name of “Monkey Island Bounty Pack”. It’s exactly the same package though – the first 3 Monkey Island games.
Overview
In case you’ve never played them, the Monkey Island games are “Point And Click” adventure games. That is, you have your character (a wannabe pirate named Guybrush Threepwood) on the screen, and use your mouse cursor to highlight objects or characters on the screen to interact with. The interface in the first two games is what is known as the “Classic” interface. You have the main game screen in the top two thirds of the screen, while in the bottom third are your inventory and various commands - such as “Walk to”, Talk to”, “Push”, “Use”, “Give”, etc. You click on one of these and then an object or character, or place on the screen. When you talk to a character, you get a list of possible lines to say – some parts of conversations will happen automatically (as will some of the action – known as “cut scenes”, these progress the plot, often by showing you what is happening somewhere else in the game-world, without user intervention). It is not really possible to say the “wrong thing” – in that, if you do, you can always go back and say the right thing later with the same result, and often you can do this straight away anyway – and it’s usually more fun to see the response you’ll get if you’re more horrible to people!
In the third game, the interface is somewhat simplified – you click on an object and hold the mouse button down, and then can select to either use, talk to, or pick up the object. (Attempting to pick up a person never works but can bring some amusing responses). This interface actually works extremely well once you get used to it.
The puzzles are, in the main, logical and well thought out, with a good mix of easy and difficult puzzles. The second game, however, is seriously difficult and not always very logical, making it very much the weakest link in the chain. If you get stuck there are many resources on the Internet with hints etc – you’ll probably need a hint somewhere along the line!
All three games are rather old, and while the third has cartoony graphics that still look pretty decent today, the first two are seriously dated. However, I didn’t find this to detract from the enjoyment of playing them. For some reason, I didn’t get any sound in the first two games either, although there wasn’t all that much to begin with if I remember correctly. The third game, however, has plenty of cool Caribbean tunes playing in the background, tons of sound effects, and is fully voice-acted.
If you like adventure games I can’t believe you wouldn’t have already played one of these games (at time of writing this review there are 4 Monkey Island games – the fourth being “Escape from Monkey Island”, which I’ll review sometime soon or eventually, whichever comes sooner or later… - confused?). If you’ve never played an adventure-style game, well it’s plot-driven problem-solving, so if you like your games fast, furious, and adrenaline-pumping, forget it. These are funny but you have to use your brain rather than reflexes to make any progress. Powers of observation are another definite plus, you’ll find yourself having to find a hint for a particular problem, only to realise you would have quite easily solved it yourself if you’d noticed a particular detail earlier in the game… (You develop an eye for these things in the end. Making notes can be a good idea. You’ll probably still miss some, but not as many!)
And now to the individual games…
Monkey Island
This is where it all began. Although it does look extremely dated nowadays, it was revolutionary when first released. The graphics may not by up to much but you can see everything on screen, it’s detailed (despite the paltry 16-colour 320x200 resolution – the same as when I played it on my old Atari ST more than a decade ago), and the animations are excellent. As mentioned before there doesn’t seem to be any sound but this is not really a problem.
Guybrush wants to be a pirate. At the start of the game he has to perform 3 tasks to prove himself worthy of the title of pirate – but completing this is just the tip of the iceberg in his adventure, which will lead him to the dreaded Monkey Island, the home of the equally dreaded zombie pirate LeChuck. There are some terrific characters, great laughs, an interesting plot, and good puzzles.
To call this an all-time classic is certainly appropriate, and I enjoyed it every bit playing it this time around as I did for the first time about 12 years ago.
Monkey Island 2 – LeChuck’s Revenge
Hmmm… I never played this one in the 90’s (it was never realised on the ST, unfortunately), and had high hopes for it. Unfortunately it doesn’t quite deliver.
The graphics and interface are exactly the same as the original Monkey Island, and has Guybrush off on a quest to find the fabled treasure of “Big Whoop”. It does introduce Wally, a short-sighted cartographer, who is quite a memorable character, but otherwise suffers from a much higher difficulty level than the first (which I completed without resorting to looking up any hints) – I think I ended up spending more time looking for the hints than actually playing the game! The puzzles weren’t always that logical when you did find out what they were, either. The humour is still there but not as enjoyable because there is so much frustration in-between.
It also had what must rank as one of the most disappointing endings in all adventure gaming history. It also has a place in computer history for introducing “insult sword-fighting” – theorising that all sword-fighters have basically the same ability, with only the placement of a good insult or retort throwing the opponent off-guard. These sequences offer a pleasant diversion from the puzzle-solving from time to time.
Monkey Island 3 – “Curse of Monkey Island”
Better graphics do not necessarily a better game make, as proved by “Escape from Monkey Island” – it’s not half as good as this third instalment in the series.
Because it’s voice-acted and the graphics (the cartoony style fits the game perfectly, in my opinion much better than the 3D used in Escape from Monkey Island) are so much better, the developers had extra scope for the humour, and use it well. This is one of the funniest games you’ll ever play. There’s no compromise on gameplay though, and another advantage with this game is that there are both normal and “Mega-Monkey” modes, the latter having “more puzzley goodness!”. Many of the old characters from the previous two games are back, along with a whole set of new pirates and other undesirables. There is an arcade-like sequence (naval battles), which may not be quite to the liking of adventure game purists, but I liked it. We also see a welcome return to the insult sword-fighting. And, unlike Monkey Island 2, the ending to this game is superb.
All in all, this is a must purchase for fans of adventure games. Personally I wouldn’t even bother playing LeChuck’s Revenge, but the other two games are more than worth the price of this collection.
Given that the second game is disappointing, I have given this a five-star rating in view of the fact that, at a mere $15 (quoted price on epinions), either the first or third game would be worth the money, so both together is a steal. (And if you enjoy the second more than I did, it could be the bargain of a lifetime!).
Reviews of other Graphical Adventure / Detective Games
Escape from Monkey Island (MI4)
Bladerunner
Discworld: Noir
Grim Fandango
Law & Order 2: Double or Nothing
See also:
Maniac Mansion Deluxe (Freeware)
This game is available from Sold Out Software
See also: Top 100 Games of All Time (part 2)
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My Top Ten Commercial Graphical Adventure Games
Recommended:
Yes
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