Alright, in preparation for the Return to Monkey Island review, I decided that I should post full reviews of the first five games as well. While this blog does have reviews for the first two games’ Special Editions and I even did a short ranking post when the third and fourth games were finally released on GOG, I decided that it would be helpful to just have all the games full reviews in one place. So here goes.
By the way, I’m still in the middle of my second playthrough of Return and I hope to finish it first (or at least get 95% of the way through) before I post the final review.
Let’s get on with it…
The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)
In the first game of the series, hapless pirate wanna-be Guybrush Threepwood arrives on Mêlée Island to complete the three trials of becoming a pirate, meets the love of his life Elaine Marley and must then sail to the fabled Monkey Island when she gets kidnapped by the Ghost Pirate LeChuck.
Gameplay: 5/5 – The gameplay uses the traditional SCUMM engine verb bar and I think it’s perfectly fine for it. The CD-Rom version had the upscaled bar from Monkey 2 as well as quick commands, but generally, I prefer for the actions to be spelled out clearly as this way you avoid unnecessary confusion about the various actions.
I can’t really come up with any real criticisms. The cursor, buttons and action-dialogue line are even used for some comedy later in the game.
Graphics: 5/5 – This game looks gorgeous. It has vibrant colours and several distinct locations that makes the game truly a joy to the eye. From the dark forests of Mêlée, to the colourful jungle of Monkey Island to the red lava pits, this game has it all. The facial close-ups are also brilliant.
Animation: 3½/5 – The animation is also great with several characters having fun action animations. I especially love Guybrush being shot out of the cannon (both times) and LeChuck’s death animation. However, the animation department is also where the most bugs are evident: from Carla ”dancing” in the distance, to Meathook’s eyepatch switching sides and even the sword-fighting animations are a bit stiff. This is one area where the games would get better.
Music: 5/5 – The soundtrack is fantastic. The CD-Rom version obviously had the best variants of the tracks, but the soundtrack is just filled with so many all-time classics from the Elaine and LeChuck themes, to the Voodoo theme, both Map themes and of course the iconic Monkey Island main theme. Even the incidental one-offs like the Fettucini Circus and the original Stan theme are great. The Ghost Ship Shuffle is the absolute gem of the sountrack. It’s a shame the music doesn’t fade out as in the sequels and there are in fact a lot of locations without music, but whenever the music kicks in, it’s brilliant.
Sound: 2/5 – Conversely the rest of the audio department really leaves a lot to be desired. There are only occasional sound-effects and frankly the game sounds pretty barren without the voice-acting from the Special Edition. I guess it gives you more time to think but I think this is handily the weakest part of the game.
Plot: 3½/5 – The plot isn’t anything too special but there are a lot of silly and fun things that happen to Guybrush throughout it. This keeps you well-motivated. I did feel it was a cheat to just return to Mêlée Island towards the end of the game, but the finale is quite hilarious, so I’ll give half a point for that.
Difficulty – Mostly fair – The game luckily drops a fair bit of clues for each puzzle and by exploring the island, you can solve most of the puzzles easily enough. Spoiler warning: However, I got stuck for the longest time because I didn’t know to use the flower on the stupid meat.
Score: 80% – The Secret of Monkey Island is one of my all-time favourite adventure games and still holds up incredibly well despite its limitations. It’s a great game for both retro adventure game fans but also for beginners.
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (1992)
Guybrush makes a Voodoo Doll of Largo LaGrande to drive him off Scabb Island but accidentally allows him to steal LeChuck’s ghost beard which brings him back to life as a zombie. Guybrush’s only hope is to find the treasure of Big Whoop in order to avoid LeChuck’s Revenge.
Gameplay: 5/5 – The gameplay is pretty much identical to the first game, so there’s not a lot to complain about.
Graphics: 5/5 – With a higher level of detail and a broader colour scheme, Monkey Island 2 obviously also looks quite a bit nicer than the first game. We even get a second size Guybrush for one scene and Scabb Island in particular looks excellent.
Animation: 5/5 – The animations have gotten noticeably better. I feel there’s just generally more subtle details and Guybrush has far more motion and variety. The Rapp Scallion resurrection scene is the absolute highlight of the game.
Music: 4/5 – The soundtrack, I would argue is on the same level as the first game, but notably, the introduction of the iMUSE sound system allows for the game to have wall-to-wall music and natural fading of themes as well. Woodtick in particular stands out with its excellent main theme morphing as you enter the different businesses. And then of course there are the excellent Bart & Fink theme, the second and more iconic Stan theme and Captain Dread’s theme. However, having wall-to-wall music unfortunately does mean that there’s a few themes that are pretty so-and-so (I don’t particularly like most of the Booty Island themes).
Sound: 2½ – The sound-effects are moderately better since they’re produced by the PC speakers/MIDI channels and are actually timed appropriately to the events. However, this is another area where the Special Edition definitely improved the game by a lot.
Plot: 2½ – By far the aspect of the game that I’m the least wild about. Although Parts 1 and 2 start of on a decent clop, the second half (or final third, more like) of the game is honestly a pretty massive let down. I don’t like Dinky Island, I don’t like running away from LeChuck and I really hate the ending of the game. As much fun as the first part of the game is, the ending really lets the whole thing down.
Difficulty: Challenging (and occasionally tedious) –Ron Gilbert designed Monkey Island 2 with a ”player be damned” attitude and this shows up in quite a few puzzles through the game. To be fair however, about 90% of the game’s puzzles can be solved with completely normal practical reasoning and, often times, you simply need to just visit a specific island to get a specific item to allow you to solve a puzzle on another. However, that remaining 10% does involve some ludicrous nonsense like the spitting contest, ”If this X, what’s this?”, the Phatt Island Library as well as a few dickish design choices (like entering the kitchen via the window).
Score: 80% – Monkey Island 2 is a sequel that makes some nice graphic and audio updates over the original and does feature some memorable characters and even a few really fun puzzles. However, the main story is the reason I kinda resent this game, but I have also discovered that as time goes on, I keep noticing more and more positives about it. Still, the ending is just terrible.
The Curse of Monkey Island (1997)
Guybrush destroys LeChuck by accident and then proposes to Elaine. However, the ring he uses carries a curse which turns Elaine into a solid gold statue. Guybrush must then collect a map, a ship and a crew to travel to Blood Island to find a ring which will undo the curse. All the while, Guybrush is unaware that LeChuck has been resurrected as a demon and seeking his revenge.
Gameplay: 5/5 – This game sees a huge alteration to the game-mechanics as the game no longer uses the verb-bar but instead a verb-coin, similar to the menu from Full Throttle. The player basically has four options they can pick by clicking and holding down the mouse-button which greatly simplifies the interface and also makes it a lot more convenient (I prefer this to the pop-up style menus that came in later adventure games). Your inventory is also stashed behind the right mouse-button in the style of The Dig and Sam & Max. Basically, this gives Curse the smoothest interface of any of the SCUMM titles.
Graphics: 5/5 – I love Bill Tiller’s cartoony art-design and this graphic style basically became the standard for the rest of the franchise. I especially love Guybrush’s goofy face, LeChuck’s flaming beard and all the screwy details on both Plunder and Blood Islands (two of my favourite locations from the entire series). All in all, the game just has a brilliant visual style.
Animation: 4½/5 – Same goes for the hand-animated cutscenes and sprites which just have brilliant detail, reminding me of a Disney movie. However, I do have to be critical and admit that at least a few of these cutscenes and a few of the in-game animations suffer from some obvious bugs (the mirror in the dressing room) and a few of the cutscenes do cheap out by reusing frames. It doesn’t ruin the whole experience but I have to give the game a slight minus for it.
Music: 5/5 – Absolutely fantastic. Michael Land really gets to shine with real instruments and even the incidental themes all sound excellent on this one. Not only are there great atmospheric pieces but then there’s the awesome rendition of the intro theme, A Pirate I Was Meant To Be and the swashbuckling insult swordfighting theme. There’s literally nothing bad I can say about the soundtrack.
Sound: 5/5 – Curse was the first game in the series with voice-acting and they really came out of the gates swinging. Of course, Dominic Armato is excellent as always and the late Earl Boen gives a magnificent performance as LeChuck. I enjoy hearing a young Alexandra Boyd though her voice did change noticeably in later games. Then there’s Alan Young as Haggis, Gary Coleman as Kenny and Kate Kuter as Griswold Goodsoup. The voice-cast is just filled to the brim with great talent and this makes even minor characters stand out.
Plot: 4/5 – Unlike Secret, I feel this game kept up the intensity well until the very end. In fact, I think it’s just the side-tangent with the ship-to-ship combat that maybe stalls the story a little bit. However, I never felt that this game let its side down which is what kept me super motivated until the very end. Therefore, it’s still my favourite out of the series (even if Tales’s story was admittedly a bit more deep). Plus, the lore is rich with many interesting characters for you to talk to.
Difficulty: Mostly okay with a couple of frustrating bits – Curse stayed away from doing any truly off the wall puzzle logic, but I have to admit that knowing to pour medicine in your alcohol seems like a very far-fetched thing to do. A lot of puzzles also cling onto very minor things you have to observe in the environment, so much so that I can imagine people getting frustrated at some of the puzzles. My advice is to not jump into the Mega Monkey mode straight away but instead start with the regular game.
Score: 95% – Without mincing words, this is my all-time favourite title from the series and one of my all-time favourite adventure games period. It does pretty much everything perfectly right out of the gates and it’s few blemishes are so minor they honestly don’t ruin the experience.
Escape from Monkey Island (2000)
Guybrush and Elaine return to Mêlée after their honeymoon to discover that Elaine has been declared dead and an election for governor is taking place with the shady Charles L. Charles leading a campaign. Also, an Australian land developer is buying up the island and seemingly scheming to rid the Carribbean of all pirates. Guybrush realises that he’s going to do this using an evil Voodoo talisman, The Ultimate Insult.
Gameplay: 4/5 – The game utilizes a modified version of the Grim Fandango interface with the huge innovations being the ability to combine inventory items together and changing what Guybrush is looking at using the Page Up and Page Down buttons.
If you didn’t like the interface in Grim Fandango, you’re in for a bad time. If you did enjoy it, Escape is technically a step up and I personally enjoy exploring the game world. However, navigating Guybrush’s gaze during time sensitive puzzles can be a tad awkward and I’m not a fan of the Mists-O-Time Marsh puzzle where you drag out the map, forcing you to sit through the same animation over and over again.
These are minor gripes however. Mostly, I really enjoy the gameplay because I love Grim Fandango.
Graphics: 4/5 – The game uses an upscaled version of the Grim Fandango engine with more colourful textures and better lighting effects. Admittedly, the polygon count on the characters gives them a very angular look, but I think Bill Tiller’s art direction still comes through and there’s a lot of great detail. However, there are a lot of clone pirates in the cutscenes and Guybrush’s awkward handling of inventory items is a bit distracting.
Animation: 3½/5 – The cutscenes are wonderfully quirky and energetic. Again, I think the level of animation has great energy behind it. However, in-game animations are a bit of a mixed bag. Some are quite fluid and some of Guybrush’s facial textures are hilarious. However, a lot of the minor characters don’t get as much detail and some of the movement can be quite jerky.
Music: 4/5 – The game isn’t as whole-heartedly excellent but there are some classics in here such as the Marco De Pollo theme, Monkey Combat and I quite like the new SCUMM Bar theme as well. The production quality is very high and I can honestly say I don’t dislike any of the tracks. There are even a few nice creepy songs like Ozzy’s theme, Lucre Jail and Nuttin’ Atoll. So, the music is fine, it’s just not outstanding.
Sound: 4½/5 – What is outstanding is the voice-cast. Dominic Armato, Earl Boen, Leilani Jones and even Denny Delk return to reprise their roles from the previous game. Also, three TMNT alumni are in the voice-cast with Cam Clarke (Meathook), Rob Paulsen (Hippy Judge) and Pat Fraley (Stan) adding much energy to the mix. S. Scott Bullock also gives us a first taste of his Otis voice. Some people decry Charity James’s Elaine but I’ve never been horribly bothered by it as I loved James in Gabriel Knight 3. However, for a lack of consistency for such an important character, I suppose I have to drop half a point.
Plot: 3½/5 – Guybrush defending the Carribbean from an evil businessman is a bit ludicrous, but I feel the game puts in nice little breadcrumbs and tells a decently sturdy narrative that I don’t really feel like questioning the 1 or 2 glaring plotholes regarding the central premise. The ending is also just ridiculously over-the-top. Some people hated this game for it, I thought it was hilarious. The game also does have similarly rich lore as the previous, but I feel the execution of the secondary characters’ stories wasn’t nearly as good.
Difficulty: Inconsistent, mostly Normal – I feel the puzzles are mostly pretty straight-forward with the player having a pretty good clue about their task at hand for the most part. However, some puzzles do operate on some pretty bizarre logic (Dead Eye Dave’s filing system, Pirate Rehabilitation Course), some are a bit tedious and there is an annoyingly high amount of timing puzzles. Sean Clarke and Micahel Stemmle worked on LucasArts’s Sam & Max which shows in the high amount of extraneous inventory items you can gather. That is to say, while the game is mostly self-explanatory, there’s going to be a few hitches along the way.
Score: 78% – Escape from Monkey Island is definitely a bit rough around the edges but has a creamy, monkey-filled middle… uh, that is to say: it’s still a solid LucasArts adventure game. It’s obvious the dev-team was a bit lost for direction following the magnum opus that was Curse, but I think this game is funnier, more challenging and more well thought out that it gets credit for. Yes, it’s aged poorly a bit with its presentation but it’s in no way a bad game. Despite the rating, I still enjoy this one more than Monkey Island 2.
Tales of Monkey Island (2009)
Guybrush uses a magical cutlass on LeChuck, accidentally turning him human and releasing his evil magic powers. Guybrush’s hand is infected with the Pox of LeChuck as are many hapless pirates. Guybrush is sent on a quest to find La Esponja Grande which can absorb the curse but runs into trouble with the now, surprisingly friendly LeChuck, the pirate huntress Morgan La Flay and the evil scientist Marquis de Singe (who believes Guybrush’s hand holds the secret to immortality).
Gameplay: 4/5 – The mouse-drag walking honestly doesn’t work so well, but playing the game with a combination of keyboard and mouse works extremely well. There’s a bit of a problem trying to click items while you’re moving. The point and click interface however works very well.
Graphics: 4/5 – This game got a lot of crap back in the day for its recycled character models in Episodes 1 and 2, and yes, it is a bit distracting how similar some of the characters look. Honestly though, between the cutscenes and voice-performances, I was never THAT bothered by how half the new characters had the same body and head shape and I feel TellTale even poked fun at themselves for killing one of the clones off-screen. The settings and locations are varied and interesting and the game really does a good job following up on the art-style from Curse.
Animation: 4½/5 – The cutscenes are very energetic and great. I’ve always thought TellTale really knew how to do cinematic story-telling really well. There are a few weaker ones in the first episode but mostly the animations are excellent and cartoony. I especially love the detail of Guybrush’s twitchy cursed hand in the first episode but also the darker cutscenes towards the game’s ending.
Music: 3½/5 – The game has a solid sound even if Michael Land was forced to use synthesized instruments again. There aren’t any massively exciting pieces, but I love the jungle theme in Episode 1, the dramatic movements in Episode 5 and there’s even a nice nod to A Pirate I Was Meant To Be in Episode 2. I do quite like the Spinner Cay theme though. There’s love and care in the soundtrack and there’s especially a very nice, powerful percussion. It’s maybe not as iconic as past soundtracks but certainly not bad.
Sound: 5/5 – The voice-cast for this one is excellent with a mix of new and old voices from the series. Denny Delk makes an appearance as Murray in Episode 3. Allison Ewing takes over the role of the Voodoo Lady with a much more noticeable accent, but I quite like this version so it doesn’t bother me. What did bother me was Earl Boen not innitially reprising his role as LeChuck, though Adam Harrington and Kevin Blackton did do a decent job. Boen finally returned in Episodes 4 and 5 which was a pleasant addition.
Plot: 4½/5 – Tales of Monkey Island has, without question, the best story of the entire series. Not only does it feature some new completely unique elements, Morgan La Flay adds a great level of depth as the conflicted Guybrush fangirl/Pirate Hunter. The super dark turn at the end of Episode 4 is also quite shocking and Episode 5’s story was also excellent. Episodes 2 and 3 maybe didn’t advance the story as much but were nice diversions and used for some great character building. Episode 3 might be the least story intensive, unless you count Coronado De Cava, but I don’t have the heart to hate on it as Episode 3 has some of my favourite puzzles of the game as well.
Difficulty: Mostly Easy – With maybe one or two slightly more taxing puzzles, this is a TellTale game after all and they are typically very forgiving with the difficulty.
Score: 85% – Tales of Monkey Island is by far the most story-rich instalment of the franchise but one which also has its own unique sense of humour, great cutscenes and fun original characters. At this time, TellTale still featured many ex-LucasArts developers (Clarke, Stemmle, Grossman) and it shows in the love this game received in its details and story. Highly recommended and in my personal top-3.
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