The Secret of Monkey Island

The Good
The path between Maniac Mansion and Secret of Monkey Island was not entirely thorn-free for LucasArts. They designed interesting and influential games, but were sometimes struggling to find their own tone. Eventually, their hard work and talent crystallized in what some fans consider their most important creation. Indeed, while Maniac Mansion was the one that put the company on the map, LucasArts' design philosophy and everything they stood for is firmly associated with the adventure that takes place deep in the Caribbean.

There is not so much in Secret of Monkey Island that is different, but rather a lot that is more polished and complete. All the tendencies, all the sparks of brilliance from their past titles united in this game like never before. The perfect amalgamation of puzzles, plot, visuals, and atmosphere made this happen. Secret of Monkey Island is much less revolutionary than Maniac Mansion and much less unique than Loom, but it is undeniably a more exciting game.

LucasArts was always trying to compete with Sierra, but only in this work they managed to put everything together to beat the archrival at their own game. Realizing that text descriptions and interactivity were not exactly their forte, they concentrated on what they did best: branching dialogue. In Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, that gameplay device had the function of talking your way out of a fight and achieving your goal in a different way. Taking a cue from its humorous potential ("I forgot it in my other pants"), Ron Gilbert et alii expanded that seemingly harmless feature to gigantic proportions, turning it into a primary tool both for gameplay and comedic effects. Diving into excellently written, often brilliantly nonsensical and hilarious conversations became one of the chief sources of pleasure in this game. And how would anyone ever forget the delightful "insult swordfighting", during which you learn new humorously offending phrases from each opponent and then figure out how to apply them in the proper context?..

Death-free gameplay is another feature Secret of Monkey Island borrowed from an earlier game (in this case Loom) and built a whole new concept on it. One may question this decision and argue about the validity and the long-range consequences of this gameplay mechanics, but there is no doubt it became hugely popular thanks to this very game. People were getting tired of the annoying deaths in Sierra games, and were grateful to LucasArts for letting them try out crazy item combinations and select the rudest dialogue choices purely for comedic purposes without any penalty. This new design approach took the genre by storm: only a fear years later, Sierra would obediently comply to it in most of their games. Of course, this policy eventually froze adventure game design, depriving those games of the much-needed inner tension in the age of first-person shooters, but that's a whole different story.

The game's puzzles are not overly tough, and the fact you cannot get irrevocably stuck no matter what you do further reduces the difficulty level. That said, the puzzles of Secret of Monkey Island are so elegantly entertaining that you won't mind the relatively low challenge, which is anyway heaps above the obtuse ease of Last Crusade or the elementary simplicity of Loom. Beautifully balancing amusing inventory concoctions with dialogue-based tasks, the game remains unsurpassed in its natural flow, in the way it keeps track of the bigger picture while making you busy with smaller objectives at any moment. Later acts may be slightly below this quality, but the entire Melee Island is one of the best examples of puzzle-solving, exploration, and discovery coming just in the right doses.

Earlier LucasArts games had their funny moments, but it wasn't until Secret of Monkey Island that they were able to declare themselves the comedy leaders for generations to come. Until now, this game remains one of the most endearingly humorous products ever to grace our computer monitors. Between the aggressive wit of Steve Meretzky and Sierra's harmless charm on one side, and the impending visual comedy with its cartoony gags on the other, Secret of Monkey Island stands on the golden middle ground, having just enough different types of humor for everyone without being too biased for any category. Witty dialogues, cleverly placed pop culture references, hilarious breaking of the fourth wall and unforgettable jabs at game design and software in general (the "insert disk #..." stumps in the forest are priceless) decorate what is decidedly one of the most tasteful, ironically presented, yet warm and sweet comedy in the history of video games.

Indeed, with all its merry and oft nonsensical attitude, Secret of Monkey Island remains a genuinely atmospheric, romantically flavored Caribbean adventure. Such is the genius of its designers that this game can be enjoyed on multiple levels: even if you don't understand the jokes, you'll love the tale of a simple young boy pursuing an unlikely romance and overcoming all obstacles with his cunning rather than the sword. From the very first screen, you are being gently enveloped by the warmth of tropical islands and the sea breeze, drawn to the ever-youthful stories of pirates, treasure, and grand journeys. And it's not at all overly cute and cuddly, either: there is place for darkness in this game, with spooky undead pirates, voodoo, and cozy exploration of an island perpetually submerged into the night.

To top it all, Secret of Monkey Island comes with stellar production values. The graphics are the perfect manifestation of the old realistic style enhanced by the then-revolutionary 256 colors. Almost every area breathes life and oozes atmosphere. The full-screen portraits are marvelous - talking to the least important pirate in the SCUMM bar is a visual experience hitherto unmatched in adventure games. And who could ever forget the delightful reggae-ish music and not wish there were more of it? By the way, the ultimate version of the game is either the FM Towns one or the later CD re-release, with audio tracks and a nicer-looking interface.

The Bad
Finding flaws in legendary games is not always an easy task - particularly when they are designed as well as Secret of Monkey Island. I don't think there was ever another LucasArts adventure I enjoyed as much as this one, but that doesn't mean everyone are bound to love it unconditionally. Those who like nitpicking may point out minor balance issues - the "meat" of the gameplay is concentrated mostly in the first act, which is also by far the longest. The second act, for example, is a somewhat disappointing convoluted puzzle confined to a tiny location.

The real argument against Secret of Monkey Island, however, is the safe trend it started. It popularized a controversial design move, eliminating death from an adventure game - paradoxically, all while dealing itself with the dead (and the undead) quite a bit. Making death less frequent and random, but still present, would have contributed to the sense of wonder and danger when exploring, for example, the mysterious titular island in the third act. A bigger gripe of mine is the verb interface: much more responsive and flexible than the stiff and awkward thing we had in Last Crusade, it is less intuitive than Sierra icons, and the highlighted objects associated with it reduce interaction possibilities and the amount of unique text feedback.

The Bottom Line
A classic is not always one who creates a new path, but more often one who reaches perfection on a path someone else first stepped on, the one who dominates without being a pioneer, through the sheer power of design excellence and personality. Secret of Monkey Island is a classic for those reasons. It is the purest, most perfectly crafted manifestation of LucasArts philosophy, rightfully hailed as the king of comedy adventure.

The Good
I enjoyed everything about this game, from the lush 2d graphics, to ultra reggae beats (although synth'd)

The Bad
I didn't like the fact that you could easily win this game by simply pressing CTRL+W that ruined it, as it was just too simple, and when you looked online or asked friends whther they had completed, so you could get a tip on a puzzle, they would go: "Oh I Simply pressed ctrl+W)

The Bottom Line
Whenever a list of best computer games of all time is created, rather few old titles pop up. The adventure games from the Monkey Island series always appear on such a list. The series has been a legend among adventure gamers since the release of The Secret of Monkey Island. Ron Gilbert, the creator of the series and the designer of this first game, has achieved a position akin to that of a demigod in the world of adventure games. Exactly what is the magic that attracts gamers again and again to see the misadventures of Guybrush Threepwood? Let us find out! Shiver me timbers and all that, mates, ‘cause Guybrush is here!

Guybrush, our antihero, arrives on Island of Mêlée to become a pirate. He finds out that all pirates on the island are too afraid to even sail because of an evil ghost pirate named LeChuck. Still, Guybrush starts his pirate initiation known as The Three Trials. Just when he finally masters the arts of thievery, sword fighting and treasure hunting, he hears that LeChuck has kidnapped the beautiful governor Elaine Marley whom he plans to marry. Guybrush, as any good hero is destined to do, now must find a way to the legendary Monkey Island and rescue Elaine.

The Secret of Monkey Island is released in 1990. While it may spot a dated look now, this is not necessarily a negative. The graphics are quite pretty even by today’s standard. Sure, they are pixelated, but who cares? Character animations are lively, and backgrounds are beautiful looking. The atmosphere is great--from the calm night scenes on Mêlée Island to the hot jungle climate on Monkey Island. There are 2 (actually 3) versions of the game released--the original Floppy Disk version in either 16 (EGA) or 256 (VGA) colors and the CD-ROM version. The interface in the CD-ROM version has been upgraded to the one used in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge, in which the inventory objects are now visible as pictures and not as word descriptions as in the original.

The music in The Secret of Monkey Island is great. The tunes are ones that sticks in your head for weeks. The theme song of Monkey Island is simply a legend! The sound quality in the original version is not so good if you do not own a Roland soundcard (you just cannot do miracles with an AdLib soundcard). The CD-ROM version includes a fabulous CD audio soundtrack with new songs that are not heard in the original version. The CD can even be played in an ordinary CD music player. The CD-ROM version is available as part of the Monkey Island Madness CD in The LucasArts Archives Vol. III collection.

The graphics are fast and screen scrolling is smooth. The interface is a familiar one. You choose among the verbs to be used with a bar in the lower part of the screen. All objects have a default verb, which is activated with a right click. For example, when moving the cursor on a door, the interface automatically chooses “open” when you right click. The original version has 12 verbs that include some verbs which are very rarely used, such as “turn on” or “turn off”. In the CD-ROM version, the interface is changed to use only 9 verbs.

One of the greatest elements in this game is its nonlinear nature. For example, you can complete The Three Trials in any order you want. If you get stuck on one of them, you can always try another. There is always something to do or explore. The puzzles in this game are brilliant. They are designed in a manner that all puzzles in adventure games should strive. They are so well made that when you finally find the solution to them you have to hit your head against the wall thinking “Why did I not figure that out in the first place?”. The answers to the puzzles are always, more or less, logical. You cannot get stuck in the game just because you miss an object or a clue. Guybrush cannot die except for one place, so you can try everything!

Interaction with other game characters is a priority in the gameplay. You will the previously used boats salesman, vegetarian cannibals, and many other hilarious personalities. Guybrush talks a lot and always has something to comment about everything. It is obvious that the design team has had a lot of fun writing the dialogues for Guybrush and other characters. This game also features one of the most memorable game moments in computer adventure gaming history—the legendary insult sword fight, where you have to verbally insult your opponents in order to beat them. The highlight of this game is definitely its humor. In fact, The Secret of Monkey Island is credited for inventing the concept of humor in computer games. The dialogues are really funny. I find myself amused even after playing this game many times over. As usual, Max the rabbit makes a cameo appearance in this game.

The Secret of Monkey Island is an excellent game in all aspects. It has a clever storyline, great character design, funny dialogues, good graphics, and beautiful music. A novel based on the Monkey Island series, written by Christopher Gerrard, is even available! Another testimonial to the popularity of this title is seen in the fact that the game has been translated in 5 languages—English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. The Secret of Monkey Island stands as one of the legendary computer adventure games ever created. It is really funny, well written, and very entertaining. It is a first class adventure. If you do not own The Secret of Monkey Island, turn your monitor off now and hurry to your nearest game store and buy this game! You are missing a lot every second!

The Good
Back in the Old Years, an adventure game came and boosted up the genre, a bit closer to the qualities of the later games.

Monkey Island is a great game, almost in all aspects. The first thing you ever see it's graphics, and graphics is where it was breakthrough. The backgrounds for example, previously were flat, and now obtained depth and perspective. Sometimes they were immersive (like outside the Mansion, or the cannibal village). The sprites were not something impressive but they were adequately drawn as semi-cartoony. The dialogue close-up portraits were the first photographic quality images to enter an adventure (AFAIK).

Your sprite now instead of walking and opening doors, will contribute to impressive cutscenes, like the fight with Sheriff and at the end with LeChuck.

The gameplay is highly different from the other products. Here you don't use 'What is' and start pixel hunting. The name of the recognised object appears right when you point it. The scenario is open and you can do stuff no matter in what order. Go to the SCUMM bar, talk to the pirates, the leaders, learn for the trials, and return the evidence? Fine. Start solving the trials without talking to the leaders? When you present the evidence to them they will say 'Ah I see you have heard of the trials'. Do you want to save time and avoid the dialogue? Fine. Start with the trials, which you can, by the way, solve in whatever order.

The dialogues give also a sense of freedom. Introduced in Indiana Jones, here they are extremely better. Although the dialogues don't affect puzzles or distant future events, they are richly designed. Many ways to introduce yourself to strangers, which will affect their reply, or not. Then you can ask many thinks, in whatever order you like. Sometimes your questions will bring up other questions or you can avoid them and go back to the original questions. Sounds familiar? Well that's how it started.

Dialogues are also an indicator of humor. For example when you meet Elaine, your availiable lines you have to choose from vary between 'Ulp...' and 'Err...'. Or when you have to say 'I do' many times till you convince Smirk to train you.

Oh yes, humor. After Larry and Space Quest, Monkey Island is one of the funniest games. The plot is self-sarcastic and Guybrush is driven toward funny situations. Vegetarian Cannibals, anachronisms (grog slot machines), a hanged man who died while trying to set up a swing, a monster-parrot, gangs, punchlines, in-jokes. They won't impress you as the later games but they will at least make you laugh.

It was also the first game to use a full soundtrack so this must be noted. I was not a fan of reggae, but here you don't hear music only in the intro, but in many places you will visit. The first job of the famous Michael Land.

The Bad
When I was thinking of writing a review I found it hard to think of any flaws. A brief reading of other reviews proved the same. Is the game THAT good? Anyway, after thinking a bit I can tell the following:

The savegame system is poor, identical to LOOM. You can save up to a certain number of games (which is small), and cannot change your directory. If you want to keep your games you must backup them in another directory. If you want for some reasons to review them (eg. for screenshots, or test other replies) it's a real trouble, especially back when some used plain DOS.

Another minor flaw, in-game this time, is the distance you have to travel each time. In later games Lucasarts fixed this by jumping you to the next screen when double-clicking. However in those times, people did not conceive time as we do and wan't hurrying. Few games had such 'tricks'. Besides it's less slow than Syberia!

Also, some puzzles are a bit frustrating. For example how could you guess that you can switch monkey blood with a bottle of wine? I can forgive these since this is a comedy adventure, and after all you can always start 'USE'ing everything you have and find the solution.

The Bottom Line
The big Hitchhiker's Guide to the Adventure Games of the Galaxy, in the definition of the word 'classic' must have the box-cover of MI. I won't say that MI is my favourite game, or the best ever made, but it is indeed one of the most influential, at least to us of the 'newer generation' who are too young for other classics, like Zork. If you are an Adventure gamer and haven't still played it, well, did you miss something?