Ahoy mateys. Yea scurvy dogs, best be ready to walk the plank if yea shy away from Monkey Island. That wimp Guybrush Threepwood can't become a pirate and save a governess from a dead captain by himself, ya know? Okay, enough poorly written pirate talk. By now, the secret is out. A renowned PC title famous for its witty writing--The Secret of Monkey Island, has now been released on XBLA to the joy of wannabe pirates. This classic straight out of 1990 isn't served cold; rather, Lucasarts decided to spruce up Monkey Island before releasing it to ravenous dogs (aka graphics whores). The remake looks wonderful with redone graphics reminiscent of Odin Sphere, and it also sports a remixed soundtrack and competent voice acting. Fortunately, the classic script famous for its humor has been left untouched, so purists won't cry a foul. Even before Monkey Island's release, some people complained about the new art style and voice acting, so Lucasarts wisely decided to include the original Monkey Island. Not only that, but you can switch to it on the fly simply by pressing a button, as you can with R-Type Dimensions. Even with new artwork and a fully-voiced script, does this forgotten point-and-click adventure stand the test of time, or is it best forgotten like that sunken ship that lay beneath the sea?
For gamers who grew up with Monkey Island, it holds a special place in their heart. The Secret of Monkey Island was one of the first games that had a professionally produced script full of wit and off-the-wall humor, so it quickly earned its place as a cult-classic among adventure game fans. The new art style will likely offend some Monkey Island fans just as FFIV's 3D remake did for old-school Final Fantasy fans, but it's not enough to make them dislike a beloved classic; especially since an option was included to revert to the original game.
Monkey Island virgins on the other hand will likely react with mixed feelings. As a series rookie who had only experienced a smattering of early PC adventure games, I didn't really know what to expect. The enhanced visuals initially drew me in due to their colorful nature, but the animation felt stilted. This was intentional however; it was done to keep the style of the original. In order to switch between the new and old visuals on the fly, sacrifices had to be made, but this was one I really didn't mind. It made me feel as if I was playing a PC game of the early '90s with modern HD visuals, so for once, I was satisfied. Likewise, the inclusion of voice acting greatly enhanced the experience. Most voice actors fit their roles well, and added more emotion to the experience. Unfortunately, a few voice actors were so annoying (the boat salesman comes to mind), that I would temporarily switch to the old-school visuals. This saved me from muting the TV.
Annoying voice actors aside, this brings me to one of my qualms with Monkey Island. It's too bad that Lucasarts didn't include the option to combine the new visuals with text or assign voice acting to the original graphics. This likely won't irritate too many people, but I've already seen some Monkey Island fans complain, so it would have been nice if Lucasarts went the extra mile. Overall though, I'm glad they included voice acting, but it also would have been nice if they simply allowed you to read, and skip long-winded segments. Unfortunately, you'll just have to suck it up and slog through the text, even if you've already read it a dozen times.
Enough about visual and audio changes. None of these changes would matter if the core gameplay didn't hold up, so it's important to examine how Monkey Island fares in today's extremely competitive video game climate. Monkey Island's script is still humorous and well-written nearly twenty years later, which can't be said for many late '80s and early '90s video games. To be fair, many classic console games were produced in Japan, so most script problems were due to translation issues, but Monkey Island was definitely a shining beacon of hope for the future of video game writing. The game contains an enormous amount of witty dialogue and branching trees, so the script is certainly an integral part of the game.
Before going into too much detail about the story, it's important to describe how the game works. In a typical point-and-click adventure, you move your character by pointing and clicking on your desired destination. This translates decently to the Xbox360's analog stick, but the control definitely isn't as precise as what you'd get from a mouse. Besides moving your character through this somewhat clumsy method, you're able to use a variety of tools. These devices are important for solving puzzles, so you'll often need to access your inventory on-the-fly. Fortunately, there are shortcuts assigned to the eight directions of the Xbox360's d-pad, but as you're most certainly aware, the 360's d-pad isn't the greatest. I found that the only way to access the right option such as "use," "open," "push," etc. was to use the shoulder button to enter the menu and grab the correct item or ability. Initially, this was a hassle, but I soon became accustomed to this awkward control setup.
Even though the controls were a bit clumsy, I didn't really find them to be an obstacle to enjoying Monkey Island. My real problem with the game lies in the outdated dialog trees and random puzzles that will make you feel like you're doing abstract math. Most of Monkey Island's dialog was quite humorous, but certain portions where you had to repeat phrases over and over to learn enough witty retorts for a sword fight with a pirate felt like stepping on a bed of nails. At one point, it was so excruciatingly painful that I wanted to quit cold turkey, but I decided to persevere on my quest to become a pirate.
Archaic sword fighting scenes aside, there were many other problems with the game's puzzles. Monkey Island will often have you doing random things that the in-game help system can't even help you with. Sometimes, you'll have to journey to far off areas when no indication is given that that's what is needed. In other situations, you'll have to click a certain floorboard that is indistinguishable from the others. Random tasks like this often make Monkey Island a chore, and this is coming from someone who typically loves adventure games. I was never really into Myst, but I've beaten numerous adventure games including every Zelda, Okami, and Zack & Wiki. Out of those, Zack & Wiki is closest to Monkey Island when it comes to puzzles, but Zack & Wiki's brain teasers make a lot more sense. Some people will probably enjoy Monkey Island's "think-outside-of-the-box" puzzles, but most gamers will want to steer clear, unless you've got a thing for monkeys (but then again, you could just play Ape Escape).
Most of the problems I encountered in Monkey Island occurred during the first of the game's three portions. Unfortunately, that's also where most of the game's humor lies, and probably necessarily so. If it weren't for Monkey Island's witty banter, I wouldn't have stuck with it. The game's humorous script managed to turn a cliché story into something fairly enjoyable.
The final portion of the game actually managed to be a pleasant experience even without much dialogue, partly because the puzzles were more straightforward. Aimless wandering was still common, but thankfully, the horrendous dialogue trees found in some events on Melee Island (the location of Part One) were gone.
Monkey Island is a fairly crusty game, but it's not without its merits. The new 2D art is gorgeous, the voice acting is generally solid, and being able to transition to the old Secret of Monkey Island instantaneously is a nice feature. I was also impressed that the writing managed to captivate me nearly twenty years after the game's initial release. Unfortunately, Monkey Island's gameplay is archaic and manages to spoil the excellent script. It would have been nice if Lucasarts included an even more helpful hint system, but unfortunately, you'll probably have to resort to Gamefaqs at times. The Secret of Monkey Island isn't quite a rotten banana, but it definitely tastes unripe. Unfortunately, it's best left to point-and-click adventure fanatics and those who wax nostalgic about the series. Other gamers will want to save their Microsoft points.
Pros:
- The new 2D artwork is gorgeous
- You're able to switch between the new and old visuals on-the-fly
- Solid voice acting
- The music sets the mood
- Humorous dialog
- You can now witness Tim Schafer's beginning on a console
- There's a new hint system
·
Cons:
- Archaic gameplay
- Too much backtracking and random wandering
- Abstract puzzles
- Hints sometimes aren't helpful
- Lengthy dialog trees that you have to continually repeat
- Some voices are horrendous
- Part One drags on too long
- Controls don't translate well to the Xbox360 controller
·