Overall 8.9 Graphics 8.5 Sound 8 Addictive 9 Story 9.5 Depth 7.5 Difficulty 5
9.2
The Secret of Monkey Island (SCD) Review play4fun
Anyone wanted to cry like a little kid losing his favorite toy when Disney announced the shutdown of LucasArts? I know I did. This company was known for their video games relating to their movie franchise, like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. One genre that this company excelled on back in the day was Point-and-Click Adventure games. Some of their notable games included Maniac Mansion, Sam and Max, and LOOM, and even though LucasArts is gone, its legacy continues on. Some former employees of the company formed Telltale Games, which is a publisher currently known for their episodic adventure games. They continued the simple adventure game concept as well as creating the recently acclaimed Walking Dead game.
Among the games that LucasArts created back in the day, there was one game that arguably defined the company as the King of Adventure Games in the 90s. That game is The Secret of Monkey Island. Many of my friends started off playing computer games because of this gem. It really sets the standard of what it takes to make a great story-oriented adventure game. Even though this game is set for computers, it has been ported to the SEGA CD, which is what I will be reviewing in this article.
Looks Old-Fashioned, but Has the Charm
What some modern gamers might notice about this game is how old it looks, but during that time, it was praised for the innovation of how it looked. The graphics look great for its time. The type of detail and shading that was implemented in the game is impressive with the type of technology that they used. There are limitations to how good the graphics can be. The faces of the characters can seem simple when seen from a far distance and there are some areas of background that can seem pixelated from the edges. There are also limitations to the amount of colors that can be used in the program. Nevertheless, these minor drawbacks are nothing compared to the great innovation that the design team created.
The composition of the music is atmospheric and moody in the game. It brings out the pirate/treasure hunting theme to the player. The programmers don't just have one regular theme that continues playing throughout the game, but for each different location, there is a set song that is appropriately playing for each background, sometimes jolly, sometimes spooky. No matter what location your character is in, the game sets the mood perfectly. The thing that's missing (and something that might turn modern gamers away) is that there is no dialogue audio in the game, but subtitle-like text. We get so used to actually listening to conversations and dialogue in many of our games today that the lack of voice acting might cause us to (sometimes) incorrectly deem the game to be boring. Maybe the creators' high emphasis on story in this game actually wants us to imagine how the characters sound like as we play the game...Then again, maybe it's due to the lack of data space to put all the dialogue recordings into the game.
Simple Concept, Many Possibilities
This is not a complicated game whatsoever. You don't shoot or build things, you don't upgrade or gain experience, and there are no move sets needed to memorize. All you do is move your cursor towards objects and click on them whenever is necessary. How can something this simple be that fun to play? It almost sound like a mobile game
(Ouch! Burn!). The reason why it's so fun is because of the game engine/programming language called SCUMM. What this does is that the program would have list of verbs for you to choose from. Whenever you encounter a challenge or an obstacle, not only do you need to figure out any items that you picked up would solve the challenge, but also the way you use the item to solve the challenge, whether if it is to "open" or to "push" or to "give." This expands the simple motion of "point and click" to do different tasks. The control scheme is so simple that it helps one to focus on the adventure while opens up many options on how one approaches a puzzle.
One special feature included in the game is the dialogue tree when your character has a conversation with another character. The choice of questions or statements that you choose would either drive how the conversation goes or even determine whether you solved a problem or not. Though it is not as complex as moral choices or dialogue that would change the plot of the story, like something that you see in
Mass Effect or
Fallout, it is still something that is quite impressive for its time.
The puzzles in this game utilizes this type of gameplay very well. There are some puzzles that require you to pick up something in one place in order to combine other item in another location. Other puzzles require you to interact with something in the background. It is a great test of being resourceful and being observant. Yet even though these controls are very easy to master, the solutions to beating the game are not as obvious as one would think. Most of the puzzles require the player to think outside the box or to think like the game. There is some logic to the solutions, but it may not be something that you would initially think to be logical. Sometimes it might be as simple as forgetting to try an action verb on an item. For example, from the sequel of this game, there is a sign that has a shovel with a red circle cross out sign on top of it, indicating there is no digging around the area. However, the solution for one of your puzzles requires you to dig in a different location. How do you solve it? You take the shovel off the sign. It's puzzles like these that might keep you scratching your head while playing. The puzzles can be so difficult that people from LucasArts have help lines to provide hints/walkthroughs for people who are stuck. If you were to play this without any hints, it might take you a while to even complete the game.
The Richness of the Story
I can sum up the story within a couple of sentences. The plot as a whole is very simple and straightforward, but the way that the story is being portrayed is what brings the fullness of adventure. Each character has their own unique personality and way of acting. Interactions between characters furthers that development of the story and it makes the game quite amusing. You become intrigued by the characters and would want to root for the character you are playing, no matter how dumb or ignorant he can be at times. The scenarios that were raised from the conflict between your character and the evil pirate were also interesting to experience. What was suppose to be a small quest to become a pirate became a daring rescue mission to your character's true love.
What brings the story to life is the humor that goes along with it. The brilliant minds of the writers created what can be a serious and scary scenario into a funny and enjoyable experience. The use of witty lines and wordplay are hilarious to read on screen that you can't help but chuckle as you read them. The best part about the game's humor is the creators' willingness to make fun of themselves. Fans of LucasArts can enjoy the funny mentions and easter eggs hidden in the game, like the discussion of LOOM or the SCUMM bar, to name a few. You might even see a reference of Star Wars or a depiction of George Lucas in the game.
Will you be addicted to this game to the point that you will always want to play again and again? No. Because this game has a linear story with set events and a set ending, the player would sooner or later know almost everything about the game and would move on to play something else. Even so, the charm, the humor, and the secret contents hidden in the game would makes you want to replay the game more than once.
No question about it. If you call yourself a video game enthusiast, this is a classic that MUST be played at least once through. This game is the standard of how a story-driven adventure game should be made. With the witty, fun, and adventurous story as the backbone, the simple yet expansive gameplay as the engine, and the beautiful and atmospheric combination of graphics and sound as the skin, you have yourself one great game.
I would also like to throw a plug that if you are a younger gamer and you are not as attracted to the original version of the game due to how backdated the game looks, there is a Special Edition that was made quite recently of Monkey Island 1 and 2. LucasArts enhanced the graphics and the audio for the game while remaining faithful to the original content. They even add voice acting to the characters. They should be on steam or in stores. I highly recommend it if you prefer updated graphics. Either way, anyone should have at least one play through of this game.
My overall rating of this game is a 9.2.
Graphics 9 Sound 8 Addictive 8 Story 10 Depth 7 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 4.5/5
Submitted: 05-16-13
Updated: 05-16-13
Review Replies: 3
9.5
Pirates, the Undead and a Three-Headed Monkey Sowong
The Secret of Monkey island is the first in a series of games which began in the 1990s. The game was developed by Lucasarts and is of the 'point-and-click' genre that was dominated by Lucasarts in this period. Other games developed by the company and in this style are Sam & Max, Loom, Indiana Jones and the Dig: which are all highly challenging puzzle games. Monkey Island was the fifth game to be created using the SCUMM engine but has a far more friendly user interface than others. Fans of Pirates of the Caribbean may feel some of the themes within this game to feel familiar and that comes from the fact that both are based on the theme park ride, "Pirates of the Caribbean."
The Story: There's not much of an introduction. You are Guybrush Triphood... Thripsnood... Sorry. You play as Guybrush Threepwood, a young man that for reasons unknown wishes to become a Pirate. So he walks into the rowdiest, roughest bar he can find and asks the meanest looking guys if he could become a pirate. They mostly ignore him, until low grog supplies force them to accept young Threepwood's request. Meanwhile, the dead pirate Lechuck hears that there is a would-be pirate training on the isle of Melee and he does not like the sound of some punk messing around and interfering with everything he's been working towards. He plans to deal with Threepwood himself.
Story Quality: One might think that this is a very basic plot but the fact is that the tale gets wider, broader and then narrows down to a satisfying ending. Mysteries, quirky characters and a cute romance will keep people pointing and clicking away at the screen until there's no more. There is only a few plot twists, and the small moments of peril can be entertaining. However it is the comical element which I believe is the best part of this game. Intelligent word play happens in practically every conversation, insults and long running jokes are sure to give you a chuckle and the central character is essentially a blank canvas which allows you to choose his topics of conversation, just how brazen he should be or how timid and shy. Except for at certain points in the game, but this is mostly for comical effect. One flaw in an otherwise full and brimming story is the rather linear quality of the game. There's plenty of actions which create changes, but the main story is unchangeable. I give the story a 9.8.
Character Development: The main character, Guybrush, has a choppy development which progresses steadily but without much to show why he's doing what he's doing other than the fact that he 'wants to be a pirate'. Later on, the introduction of Governor Marley and the conflict with Lechuck gives the player some context to the story and a gives Guybrush a reason to develop into a 'pirate' to protect the woman he loves.
Graphics: The design is fairly simple, even for a Sega game, yet one can see that there's been a lot of attention to detail and a great attempt to create art out of pixels. Monkey Island, for example, does give the impression of a bristling, impenetrable jungle. The maps are finely detailed and close-ups of characters are semi-realistic. I give the graphics an 8 because it feels like the town of melee and some characters could have been designed a little better, however, there are no glaring errors and no moments when you find yourself looking at an object and wondering what it is.
Sound: I gave the sound an 8 simply because the music is fantastic, sometimes mood fitting, and certainly tells you that you're in the Caribbean. I especially love the introduction music which really gets you excited and makes you anticipate an epic swashbuckling adventure. There is a slight problem with some of the sound effects, bats for example sound unrealistic, but the ambiance works well. The sound of waves crashing is realistic and creates the idea of soothing, tropical bays.
Gameplay: There's not much to say about gameplay. It's a point and click. You point and then you click on something and stuff happens. Yep. However since this is the Sega version of the game I will say that using the arrow keys (Or D-Pad if you prefer) to move the cursor can get tedious at times, and annoying during timed events such as the part with the Red Herring and the Seagull. Thankfully these events are rare, but one imagines they could have made the cursor move at a faster pace. One thing I did notice about this game was the lack of programming errors or crashing which was common with games like 'Loom' where dialogue would repeat itself. There's no such problems with Monkey Island.
Gore: There's none, well, unless you count one severed head. Lucasarts' point-and-click adventures mostly leave out all the gory details and Monkey Island is much the same.
Depth: In terms of what to do, there's a lot to choose from. Every challenge is a puzzle, and not everything is immediately apparent so either take your time and think about things or go look for a walkthrough. There's swordplay, treasure hunting, bargaining, two islands of puzzles and events, also a trip down south (The deep south) and if you're lucky you might come across the legendary Three-Headed-Monkey. I gave the game an 8 in this regard because you are likely to spend hours upon hours playing this challenging point-and-click.
Graphics 8 Sound 8 Addictive 10 Story 9 Depth 8 Difficulty 3
Review Rating: 4.5/5
Submitted: 12-23-12
Updated: 12-23-12
Review Replies: 0
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