Game Review: The Secret of Monkey Island - Special Edition
By @edent
· games review · 7 comments · 300 words · read ~275 times.
Blogging like it's 1991!
I'm pretty sure that I had the shareware version of the original Monkey Island. At any rate, I remember the amazing graphics... 
But I don't remember getting further than the first few screens. I do remember a few years later, my brother and I completing the CD-ROM version of "Day Of The Tentacle" - by which time computer games had advanced so far that there was no compelling reason to go back to Monkey Island.
Thanks to PS Now - the game streaming service from PlayStation - you can play a REMASTERED Monkey Island on your console. For £40 a year, you get access to a vast library of older games. Nifty!
All the Monkey Island graphics have been lusciously updated and the voice acting is pretty decent.
It mostly works. The PS Now version has a few bugs. Audio drops out from time to time and there's the occasional stutter. The controls aren't overly suited to a game controller. And, weirdly, a few of the puzzles seem to require you to drop back into the "old school" graphics.
Some of my criticisms are also applicable to the original game. Running your mouse around to try and find the tiny cluster of interactive pixel is tedious. Some of the "lateral thinking" puzzles involve trying every single permutation of your inventory in the hope it will trigger an action.
Is the script as funny as it was when I was a tween? No - but it's still better than most games. It's fun challenge and a great way to spend a couple of lockdown evenings.
Final verdict? Never spend more than twenty bucks on a video game.
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Game Review: Day of the Tentacle - Remastered
Blast from the past!
shudders porcelain... It's a long story.
Curiously Guybrush is apparently happy to interact with porcelain in this edition of the game series. In my favourite, Curse Of Monkey Island, he has a deep phobia.
Amazing franchise. So many happy memories. Point and click everywhere!
Monkey Island 2 and 3 are also worth playing. Part 3 is my favourite and it has a great intro. Everything is available on ScummVM, but I'm sure you already know that 🙂
Ah nice! I started playing Beyond A Steel Sky again recently!
Good stuff. I can recommend ‘Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders’ to add to your list
I loved 3, the graphics being so cartoony was epic for me as a kid, 1 and 2 were also great. 4 was OK though I preferred the first 3!
Haven't played much The Secret of Monkey Island. However, I think I've played The Curse of Monkey Island like a dozen times. I love that game. They don't do them like they used to.