The Curse of Monkey Island
> It nails that mixture of whimsy, cleverness, and sweetness that has made The Secret of Monkey Island arguably the most beloved point-and-click adventure game of all time.
> During the latter 1990s, when most computers games were still made by and for a fairly homogeneous cohort of young men, too much ludic humor tried to get by on transgression rather than wit; this was a time of in-groups punching — usually punching down — on out-groups. I’m happy to say that The Curse of Monkey Island‘s humor is nothing like that.
Well said. Game has aged beautifully.
A great retrospective.
I have nothing but praise for this game. It’s a standout example of how great art transcends its medium. Despite the technical limitations of the mid-90s, it’s still a beautifully drawn, beautifully scored joyful experience.
A Pirate I Was Meant To Be is on our family playlist for long car journeys with the kids.
Also, I’m not sure if this can ever be proven, but I’m convinced the chain of influence from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Ride to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Movie goes at least partly via Monkey Island.
> In more practical terms, however, it steered the burgeoning Monkey Island franchise straight into a cul de sac with no obvious escape.
Without getting into (almost any specific) spoilers of the last 10 seconds of the game... this claim is completely untrue. The hint at a sequel is right there in the open, as the ending implies LeChuck is still at large.
I loved this game growing up, but never got around to finishing it. I've been going back and playing point & click adventures like Grim Fandango and Broke Age. IMO that genre didn't age well. So many interactions are counterintuitive and I inevitably feel like I have to read a guide in order to proceed with the narrative.
As someone who grew up with these games, I played through and liked MI3 when it came out it, but the graphics style always felt off to me.
The exaggerated art style didn't mesh with that of the first two games. The art style of the first two is of course whimsical, but it's within the realm of photorealism. MI3, however, leans heavily into the Chuck Jones style of cartoons, with huge heads and spindly bodies, against super-exaggerated backgrounds where not a single straight corner can be seen.
It's not just that Guybrush looks completely different in MI3 — he's certainly not a tall, lanky fellow in MI1-2 (though in the "remastered" versions LucasArts retconned his look) — he feels like an entirely new and different character. The world also feels like a different universe entirely. It's a different island, sure, but it just doesn't feel like the dark and atmospheric environment of the first two games.
There's overall a weird lack of continuity here, and the heritage of Day of the Tentacle is apparent. DotT is of course about as Chunk Jones-y as you can get, with a huge dab of the wacky art style of Ren & Stimpy and Animaniacs. MI3 feels designed by people who wanted to do their own thing.
What's really weird and off-putting is the art style of MI6. I don't know what they were thinking. I guess they didn't think Guybrush was thin enough in the previous iterations?
Earl Boen, the late actor who voiced LeChuck in this game, would be recognised by many from his profilic career across the past several decades of television, movies and video games.
He was in everything from The Wonder Years and Seinfeld to the Terminator movies. Game-wise, his resume included entries from series like Baldurs Gate, Krondor, Zork, Star Trek, Metal Gear Solid, and as the narrator of World of Warcraft.
An excellent write up on this great game! One particularly striking element of Curse to me is the soundtrack. Michael Lands compositions for the series is absolutely perfect in this high fidelity form. The familiar themes from the earlier games take on a whole new dimension and the music has its own narrative which perfectly complements the visuals and gameplay. A masterpiece in its own right. I still find myself loading it up on YouTube and playing it in the background while working or doing house chores.
I'm really surprised a Monkey Island movie hasn't been made yet.
Yes, the Pirates of the Caribbean movie originally started as a Monkey Island screenplay. But that franchise is basically dead now, and with the popularity of sassy, fourth-wall breaking sendup movies I think it would do gangbusters.
The lore and the humor and the characters are already there - it's a shame they are locked to this increasingly small audience of people who have patience for point and click adventure games.
I was always a, huge fan of this one. It's my favourite in the series.
Monkey Island 1 was also good. But 2 was too complicated and the puzzles too contrived. And it was soooo slow on Amiga. But 3, wow. I love the art style, the way the characters are drawn, the jokes etc. The goodsoup family. It was a really great game.
In contrast, 4 was really ugly with its primitive 3D graphics, stupid Starbucks jokes etc.
Probably the single most impactful game I played growing up.
Some really incredible adventure games came out of that era. Loom and Grim Fandango spring to mind.
> The danger of increased resolution and color count was always that the finished results could veer into a sort of photo-realism, losing the ramshackle charm that had always been such a big part of Monkey Island's appeal.
This is a weird perspective; The Secret of Monkey Island already uses photorealistic graphics. Curse is much cartoonier.
I waited for this thread for 10 years (check my username) and then didn't log into hacker news on the day it was posted :)
I wouldn't shower more praise on this game than folks have already done. Great article. Great HN thread. A happy day.
This was the first Monkey Island game I played.
I remember getting my first PC at thirteen and have some pirated games on it, Quake 2, Descent Freespace, Moto Racer (Enter your name!), and The Curse of Monkey Island was something different, so wholesome and funny, I was in love with Elaine, it also make me interested on storytelling, I guess because of that game I started to watch more movies and read more books.
And this game have the option to hear all the voices on Spanish, it wasn't something common, so me knowing no English at all, it was a new gaming experience and the connection was deeper.
If anyone enjoys dub music & Monkey Island tunes then "Meanwhile Deep Beneath the Island" compilation from Jahtari label could work for you: https://jahtari.bandcamp.com/album/meanwhile-deep-beneath-th...
"Nerdcore Dub versions from 'The Secret of Monkey Island I & II' adventure game soundtracks (1990/91), the forgotten Voodoo-Reggae classics from the floppy disc age."
This song, and that you could choose the lyrics. Ingenious.
The greatest adventure game of all time. Larry Ahern is a genius
Such an underrated game. I wish they would remaster it in high res. The art style is stunning and holds up.
And let's not forget it introduced Murray the Skull to the world!
I dunno, I recently came off of a couple of Monkey Island 1 - 2 playthroughs and after starting this one, I couldn't help but feel that it was very laborious to talk to a few NPCs - some conversations would last way longer than I remember. It's funny because this is what I treasured the most about the previous games.
I ended up shelving it for the time being. Maybe it takes off after a while? Could always give another shot.
What a great game. The "mega monkey" difficulty had me attempting every possible combination with my inventory items.
Ah those were the days. We’d buy the game, go home, play for hours end, get stuck, then call our friends the next day to exchange information and see if someone has progressed further. It created a form of belonging and exploration that’s long gone.
Just a masterpiece. The graphics and musical are just wonderful and inspiring. Enigms are good and the story solid. Plus I played it when I was young, so it's special to me
I absolutely adored The Curse of Monkey Island, and still do, having gone back and finished it 3 or 4 times.
It was my first encounter with the series and even after the remastered versions I couldn't go back and get into the first 2 because they simply felt less developed, less funny, and less interesting. I know those that have started with them would think that's a travesty, but here we are.
I used to work for a company where playing The Curse of Monkey Island was part of the recruitment test.
I replayed 3 and 4 a few years ago. And I have to say that the jokes in 4 were better. Who is with me? ;)
Great article for a great game. I loved every Monkey Island game (maybe just “liked” the 4th). I even loved the ending of this last one, that was, again, controversial.
Music from The Secret of Monkey Island is in my favorites
I liked this one until that stupid puzzle with the gold tooth and the balloon.
And not to mention that you can play a demo of it in your browser, thanks to this WebAssembly port!
Reminder that this game, and all the DOS era titles, are neatly documented and ready to play via eXoDOS 6 or eXoSCUMMVM.
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I love that game, along with Fate of Atlantis and Day of the Tentacle - but this has to be my favorite one.
For some reason I never quite understood, it wasn’t that well received when it came out. My stance on this one hasn’t changed in 27 years and I firmly believe it is the pinnacle of the genre : incredible art, hilarious, crazy but somehow logical puzzles, great music, and above all extraordinarily well written. Very very few games had me laugh in front of my computer. And don’t forget the brilliant voice acting.
I’ve just bought the latest title in the series but haven’t played it yet - I somehow fear it won’t be able to match COMI. I will also be introducing my kids to this incredible work of art - they will never hear about this from their friends at school, and I feel this is typically the kind of thing I can and probably should share as a parent.
Lucas folks, thanks for making this game.