Created by Ron Gilbert, sporting the talents of both Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer, and impressively appearing on everything from classic PCs to the Amiga, the Atari ST, Apple’s Macintosh, the SEGA Mega CD, the rather multimedia FM Towns computer, your average Windows PC and even the moderately modern PlayStation 2, the Monkey Island series is a definitive part of the history of the adventure game. But what about the series’ history, I pretend to hear you ask. Well, here it is. In a nutshell of course.

The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)

The game that started it all and the first adventure ever to have been inspired by -of all things- a Disneyland ride, Monkey Island was a hilarious point-and-click adventure with a few darker bits, that was all about pirates. And monkeys. And some of the most surreal puzzles in the history of video gaming. And some lovely stylized art. And insult sword-fighting. And ghosts. And introducing Guybrush Threepwood. The game was published of course by LucasFilm before it turned into LucasArts. Oh, and if you find the PC CD version, do go for it and enjoy an amazing reggae soundtrack too. An instant classic and a great seller.

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (1991)

My favorite MI installment, a sequel that bested its predecessor in every single department and probably the best comedy point-and-clicker I’ve ever enjoyed. Really. If you haven’t tried it, do yourselves a favor and grab a copy. Monkey Island 2 offers (among other things) two difficulty levels, lovely pixel-art VGA graphics, a brilliant soundtrack and the weirdest game ending sequence you could ever imagine. Which you can’t. Only Mr. Gilbert could and what he did come up with also happened to be a monumental cliffhanger. Then, as he left LucasArts before actually making the third game or revealing The Secret, said monumental cliffhanger turned into a pretty unbearable one…

The Curse of Monkey Island (1997)

Lacking Ron Gilbert, but still managing to cope with the series’ sublime first two entries, CMI still is a fantastic adventure. It sports a then-new simplified interface, some excellent jokes, amazing hand-drawn graphics, above average though easy puzzles and more importantly Murray the demonic skull, one of the funniest Monkey Island characters ever. On the downside, MI lost its darker side, Guybrush got to wed Ellaine and the game was a bit on the shorter side of things. Not that bad is it? And wait till you hear a certain pirate-y song by some barbers. Anyway. Should you need further reasons to try CMI, know that both Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer think it’s a great game.

Escape from Monkey Island (2000)

Escape from Monkey Island, EMI, Monkey Island 4… The black sheep of the family and unless I’ve missed something (probably huge) the last adventure game LucasArts managed to publish. The widely hated but critically acclaimed final installment, that signaled the end of an era and failed to be funny. But, what is this all about? Why the hate? Well, because people tend to overreact, because it’s a Monkey Island game in 3D and because the interface is an impressive mess. Then again, there’s quite a bit of MI spirit in this one too. Not much, mind you, but there are enough references and familiar characters that make it a passable way to spend your point-and-clicking time. Until we get Monkey 5 that is. Or Ron Gilbert’s next game.

Any MI questions? Feel free to ask…

Posted on January 24th, 2008 by konstantinos