SamNMax
07-28-2004, 10:10 AM
I think most of us are aware of this game's status and agree that this game needs no review, but I need something to do.
I've already gone through Lucasarts' very early days and how they made a name for themselves as adventure giants. With the groundbreaking technology of Maniac Mansion, the hilarity (but just a tad worse than other Lucas games) of Zak Mcracken, one of the better movie games that is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and the pure originality of Loom. These all shaped Lucasarts into what it is today, but I think we can all agree that The Secret of Monkey Island is the father of Lucasarts. This game is probably the most popular adventure game ever, and many call it the best adventure ever. Monkey Island I has won so many awards over the years as well.
I'm sure you all know how this review will turn out, but nevertheless...
Here's my review of The Secret of Monkey Island.
Story: In my Loom review, I said that for your game to have a good story, it must match the mood and feel of the game. There are three big main catagorys for story to me: Humor, originatlity, and fantasy/fairytale. MI blended all these things together, and it came out as great as a rich and smooth orange smoothy.
Our tale follows Guybrush Threepwood, a strapping young lad who wants to be a pirate. But all the real pirates on Melee Island never take him seriously. They say that Guybrush should go find the Pirate Leaders in the local bar. Guybrush is told by the Pirate Leaders that he must go through three trials to become a pirate. He must master sword fighting, find the tresure of the Island, and steal a priceless artifact from the Govonor of Melee. But when Guybrush has to steal the artifact from Govonor Elaine Marley, he instantly falls in love with her. However, he hears about the legend of the Ghost Pirate LeChuck, who hides out on the fabled Monkey Island and one day come back to Melee Island for Elaine. Now, its up to Guybrush to stop LeChuck by sailing to Monkey Island and prove that he is a fearsome pirate.
Everything about this story is perfect. The humor, the unforgettable characters, the settings, the piratey mood...
Story gets a 10/10
Graphics: I belive this was the first game with all VGA graphics versions. No Lucasarts fan had ever seen VGA in action, and when they did, they were in awe. Everything is nicely detailed and the backrounds looked great. I think the graphics are the reason for the whole mood. Once you see that open sea as your standing there at the docks with that full moon, the mood just jumps out at you. MI also has the ocasinall animated sequence that are very nicely done.
Graphics get a 9/10
http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/m-n/monkeyR/scummbar1.jpg http://www.worldofmi.com/thegames/monkey1/cdrom.gif http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/m-n/monkeyR/cannonfire1.jpg http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/m-n/monkeyR/shipscrew1.jpg
Sound/Music: (Note: I'm reviewing the CD version) The musical pieces are great, I have to give it all up since this is the game that introduced me to the Monkey Island intro music. That is one of my favorite musical pieces and quite possibly the best piece in any game. Of course all the other music in the game is good too. The sound is the best detailed in any game I've played. Once again about the mood of the game. The mood lights up when you hear the swords clack, the owls hooting, the segalls chirping, and the waves splashing, you just get sucked in.
sound/music gets a 9/10
Gameplay: These controls are SCUMM at it's finest. Finally, they got rid of all the useless actions and only had nine, and you only had to click once on everything. If the late 80s adventure games were your first, you couldn't get enough of MI's control.
The puzzles are humorous, logical, and you never get tired of them. You never get frusterated from them because this game is so funny, and so fun to play. Especially the sword fights and the govonor's mansion break in :)
SMI also featured something a lot of people had never seen before: the ability to talk to the characters and interact with them. This was awesome. You could actually choose what you wanted Guybrush to say instead of him just talking.I know we see a lot of that, but this was the first to actually do that.
Gameplay gets a 10/10
I got this game at the tender age of six and beat the game when I was eight. For those two years, I ate slept, and breathed MI. It's all I would talk about. Can you blame me? Hell no!
This is my favorite game of all time, and possibly the best game of all time. I belive this with all my heart. There isn't or ever will be a game that will ever make me feel the way Monkey Island 1 did. I remember dreaming about puzzle solutions to this game that never worked and broke a $4,000 PC playing it. Heh. Oh well, those two years were all worth it. Thanks for the memories, Ron!
I give The Secret of Monkey Island a
10/10
I've already gone through Lucasarts' very early days and how they made a name for themselves as adventure giants. With the groundbreaking technology of Maniac Mansion, the hilarity (but just a tad worse than other Lucas games) of Zak Mcracken, one of the better movie games that is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and the pure originality of Loom. These all shaped Lucasarts into what it is today, but I think we can all agree that The Secret of Monkey Island is the father of Lucasarts. This game is probably the most popular adventure game ever, and many call it the best adventure ever. Monkey Island I has won so many awards over the years as well.
I'm sure you all know how this review will turn out, but nevertheless...
Here's my review of The Secret of Monkey Island.
Story: In my Loom review, I said that for your game to have a good story, it must match the mood and feel of the game. There are three big main catagorys for story to me: Humor, originatlity, and fantasy/fairytale. MI blended all these things together, and it came out as great as a rich and smooth orange smoothy.
Our tale follows Guybrush Threepwood, a strapping young lad who wants to be a pirate. But all the real pirates on Melee Island never take him seriously. They say that Guybrush should go find the Pirate Leaders in the local bar. Guybrush is told by the Pirate Leaders that he must go through three trials to become a pirate. He must master sword fighting, find the tresure of the Island, and steal a priceless artifact from the Govonor of Melee. But when Guybrush has to steal the artifact from Govonor Elaine Marley, he instantly falls in love with her. However, he hears about the legend of the Ghost Pirate LeChuck, who hides out on the fabled Monkey Island and one day come back to Melee Island for Elaine. Now, its up to Guybrush to stop LeChuck by sailing to Monkey Island and prove that he is a fearsome pirate.
Everything about this story is perfect. The humor, the unforgettable characters, the settings, the piratey mood...
Story gets a 10/10
Graphics: I belive this was the first game with all VGA graphics versions. No Lucasarts fan had ever seen VGA in action, and when they did, they were in awe. Everything is nicely detailed and the backrounds looked great. I think the graphics are the reason for the whole mood. Once you see that open sea as your standing there at the docks with that full moon, the mood just jumps out at you. MI also has the ocasinall animated sequence that are very nicely done.
Graphics get a 9/10
http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/m-n/monkeyR/scummbar1.jpg http://www.worldofmi.com/thegames/monkey1/cdrom.gif http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/m-n/monkeyR/cannonfire1.jpg http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/m-n/monkeyR/shipscrew1.jpg
Sound/Music: (Note: I'm reviewing the CD version) The musical pieces are great, I have to give it all up since this is the game that introduced me to the Monkey Island intro music. That is one of my favorite musical pieces and quite possibly the best piece in any game. Of course all the other music in the game is good too. The sound is the best detailed in any game I've played. Once again about the mood of the game. The mood lights up when you hear the swords clack, the owls hooting, the segalls chirping, and the waves splashing, you just get sucked in.
sound/music gets a 9/10
Gameplay: These controls are SCUMM at it's finest. Finally, they got rid of all the useless actions and only had nine, and you only had to click once on everything. If the late 80s adventure games were your first, you couldn't get enough of MI's control.
The puzzles are humorous, logical, and you never get tired of them. You never get frusterated from them because this game is so funny, and so fun to play. Especially the sword fights and the govonor's mansion break in :)
SMI also featured something a lot of people had never seen before: the ability to talk to the characters and interact with them. This was awesome. You could actually choose what you wanted Guybrush to say instead of him just talking.I know we see a lot of that, but this was the first to actually do that.
Gameplay gets a 10/10
I got this game at the tender age of six and beat the game when I was eight. For those two years, I ate slept, and breathed MI. It's all I would talk about. Can you blame me? Hell no!
This is my favorite game of all time, and possibly the best game of all time. I belive this with all my heart. There isn't or ever will be a game that will ever make me feel the way Monkey Island 1 did. I remember dreaming about puzzle solutions to this game that never worked and broke a $4,000 PC playing it. Heh. Oh well, those two years were all worth it. Thanks for the memories, Ron!
I give The Secret of Monkey Island a
10/10