"More Fun Than A Barrel Of Three-Headed Monkeys!"

More Fun Than A Barrel Of Three-Headed Monkeys!

The game that started the Monkey Island craze is still, arguably, the best of the series. This game will move you like no other. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll spew soda from your nose. The Secret of Monkey Island has hooked many a gamer with its razor-sharp wit and nonstop jokes, from beginning to end.

Gameplay: 8/10
The Secret of Monkey Island is a graphic adventure, requiring you to collect items and solve puzzles to advance. You’ll be doing a lot of thinking -- piecing together clues and unraveling mysteries, that sort of thing. You’ll have to stay on your toes, mentally, but usually SMI manages to maintain a good balance of difficulty. Puzzles will make you use logic, reasoning, and common sense. The answers are never right in front of you (except when they are), but it’s not frustratingly difficult. This type of game isn’t for everyone, but most gamers will still have more than their fair share of fun.

Story: 9/10
The storyline is what Monkey Island games are known for, and that reputation started here. On the surface, we have what would appear to be a typical plot: a gruff hero with a heart of gold embarks on an adventure to save his true love, gaining the assistance of loyal and trustworthy companions along the way. Of course, this is LucasArts, so we all know it isn’t gonna be that simple. Instead of a noble hero, we have a bumbling pirate wannabe, who’s been heard to remark that he actually wants to be a fireman. And instead of loyal sidekicks, we have a cast of ne’er do wells who could care less what our beloved protagonist is doing. And to top it all off, our leading man doesn’t have a buff, masculine name like “Chad Muscleton” or “Rocky Courageman.” Nope, we have to settle for Guybrush. Guybrush Threepwood. Throughout the course of the game, we watch as Guybrush evolves from an incompetent, naïve bungler to a slightly more competent, occasionally less naïve simpleton. What’s that, you say? That’s not enough? Then throw in zombies, ghosts, and a slew of pirates, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a game.

Audio: 6/10
Not much to say, here. The music in the game is good. It really sets the tone for the piratey theme, and establishes the mood for the different areas and locations of the adventure. The Sound FX drag this mood down, however. While some sound effects are good, many are just seemingly random bleeps and bloops that fill in for real sounds. Instead of hearing a halfway realistic sound of a door closing, for example, you simply hear a rather nondescript ‘clunk’ sound. There are some decent effects, though, such as crickets chirping in the forest and the like.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics here are pretty decent, but don’t expect PS2-quality imagery – the game was made in 1990, after all. During normal gameplay, the graphics aren’t bad. Characters are reasonably animated while speaking, walking, or even just standing around, and dialog with major characters features close-up, photorealistc actors. On the larger world map, however, the quality plummets. Guybrush, pirates, and anyone else show up on the map as colored pixels, while locations, such as houses or caves, show up as different colored pixels. Time spent on the map is minimal, though, so it should be bearable.

Replay: 7/10
The biggest problem with a game like SMI is that once you’ve beaten it, you’re more or less done. You’ve likely solved all the mysteries and know the answers to all the puzzles. There’s only one ending, but it does have variations depending upon your actions in the game. There’s a fair amount of hidden stuff packed into the adventure, though, and the witty jokes and humor will likely have you coming back for more, even if you’ve already seen everything.

Buy or Rent? You’ll probably be hard-pressed to find a copy of this game for rent, so your best bet would be to buy. I doubt there’s very many copies of this game floating around out there, though, so you’d best snatch it up if you see it anywhere.

Overall Score: 8/10

The Secret of Monkey Island is a terrific game, and it’s still being enjoyed today. Many gamers are discovering or rediscovering the magic of Guybrush Threepwood, LeChuck, and their cast of misfits, and if you’re one of the few who hasn’t experienced it, then I recommend you do it now, before it’s too late. So, in closing, I leave you with four simple words: construction paper jockey shorts.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/02, Updated 07/02/02