"A Humorous Graphic Adventure that can easily be called a classic."

(Note: In this review, the 1992 CD version of SoMI is always in mind, not the original floppy disk release)

The first time I played the Secret of Monkey Island demo, I was hooked. I had previously played only one other graphic adventure, Sierra's Black Cauldron for the Amiga, and I already loved the genre. But when I played the demo for SoMI... I was in love with it.

Being only around 7 years old at the time, I didn't exactly appreciate the games humor, its main attraction (apart from the excellent puzzles and story, which are pretty much absent in the demo version). But being the obsessive little child that I was, I was charmed by the games dialogue and characters. I must have beat the demo millions time over, and was convinced that I must aqquire the full version. It wasn't until about a year later that my dad purchased for me the full CD version of the Secret of Monkey Island. Thats when the real fun began.

For the uninformed, the Secret of Monkey Island stars Guybrush Threepwood. He's a typical geek... 4-button pants tucked into socks, a curly pony tail... the artists tried their hardest to make a big enough loser to be the butt of all their jokes. This young man is a man with a dream, a vision... to be a grog swilling, foul-smelling pirate. It all starts with Guybrush landing upon the Island of Meleé, seeking instruction and aid in becoming a pirate. The game is setup perfectly for the rest of the story to unfold, and its not much after when Guybrush discovers what he needs to do. There are many obstacles in the way, in the form of the most unfrusturating puzzles I've EVER seen in a graphic adventure game. Period. I can remember being stuck with the game, but never angry with it. Not once was I compelled to look up a walkthrough. Not once did the thought ever cross my mind. Granted, the puzzles aren't as hard as the ones in some others, but they are still more clever on many occasions.

The graphics in the game displayed BRILLIANT artistic skills for the time period. The game effictively took on the look of a 2d cartoon. If you're used to Sierra's interface with the point and click graphic adventures, then Monkey Island's may seem slightly awkward, but in the end its more suited for the game anyway. Now... lets talk about the sound. Theres nothing special about the sound effects in this game, don't expect full speech or anything. But it's the music. AMAZING. When this game was released, it was recognized as having the BEST music in a game ever. Not near best. BEST. The extremely high quality music takes up like 400 MB on the CD.. there had to be a reason. However, all these things would be irrelevant had the story and puzzles not been up to par. Luckily, these things are where the game truly shines. I have already covered the puzzles, and I assure you that the plot is continually evolving... about halfway through the game, there are many mysteries, most of which are answered perfectly when Guybrush reaches the legendary Monkey Island, some of which aren't revealed until one of the games two sequels, and some which have yet to be revealed....

Every good story needs good characters. Guybrush Threepwood is the BEST character ina video game I have ever seen (although Kefka from Final Fantasy 3 comes pretty damn close). He has MANY stand out-features, and although hes a slow-witted geeky kind of guy, he has something that makes him seem cooler than anyother hero (or wannabe hero). Charm. That must be it. The guy has charm. Play the game and read his dialogue and you will see what I'm talking about here.

The Aqquiles (doubt I spelled that right) heel of Graphic Adventure games has always been in the reply value, even for the great ones. Surprisingly, this one is actually a semi-exception. Even its two great sequels failed to be anywhere near as fun when replaying it. But this one.... a real gem. Play it again, and the fun will be reduced a thousand times... but its still a GREAT game. I could easily start it up right this second and enjoy myself. This reason is why I love this game so much more than many otheer Graphic Adventures. Throw in the insult sword fights, Meathook, Stan, Herman Toothrot, and other memorable landmarks from the game, and you've got yourself one great game, and one of my personal all-time favorites.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99