The Secret of Monkey Island

"This game is STILL one of the best graphic adventures out!"

Just in case, but really, there isn't any need to, the Secret of Monkey Island is the first of three games in the series. After the Secret of Monkey Island comes Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge, and the Curse of Monkey Island. Your name is Guybrush Threepwood, and you are a pirate wannabe. You come to Melee Island to become a might, bloodthirsty pirate. Little did you know about the strange happenings, and about the dreaded ghost pirate LeChuck, who sails the sea in his ghost ship and takes down any other ship around the island. Now all the pirates on the island are scared stiff, and there's no way any of them are ever going out to sea with LeChcuk around. But not Guybrush, he's brave, he can take on anything...i hope.

This game is an all time classic. Made by, the one and only LucasArts, it is a game that stands in a class of its own. The Secret of Monkey Island brings a whole new demension to graphic adventures. Unlike most other graphic adventures(eg. going in the like of the Zork series, and Myst) Guybrush, the character you are assuming, is seen from a far 3rd person perspective. Guybrush stands in a totally 3D environment. You can move around practically anywhere you like, with no restrictions what so ever. The actual area in the game itself is quite big. First you start on Melee Island, which in itself is very big. Then, you sail to Monkey island. Here, there is a stack of stuff to do, and it will take you a long time. Then, you are cuptured and placed upon LeChucks vessel, where you must escape. Now you are lead back to Melee ISland where you must face and destroy LeChuck once and for all...or not.

As you travel around the game's vast spaces, you will require to pick up items that you may have to use in later times. All the items you use are stored in your inventory, and are easily accessed, as they can all be seen in the bottom half of the screen. On the screen, there is a 9 by 9 grid that lists all the commands you can perform. there's no typing anymore, it can all be done by the click of a button. Some items that you collect at the very start of game, may be of use when you're on Monkey Island! You have absolutely no idea when items may come in handy, and when they do, it is usually for something outrageous!

I might also add that the Secret of Monkey Island is VERY, VERY funny. It's like you're watching a comedy act instead of playing the game. If you ask a stupid question, you get a stupid question. And mind you, you can say some pretty stupid things if you wanted to. Like, say you're in the bar, and you say a pirate, ''I want to kill you all!'' He'll simply reply with, ''get lost kid you bother me.'' From the top of my head, i could only think of two times in the game that you could ever possibly die, so you can bassically say that someone is an idiot, and they won't do anything! But, i hope i haven't given you wrong impression, you can't say 100% what you want. The game selects several phrases and you have to choose which phrase you want. Anyway, here's how the basics fare:

GRAPHICS: 7/10

The grapics aren't THAT bad. Come on, this game was made in 1991, what did you expect!? But no, the graphics are OK. Like, they're as good as they need to be. But you can really tell that they used REALLY big blocks when they made the characters. In the view if the island, you can see a very tiny Guybrush. When you move him, all you see is a rectangle with a couple of colours on it, moving around. But other than that, this game didn't really nead all that good graphics. I mean, graphic adventures don't need good graphics. All i can say is that the graaphics doesn't effect the gameplay one bit.

SOUND: 8/10

The music in the Secret of Monkey Island is very good. It actually sound like the place you're in, unlike other games. The music is also VERY catchy. It's not a pain on your ears, it's actually quite, soothing. The music is composed using soft xylophones(however it's spelt), and other percussion instruments. It is very well put together, and when you're solving a puzzle, and it's getting annoying, the pain is usually ceased just by hearing the music.

CHALLENGE: 9/10

The Secret of Monkey Island is also very hard. ALL of the puzzles ivolve using one item with another, so if you have missed an item, and you can't get passed an area because of it, you will have to search the whole island(literaly) for it. The games puzzles are very well thought up, you can tell that a lot of thinking went in to it. Everywhere you go, there are clues to various puzzles. Most of the clues are you for areas unkown to you until you actually get there. Clues can also be found by talking to everyone you meet, and in Monkey Island, you CAN talk to just about anybody. But sometimes the puzzles can be a little, too hard. Sometimes you will be stuck for a few weeks on a puzzle, and have to search for a walkthrough on it. But overall the challenge is evenly spread out. It is not too hard, and it isn't too easy.

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

This is where the Monkey Island series rules over every other graphic adventure out, its gameplay. The gameplay is immense, sometimes you can play for hours on end, each day!One of the things that boosts its playability is the humour in the game. It is just SO funny. You want to play the game simply to get a lough out of it. The challenges are so well thought out that they're are not too hard that you give up, but they're not so easy that you get it straight away. This keeps you occupied for most of the time. The ability to talk to everyone is a big major in gameplay. There is so much you can learn, and each person you ask gives you deeper and deeper information.

STORY: 9/10

The story is great. As you read before, it's about a boy who wants to become a pirate. But it goes much deeper than that. It spreads out into little twists and turns. You find out about how LeChuck loves the governor, and so does the sheriff of the island. Who, mind you, will do anything, and i mean ANYTHING to get her. He even tries to, KILL YOU! I won't go much deeper into it, it might wreck the game for you, but the storyline is very good.

OVERALL: 9/10

This game is one of the best games i've played. It has everything. Puzzles, humour, pirates, action, killing, chicks, love affairs, giant monkeys, affrican tribes, sailing ships, canons, rats, ghosts, what more could you want in a game!? This game is very good, if a hard to find one.

I doubt you will find this game on sale by itself, it was made in 1991! The game is now in a collectors series featuring all three games in the series. That is a must-get CD. Man, three of the best games in one CD! If i were you i would get, for sure, no questions asked what-so-ever.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/14/00, Updated 04/14/00