The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition

First of all I have to say I bought this game despite all the one star warnings, and I was pleasently surprised. I found it to be not bad at all. I do agree that new version could have made the effort to make voice work for the older version, and that the action menu in the new version is a little hazzle (although it's easy to memorize and get the hang of the quickperform action keys as you go along) To me the new graphics is allright. With these newer graphics all characters have a more concrete look, and so it takes away the imagination you had to apply to the blurry graphics in the original version. In this new version Guybrush looks like a total dork to me. A nobody that tries to rise and prosper. That works for me. I always felt that Guybrush was like that, the way the other characters in the game talked to him. Always getting his name wrong, saying things like he looked more like a flooring inspector than a pirate etc. I'm not saying I liked all the new praphics, there are some elements that disagree with me, but others that are good and outbalances the overall experience. The best thing I liked about the new version was the spoken dialogue. It's really good quality and sounds like professional artists that do the voiceover. I find the important looking pirates telling jokes and laughing particulary funny. "Don't forget! X Marks the spot! Har! Har! Har!" If you can live with the new graphics and don't get dissapointed that there is no voice for the old version I would check it out.

"Wie passend, du kämpfst wie eine Kuh!" Tja, mit solchen flotten Sprüchen sind wir damals aufgewachsen. Monkey Island war eines meiner ersten Spiele auf dem PC, damals kurz nach dem C64. Mit Witz und Humor hat es einen damals schon in die ferne Karibik gezogen und die Geschichte eines jungen Mannes erzählt, der einst mal nur den Traum hatte, ein mächtiger Pirat zu werden. Wer hätte gedacht, dass ein Kerl mit einem so verrückten Namen wie Guybrush Threepwood mal für solche Aufregung sorgen würde auf den Inseln der Karibik, als man an Captain Jack Sparrow noch nicht mal dachte? Es ist die älteste Geschichte der Welt neu erzählt: Eine Frau, zwei Männer und eine Flasche Rootbier. Und während Guybrush die Geheimnisse von Monkey Island enthüllt, um seine geliebte Elaine aus den Fängen des Geisterpiraten LeChuck zu befreien, tritt er in das ein oder andere Fettnäpfchen, stellt sich so mancher Herausforderung und muss viele Bekanntschaften machen. Denn nur ein wahrlich großer Pirat wird letzten Endes LeChuck die Stirn bieten und den blassen Spuk in seine Schranken weisen. Diese Special Edition ist nun ein Spiel, welches hin- und herschalten kann zwischen der klassischen DOS Pixelart Grafik, wie sie damals schon nett anzusehen war und der neuen, überarbeiteten Grafik der Neuzeit, die hochauflösender und geschmeidiger rüberkommt. Der ikonische Soundtrack ist nach wie vor Balsam für das Ohr des Kenners. Dieses Spiel ist ein Juwel der PC Spielegeschichte und jeder, der sich Gamer nennt, sollte dieses Spiel mindestens einmal im Leben durchgespielt haben. Meine Empfehlung: Kaufen! Sei es aus sentimentalen, nostalgischen Gründen oder um einen Klassiker der Spielegeschichte im Regal stehen zu haben.

This game, with a story inspired by the tone the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and later stolen for the PotC films, you play Guybrush Threepwood, a nerdy wannabe pirate out to make a name for himself, but soon finds himself catching the eye of the local lady governor and the evil ghost pirate that wants her for himself. The game relies on solving problems using wacky items in your inventory or through talking to the colorful cast of characters. Like the Disneyland ride, the game is very appropriate for kids to play but not necessarily strictly for them- cartoon violence that's rarely shown, the "alchohol" is an absurd acidic compound called grog and a few statements on kissing and light inuendo that kids won't get. Of a historical note, The Secret of Monkey Island was one of the first adventure games to incorporate a constant narrative with a talkative main character, and also allowed you to explore the setting freely, This special edition is incredibly faithful, allowing you to swap out the new storybook style graphics with full character voice over for the more realistic tone of Steve Purcell's (of Sam & Max and Brave fame) 16-bit portraits and text only at the push of a button. Highly recommended to adventure game novices and pros alike who never had a chance to enjoy this game before.

I played this first on the Xbox 360 years ago. I always had a bit of curiosity when it came to Point and Click adventure games. The new artwork looks great for those who want it to be more crisp looking. The old style is just a click away if you played it years ago or want the original experience. Both are great, I lean a little more told the old style myself after playing other similar titles since then. Wish I could have discovered these titles in the early 90's. Decent jokes are in here to go along with the puzzle solving. This would be a great start for anyone wanting to get into point and click style games.

Well I don't really recall the last time I laughed so much while playing a game... The story is hilarious - which is exactly what I love about this game. The graphics are amazing even now in late 2020, the sound, music and narrative is amazing. 6 stars out of 5! :)