The Curse of Monkey Island™

The Curse of Monkey Island is my personal favorite game of the series. From its visuals to its soundtrack, writing, voice acting... Everything is perfect and just works so well. Puzzles are challenging but never impossible to solve. The game also has some of the best humor in the series. A definite must play for anyone interested in good adventure games

I have no problem giving this a 5. For me, this is one of the best in the Monkey Island series, which automatically makes it one of the best graphical adventures of all time. The graphics are perfect; the music and voice acting wonderful; the game is full of quirky, funny characters and great humor. There are a lot of laughs to be had here. In terms of challenge, some of the puzzles are pretty tough, but not impossible. They usually make sense and give a good feeling of achievement once you figure them out. There are a few fun red herrings thrown in there too, which I like - items that are laying around just for the sake of distraction, to try to put you off the scent. I like that, the game does a great job of staying fresh and mostly avoiding the 'usual' point & click cliches. I think my only criticism would be the ending is very short and abrupt, but that doesn't detract enough to pull it down from a 5. Graphic adventure fans shouldn't miss this!

First off: I'm hella biased when it comes to CMI. I discovered this game when I was 12 or 13, having never played any Monkey Island game before, or any mature point 'n click-adventure for that matter, and it blew me away. The art style is (still) one of the best you'll ever see in a game: the characters look cartoony, expressive and appealing and the backgrounds are gorgeous while still retaining a pinch of humour in their visual style, with lopsided buildings and mountainous jungles full of exaggerated shapes. Then there's the voice-acting (a first for the series) which is also top-notch, as is the writing. Even though I've played through this game on many occasions, I'm still constantly grinning and occasionally LOL'ing whenever I revisit it. Perhaps the very best quality of the game is the soundtrack: it's a terrific mix of Caribbean-influenced reggae, R&B and funk that never gets old and really merits listening to on its own accord. Really, the only drawback to me is that the game isn't any longer than it is. Hardcore Monkey Island fans often argue that only the first two games in the series are true classics; co-creator Ron Gilbert even considers the other games non-canon. However, I would say that this one is an absolute masterpiece of adventure gaming that will stand the test of time for decades to come. It has two difficulty levels, so if you're new to adventure games it can be an accessible introduction. Just buy it and play it, and throw in the rest of the Monkey Island series while you're at it!

Works great on Apple Silicon / M1 (or greater). Played on a M1 Mac Mini (macOS Ventura 13.0.1). Just to clarify and save you some time: Grant access to the file system, when the app PopUp appears and press (fn +) F1 to load the ScummVM main menu to load/save. As for the game: Have fun! Who needs another review here? ;)

Curse is quite simply a gem of a game from the golden years of point-and-click adventures. Unlike the earlier Monkey Island games, which aged a bit badly and needed the remasters, and unlike Grim Fandango which perhaps aged a bit too due to early 3D graphic tech being used (although that game is still and always will be a looker), Curse of Monkey Island never needed a remaster, because it looks as jaw-droppingly wonderful in 2018 as it did 20 years ago. It did, however, need a re-release, because it was bit of a nightmare for a novice PC user to get this thing to run on a new system (using ScummVM emulation). The hand drawn animation, combined with a superb ambient soundtrack and some of the best voice acting ever seen in a video game (in my humble opinion), combine to make an utterly unforgettable game. Every character is fleshed out, every location is unique and the overall experience is simply wonderful. It's not a title that holds your hand. Yes, some puzzles are challenging in that the solution seems quite random, but there's always a semblance of logic to them if you think outside the box a bit and assume the game is going to quirky in how it progresses the narrative. This is the game that the likes of Deponia etc. draw 90% of their inspiration from. It's an instant buy for me and I'd strongly recommend it to others. All nostalgic bias aside, I played this through again just six months ago and it's just as stunning as it ever was. One of my top three games of all time - grab it!