The first game in the Monkey Island series may be the best video game I have ever played. Recently I read an article about its importance in adventure game history as the first “Game that Didn’t Suck.” It was the first of many LucasArts games that didn’t suck.
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I recently came up with the idea of Guybrush Threepwood as a low-impact cosplay for the next round of cons.
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This inspired me to play through the original classic. Everything about this game is so charming and delightful. The humor is clever and absurd without resorting to gross-outs. It has some common ground with Monty Python but is calm and meditative. A lot of time is spent awash in island music thinking about what the funniest solution to a problem would be. Incidentally “funniest” and “correct” are usually synonymous for these puzzles. Not many current games encourage you to sit and think.
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As I work through this, I’m amazed by how the writers and programmers were able to construct this nonlinear tale in a way that never dead-ends. The art is charming despite the limitations of 1990’s VGA graphics. It’s kind of crazy how I was blown away by all those shades of purple as a kid.
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A newer update of Secret of Monkey Island available on Mac OS X and iOS tablets so check it out! And look forward to pictures of me in my pirate-wannabe costume this fall.
