Nintendo Power Retrospectives - Part #26

This week I'm taking a look at Nintendo Power #16, for September of 1990.

Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor

Games Reviewed (Starred titles are picks of the issue):

• Maniac Mansion - Lucasarts - NES
• Rollergames - Konami - NES
• Snake, Rattle & Roll - Rare - NES
• Kickle Cubicle - Irem - NES*
• Mission: Impossible - Konami - NES
• TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan - Konami - GB
• Cosmo Tank - Atlus - GB
• Quarth - Konami - GB*
• Skate or Die: Bad 'n Rad - Konami - GB

This week I'm taking a look at Nintendo Power #16, for September of 1990.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IrICx-t4MYI?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div> <br /> Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor<br /> <br /> Games Reviewed (Starred titles are picks of the issue):<br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Maniac Mansion - Lucasarts - NES</li> <li>Rollergames - Konami - NES</li> <li>Snake, Rattle & Roll - Rare - NES</li> <li>Kickle Cubicle - Irem - NES*</li> <li>Mission: Impossible - Konami - NES</li> <li>TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan - Konami - GB</li> <li>Cosmo Tank - Atlus - GB</li> <li>Quarth - Konami - GB*</li> <li>Skate or Die: Bad 'n Rad - Konami - GB</li> </ul>

Five Great (and Three Not-So-Great) Things about Tales of Monkey Island

A few months back, I picked up an adventure game called Jack Keane. "Just like Monkey Island!" it proclaimed on the cover, more or less. I played it for fifteen minutes, at which point I decided, why not just play Monkey Island? I'd beaten the first two in my youth, but only got maybe a 1/3rd of the way through the later games, and the recent Tales Of Monkey Island series got me in the mood again.


I finished those up during the summer, and while I love Curse, I'd have to agree with the general opinion that Escape is the weakest. The general theme of over-commercialization feels a bit too out there, and Monkey Kombat is by far one of the worst things in the series. It seems that some people are lumping the Tales of Monkey Island series with this one, which I don't really agree with. So, having just played through the first three episodes, here are five things I really dig about them:



Elaine Marley

Guybrush's romance with Elaine was always kind of a joke in the first three games...until they ended up married by the end of it. By the time the fourth game rolled around, Guybrush was clearly henpecked, and Elaine was kinda bitchy, and that's such an worn out theme that it's just not funny. Elaine's more restrained, less mean than more of a capable woman who can clearly take care of herself, as evidenced in the first game. And she's actually pretty charming too, as evidenced by the one scene where you can make Guybrush try to say "no" in a dozen different ways, only to end up conceding after exhausting all of them. It also helps that her British voice actress from Curse is back.


Morgan LeFlay

Morgan LeFlay is a bounty hunter - one of the best in the business - who is also somewhat struck with a case of hero worship for Guybrush. As such, she's constantly conflicted between her pride for her job, and her pretty obvious crush on the mostly oblivious Guybrush, which leads to a surprisingly heartfelt speech using ravenous manatees as a metaphor. But it's mostly her demeanor, carried through the outstanding animation and charming voice acting, that really make the character. I actually really loved the moment where you pretend you're married, and need to answer a bunch of intimate questions based on some random things she mumbled when passed out.


LeChuck's Puzzle Solving Conundrum

LeChuck's gone good? Probably not, but in the first few chapters he's actually a fairly reasonable guy, who seems to want to atone for all of the evil he's put the Carribean through. The best part with him pops up in the second chapter, where Guybrush gives him a lesson in adventure puzzle logic, slowly walking him through all of the steps to figure out what to do. ("If I stick this in there, then it looks like a cow. Do I need a cow?") LeChuck is voiced by a different guy this time around - Earl Boen was great, but the new guy doesn't need the same growling sense of menace, so he works out pretty great too.


Murray

Who doesn't love Murray? He pops here again, and serve more of a useful function than his gratutious (but still funny) cameo back in Escape from Monkey Island. While in the belly of the manatee, you come across a stranded crew who've used the opportunity to take a nice, relaxing vacation. The three of them are so contently deluded that they somehow refuse to believe that the fourth, a guy named Santino, actually died a long time ago and is now a mere skeleton. You'll need to switch his skull with Murray, in an attempt to get him to do you a favor...until he double crosses you, anyway. It's also amusing how you later learn that Santino actually was a pretty awesome dude - it makes me wonder if you'll somehow meet him later on, even though it'd probably ruin the mystery.


Stupid Face Contest

In order to get initiated with the crew, you need to best one of the men by making scary (more like stupid) faces. Functionally, it's a very easy puzzle, since you just need to walk around and look at other things (and talk to other people) to get inspired, and all you need to do is not use the same expressions more than once to win. It's remarkably dumb, but watching it all play out is gleefully ludicruous. It's even better when you need to scare one of the other crew members by mimicing the expression of the person he fears most - Sister Agnes, Director of Discipline.

It's not all great - there are a few things that kinda fall flat, or otherwise disappoint.


Manatee Flirting

So, you've made it to the manatee breeding grounds, but you need to lure the female manatee out of her cave. The male manatee is too frightened to do anything, so you need to teach yourself their language to get them hooked up. However, the only guide you have is a travel book, filled with stock phrases. The female manatee will say something threatening - you need to pick one of those fairly neutral sentences to make it sound like you're being coy and funny. It's a great idea in concept, and a nice skewering of the sword-fighting insult stuff that Telltale sweared they wouldn't do...except in practice, it just kinda falls flat.


Le Singe

Ozzie Mandrill, the villain of Escape from Monkey Island, was one of the game's weaker links. His only major characteristic, despite being evil and cranky, was randomly sticking the names of Australian animals into his speech, which also wasn't very funny. Le Singe is set up to be one of the antagonists in Tales of Monkey Island, a mad scientist who wants to experiment on Guybrush due to his condition ("For science!") Except, like Mandrill, he's just another ethnic stereotype, this time a super gay Frenchman. Still, I can't hate him too much - the part where you need to coerce a monkey to free you from his operation table is pretty inspired, and his squeaky/shrill voice acting is slightly funny.


Reused Locations/Character Models

The first chapter features not one, but TWO puzzles where you need to navigate through a jungle maze, similar to the Treasure Trial from the first game. In the second chapter...you come across an almost identical looking maze! Thankfully there's no more puzzle to solve, but you still need to wander around. The reuse of locations - and character models for nearly all of the NPCs - is one of Tales of Monkey Island's biggest weakness.


A few months back, I picked up an adventure game called Jack Keane. "Just like Monkey Island!" it proclaimed on the cover, more or less. I played it for fifteen minutes, at which point I decided, why not just play Monkey Island? I'd beaten the first two in my youth, but only got maybe a 1/3rd of the way through the later games, and the recent Tales Of Monkey Island series got me in the mood again. <br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-1.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-1a.jpg"></a></center><br />I finished those up during the summer, and while I love Curse, I'd have to agree with the general opinion that Escape is the weakest. The general theme of over-commercialization feels a bit too out there, and Monkey Kombat is by far one of the worst things in the series. It seems that some people are lumping the Tales of Monkey Island series with this one, which I don't really agree with. So, having just played through the first three episodes, here are five things I really dig about them:<br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-20.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-20a.jpg"></a></center><br /><br />Elaine Marley<br /><br />Guybrush's romance with Elaine was always kind of a joke in the first three games...until they ended up married by the end of it. By the time the fourth game rolled around, Guybrush was clearly henpecked, and Elaine was kinda bitchy, and that's such an worn out theme that it's just not funny. Elaine's more restrained, less mean than more of a capable woman who can clearly take care of herself, as evidenced in the first game. And she's actually pretty charming too, as evidenced by the one scene where you can make Guybrush try to say "no" in a dozen different ways, only to end up conceding after exhausting all of them. It also helps that her British voice actress from Curse is back.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-15.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-15a.jpg"></a></center><br />Morgan LeFlay<br /><br />Morgan LeFlay is a bounty hunter - one of the best in the business - who is also somewhat struck with a case of hero worship for Guybrush. As such, she's constantly conflicted between her pride for her job, and her pretty obvious crush on the mostly oblivious Guybrush, which leads to a surprisingly heartfelt speech using ravenous manatees as a metaphor. But it's mostly her demeanor, carried through the outstanding animation and charming voice acting, that really make the character. I actually really loved the moment where you pretend you're married, and need to answer a bunch of intimate questions based on some random things she mumbled when passed out.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-14.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-14a.jpg"></a></center><br />LeChuck's Puzzle Solving Conundrum<br /><br />LeChuck's gone good? Probably not, but in the first few chapters he's actually a fairly reasonable guy, who seems to want to atone for all of the evil he's put the Carribean through. The best part with him pops up in the second chapter, where Guybrush gives him a lesson in adventure puzzle logic, slowly walking him through all of the steps to figure out what to do. ("If I stick this in there, then it looks like a cow. Do I need a cow?") LeChuck is voiced by a different guy this time around - Earl Boen was great, but the new guy doesn't need the same growling sense of menace, so he works out pretty great too.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-9.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-9a.jpg"></a></center><br />Murray<br /><br />Who doesn't love Murray? He pops here again, and serve more of a useful function than his gratutious (but still funny) cameo back in Escape from Monkey Island. While in the belly of the manatee, you come across a stranded crew who've used the opportunity to take a nice, relaxing vacation. The three of them are so contently deluded that they somehow refuse to believe that the fourth, a guy named Santino, actually died a long time ago and is now a mere skeleton. You'll need to switch his skull with Murray, in an attempt to get him to do you a favor...until he double crosses you, anyway. It's also amusing how you later learn that Santino actually was a pretty awesome dude - it makes me wonder if you'll somehow meet him later on, even though it'd probably ruin the mystery.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-19.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-19a.jpg"></a></center><br />Stupid Face Contest<br /><br />In order to get initiated with the crew, you need to best one of the men by making scary (more like stupid) faces. Functionally, it's a very easy puzzle, since you just need to walk around and look at other things (and talk to other people) to get inspired, and all you need to do is not use the same expressions more than once to win. It's remarkably dumb, but watching it all play out is gleefully ludicruous. It's even better when you need to scare one of the other crew members by mimicing the expression of the person he fears most - <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-19.jpg">Sister Agnes, Director of Discipline.</a><br /><br />It's not all great - there are a few things that kinda fall flat, or otherwise disappoint.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-18.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-18a.jpg"></a></center><br />Manatee Flirting<br /><br />So, you've made it to the manatee breeding grounds, but you need to lure the female manatee out of her cave. The male manatee is too frightened to do anything, so you need to teach yourself their language to get them hooked up. However, the only guide you have is a travel book, filled with stock phrases. The female manatee will say something threatening - you need to pick one of those fairly neutral sentences to make it sound like you're being coy and funny. It's a great idea in concept, and a nice skewering of the sword-fighting insult stuff that Telltale sweared they wouldn't do...except in practice, it just kinda falls flat. <br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-17.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-17a.jpg"></a></center><br />Le Singe<br /><br />Ozzie Mandrill, the villain of Escape from Monkey Island, was one of the game's weaker links. His only major characteristic, despite being evil and cranky, was randomly sticking the names of Australian animals into his speech, which also wasn't very funny. Le Singe is set up to be one of the antagonists in Tales of Monkey Island, a mad scientist who wants to experiment on Guybrush due to his condition ("For science!") Except, like Mandrill, he's just another ethnic stereotype, this time a super gay Frenchman. Still, I can't hate him too much - the part where you need to coerce a monkey to free you from his operation table is pretty inspired, and his squeaky/shrill voice acting is slightly funny.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-11.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/talesof-11a.jpg"></a></center><br />Reused Locations/Character Models<br /><br />The first chapter features not one, but TWO puzzles where you need to navigate through a jungle maze, similar to the Treasure Trial from the first game. In the second chapter...you come across an almost identical looking maze! Thankfully there's no more puzzle to solve, but you still need to wander around. The reuse of locations - and character models for nearly all of the NPCs - is one of Tales of Monkey Island's biggest weakness.<br /><br /></span>

My Favorite Adventue Game Moments - Monkey Island 2

Every once in awhile there's some bit of humor that cracks you up and you still can't quite explain why. Well, I'm going to try to anyway.

Longtime Monkey Island fans may remember this puzzle from the second game, where you need to decipher hand signals:



It's a halfway brilliant puzzle just because of the misdirection - after you figure it out, you either want to choke the designer for being so irritating or slap yourself for being so stupid. (Giving it away here, if you don't know it, would totally ruin the fun.)

So, anyway, much later in the game, when you're captured by LeChuck and suspended over a vat of acid, the evil zombie pirate gives a Bond-esque explanation of how his maniacal contraption will bring about your death, at which point you can ask a few questions. You can ask:


Why did I crack up with this? I guess it's because it's a totally random allusion to a puzzle so annoying that it had probably ingrained itself in your skull, and to be on the opposite side (the questioner instead of the questionee) while in such a dire situation is strangely appealing. The fact that LeChuck will give a straight answer - without the hand signals, even! - is just as funny.

Now that I've over explained the joke it probably won't be funny anymore, but maybe it'll ring some bells in those of you who've been through it before.
Every once in awhile there's some bit of humor that cracks you up and you still can't quite explain why. Well, I'm going to try to anyway.<br /><br />Longtime Monkey Island fans may remember this puzzle from the second game, where you need to decipher hand signals:<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/mi2-19.png"><br /><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/mi2-20.png"></center><br />It's a halfway brilliant puzzle just because of the misdirection - after you figure it out, you either want to choke the designer for being so irritating or slap yourself for being so stupid. (Giving it away here, if you don't know it, would totally ruin the fun.)<br /><br />So, anyway, much later in the game, when you're captured by LeChuck and suspended over a vat of acid, the evil zombie pirate gives a Bond-esque explanation of how his maniacal contraption will bring about your death, at which point you can ask a few questions. You can ask:<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/mi2-16.png"></center><br />Why did I crack up with this? I guess it's because it's a totally random allusion to a puzzle so annoying that it had probably ingrained itself in your skull, and to be on the opposite side (the questioner instead of the questionee) while in such a dire situation is strangely appealing. The fact that LeChuck will give a straight answer - without the hand signals, even! - is just as funny.<br /><br />Now that I've over explained the joke it probably won't be funny anymore, but maybe it'll ring some bells in those of you who've been through it before.

Maniac Mansion - Famicom version

There are actually two versions of Maniac Mansion released for Nintendo's 8-bit system. Most of us are familiar with the Lucasarts one, published in 1989 by Jaleco. I actually think this is the best version of the game, because despite the censorship and the improved detail of the VGA version, the NES one moves quicker and smoother than the PC versions, and has a rad soundtrack to boot. Anyway, Jaleco actually made their own version specifically for the Japanese market a year prior, and it's a bit of a wreck.




Check out the graphics. All of the characters, what with their empty eyes and vacant smiles, look like they jumped out of a Cathy comic strip. The Game Over screen, which shows the characters as angels and is only in this version, looks particularly ludicrous. The box cover shows them all as super deformed dwarves, although at least there's some cool artwork in the manual. (Images from here.)



There's no scrolling whatsoever - everything moves screen by screen. The longer backgrounds are either split up into multiple screens or condensed into one. Various background details are missing, although it has the nude statue that was taken out the NES version. Outside of a few original tunes here and there (and an especially aggravating pause ditty), most of the game is played without music, much like the PC versions. The only noises are the annoying footstep noise when your character shuffles from place to place.




The FC version also pares down the interface a bit by removing some the extraneous verbs, like Fix and Unlock. The NES version did the same thing, but made a very welcome improvement - whenever you highlight an object you can interact with, its name pops up at the bottom of the screen. None of the other versions have this exact function, but the PC versions have an extra command called What Is that works the same way. This command is completely missing from the FC version, which makes fumbling around in the dark a huge pain in the ass, because you basically just need to click everywhere. I found this Japanese review which expressed frustration at that one hilarious part where you can accidentally blow up the whole house while looking for the electricity breaker when the lights go out.



This same page brings up something I hadn't thought of, though. The first puzzle in the game is to get through the front door, which is, of course, locked. The solution is a well known cliche - just check under the doormat. But then it dawned on me that this cliche might not be well known outside the English speaking realm, and with the difficulty in finding objects to interact with, it's possible that Japanese players might just give up before they even start. It's interesting how this is the sort of puzzle that might be more difficult due to cultural divides. There are other bits of localization that make the FC version more palatable - the dime becomes a 100 yen coin, and the Three Guys Who Publish Anything apparently have an address in Tokyo. There's even a Japanese style mailbox in the first screen, which I'm not entirely sure makes sense, because there's a regular mailbox in front of the porch two screens over. Huh.



The worst part, though are the passwords. The NES version was kind enough to include a battery. Japanese gamers had to deal with 104 character passwords, officially making them the longest of any game on the system, or perhaps, ever.



The NES version

Nude statue in the NES prototype

There are actually two versions of Maniac Mansion released for Nintendo's 8-bit system. Most of us are familiar with the Lucasarts one, published in 1989 by Jaleco. I actually think this is the best version of the game, because despite the censorship and the improved detail of the VGA version, the NES one moves quicker and smoother than the PC versions, and has a rad soundtrack to boot. Anyway, Jaleco actually made their own version specifically for the Japanese market a year prior, and it's a bit of a wreck.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maniacmansion/famicommanual2a.jpg"></center><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maniacmansion/mm-fc7.png"></center><br /><br />Check out the graphics. All of the characters, what with their empty eyes and vacant smiles, look like they jumped out of a Cathy comic strip. The Game Over screen, which shows the characters as angels and is only in this version, looks particularly ludicrous. The box cover shows them all as super deformed dwarves, although at least there's some cool artwork in the manual. (Images from <a href="http://members.fortunecity.com/harang/famicommanual.html">here</a>.)<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maniacmansion/mm-fc5.png"></center><br /><br />There's no scrolling whatsoever - everything moves screen by screen. The longer backgrounds are either split up into multiple screens or condensed into one. Various background details are missing, although it has the nude statue that was taken out the NES version. Outside of a few original tunes here and there (and an especially aggravating pause ditty), most of the game is played without music, much like the PC versions. The only noises are the annoying footstep noise when your character shuffles from place to place.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maniacmansion/mm-fc4.png"></center><br /><br />The FC version also pares down the interface a bit by removing some the extraneous verbs, like Fix and Unlock. The NES version did the same thing, but made a very welcome improvement - whenever you highlight an object you can interact with, its name pops up at the bottom of the screen. None of the other versions have this exact function, but the PC versions have an extra command called What Is that works the same way. This command is completely missing from the FC version, which makes fumbling around in the dark a huge pain in the ass, because you basically just need to click everywhere. I found <a href="http://ninjasuper.fc2web.com/maniac/maniac2.htm">this Japanese review</a> which expressed frustration at that one hilarious part where you can accidentally blow up the whole house while looking for the electricity breaker when the lights go out.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maniacmansion/mm-fc6.png"></center><br /><br />This same page brings up something I hadn't thought of, though. The first puzzle in the game is to get through the front door, which is, of course, locked. The solution is a well known cliche - just check under the doormat. But then it dawned on me that this cliche might not be well known outside the English speaking realm, and with the difficulty in finding objects to interact with, it's possible that Japanese players might just give up before they even start. It's interesting how this is the sort of puzzle that might be more difficult due to cultural divides. There are other bits of localization that make the FC version more palatable - the dime becomes a 100 yen coin, and the Three Guys Who Publish Anything apparently have an address in Tokyo. There's even a Japanese style mailbox in the first screen, which I'm not entirely sure makes sense, because there's a regular mailbox in front of the porch two screens over. Huh.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maniacmansion/mm-fc1.png"></center><br /><br />The worst part, though are the passwords. The NES version was kind enough to include a battery. Japanese gamers had to deal with 104 character passwords, officially making them the longest of any game on the system, or perhaps, ever. <br /><br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maniacmansion/mm-nes1.png"></center><br /><center><font size=2>The NES version</font></center><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maniacmansion/mm-nesproto1.png"></center><br /><center><font size=2>Nude statue in the NES prototype</font></center><br /></span>

Monkey Island and Me

Like most folks, I got hooked on the point n' click adventure genre with The Secret of Monkey Island. Sure, I'd dabbled in it throughout my youth - various Marvel superhero themed text adventures on the Atari 400 (before I could even type properly), Kings Quest and assorted Infocom games on the Apple IIc, and the likes of Maniac Mansion and Shadowgate on the NES. But Monkey Island was easiest the most I'd ever laughed at a video game. I didn't have a PC at the time, but I rented the Sega CD version, and managed to enjoy it despite the long and aggravating load times. Between it and Wing Commander (which also had an iffy Sega CD port, though I didn't realize it at the time), I desperately wanted my parents to ditch that crappy old Apple II for an IBM PC, mostly so I could play their respective sequels.

Later that year, my dad got a 486/33 Compaq, and I was ecstatic. In addition to happening upon the brilliance of Sam & Max Hit the Road - unaware they were also made by Lucasarts - I tracked down Monkey Island 2 a few months later to much elation.

I was actually a little bit disappointed in it.



I'm not exactly sure why, to be honest. I remember I was distraught and confused over the ending, and some recent googling around has shown me that I wasn't alone. I also didn't think it was quite as funny, which I sort of agree with, but I think Monkey Island 2 is a much better game overall. I think, line for line, the original game might have some slightly better dialogue. And most of the interesting characters from Monkey Island 2 were carryovers from the previous games (Stan, the Men of Low Moral Fiber, the Voodoo Lady, etc.) Wally only became retroactively interesting after his appear in Curse of Monkey Island, and Largo isn't so much funny as a plain old jerk.

I do like the situational humor a lot more, like the general silliness of the costume party or the whole Governor Phatt (fat lol) thing. The game in general is much brighter, with more varied locales, and feels less claustrophobic than the original. A lot of the atmosphere is also conveyed with the amazing soundtrack. The first Monkey Island game had some great music, but it was sparse, and huge chunks of it are played in silence. Monkey Island 2 was the first game that used the iMUSE system, which perfectly transitions the music from screen to screen. Every screen in Woodtick village has a unique melody, each of which exemplifies its inhabitants but the town in general. I've been humming the various themes for the past week, much to the annoyance of everyone around me.



I still don't think it's quite as funny - one of my favorite parts of the first game was barging into Meathook's house and senselessly mocking him for no great reason. I also loved the insult swordfights, although not so much anymore. I've appreciated some other jokes more though - for some reason, the idea that the Monkey Island inhabitants communicates passive aggressively through a series of notes is oddly funny now, though I didn't quite get it back then.

People's sense of humor (and perceptions in general) tends to change over time. Upon my recent playthrough, I liked Space Quest V a lot more now than I did when I was younger, which I also had felt paled to its predecessor. Of course, this is one of the big reasons I've been replaying all of these old adventure games from my youth. Revisiting old media can be preyty dangerous, considering a lot of the cartoons and movies I loved as a child don't quite hold up (with occasional exception of something like The Goonies), but I'm actually finding new appreciation in my (somewhat) older age, rather than disdain.

I'd be lying if I said that nostalgia didn't play a part in this, though. Our first online service was Prodigy, and I got hooked on the message boards, where I joined The Monkey Island Fan Club and posted under the name Muad'dib, having just seen the Dune movie. We actually got together to design a theoretical Monkey Island 3, since the previous game ended on a (sorta) cliffhanger and Curse wasn't coming for at least four more years. I'm sure they're lost now, but I wish I could dig up those old text files. They were probably awful, much like anything you would do when you're thirteen, but it would've been cool to see how it compared to the real sequel.
Like most folks, I got hooked on the point n' click adventure genre with The Secret of Monkey Island. Sure, I'd dabbled in it throughout my youth - various Marvel superhero themed text adventures on the Atari 400 (before I could even type properly), Kings Quest and assorted Infocom games on the Apple IIc, and the likes of Maniac Mansion and Shadowgate on the NES. But Monkey Island was easiest the most I'd ever laughed at a video game. I didn't have a PC at the time, but I rented the Sega CD version, and managed to enjoy it despite the long and aggravating load times. Between it and Wing Commander (which also had an iffy Sega CD port, though I didn't realize it at the time), I desperately wanted my parents to ditch that crappy old Apple II for an IBM PC, mostly so I could play their respective sequels.<br /><br />Later that year, my dad got a 486/33 Compaq, and I was ecstatic. In addition to happening upon the brilliance of Sam & Max Hit the Road - unaware they were also made by Lucasarts - I tracked down Monkey Island 2 a few months later to much elation.<br /><br />I was actually a little bit disappointed in it.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/mi2-1.png" /></center><br /><br />I'm not exactly sure why, to be honest. I remember I was distraught and confused over the ending, and some recent googling around has shown me that I wasn't alone. I also didn't think it was quite as funny, which I sort of agree with, but I think Monkey Island 2 is a much better game overall. I think, line for line, the original game might have some slightly better dialogue. And most of the interesting characters from Monkey Island 2 were carryovers from the previous games (Stan, the Men of Low Moral Fiber, the Voodoo Lady, etc.) Wally only became retroactively interesting after his appear in Curse of Monkey Island, and Largo isn't so much funny as a plain old jerk.<br /><br />I do like the situational humor a lot more, like the general silliness of the costume party or the whole Governor Phatt (fat lol) thing. The game in general is much brighter, with more varied locales, and feels less claustrophobic than the original. A lot of the atmosphere is also conveyed with the amazing soundtrack. The first Monkey Island game had some great music, but it was sparse, and huge chunks of it are played in silence. Monkey Island 2 was the first game that used the iMUSE system, which perfectly transitions the music from screen to screen. Every screen in Woodtick village has a unique melody, each of which exemplifies its inhabitants but the town in general. I've been humming the various themes for the past week, much to the annoyance of everyone around me.<br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/mise-1.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/monkeyisland/mise-1a.jpg" /></a></center><br /><br />I still don't think it's quite as funny - one of my favorite parts of the first game was barging into Meathook's house and senselessly mocking him for no great reason. I also loved the insult swordfights, although not so much anymore. I've appreciated some other jokes more though - for some reason, the idea that the Monkey Island inhabitants communicates passive aggressively through a series of notes is oddly funny now, though I didn't quite get it back then.<br /><br />People's sense of humor (and perceptions in general) tends to change over time. Upon my recent playthrough, I liked Space Quest V a lot more now than I did when I was younger, which I also had felt paled to its predecessor. Of course, this is one of the big reasons I've been replaying all of these old adventure games from my youth. Revisiting old media can be preyty dangerous, considering a lot of the cartoons and movies I loved as a child don't quite hold up (with occasional exception of something like The Goonies), but I'm actually finding new appreciation in my (somewhat) older age, rather than disdain.<br /><br />I'd be lying if I said that nostalgia didn't play a part in this, though. Our first online service was Prodigy, and I got hooked on the message boards, where I joined The Monkey Island Fan Club and posted under the name Muad'dib, having just seen the Dune movie. We actually got together to design a theoretical Monkey Island 3, since the previous game ended on a (sorta) cliffhanger and Curse wasn't coming for at least four more years. I'm sure they're lost now, but I wish I could dig up those old text files. They were probably awful, much like anything you would do when you're thirteen, but it would've been cool to see how it compared to the real sequel.