Monkey Island II: Special Edition

Anyway, I may have stayed up late last night playing through Monkey Island II: Special Edition. In a single sitting I got 65% of the way through the game, to the second map piece. Essentially, Lucasarts have taken the classic game, updated it with hi-res graphics, rerecorded the soundtrack and at certain points offered a creators’ commentary, which is quite a fun addition. I enjoyed playing through it, but strictly as something complimentary. I would actually be sad if someone played only the updated version and didn’t have the joy of getting absorbed in the original as I did.

Honestly, I don’t like the graphics very much. Granted, I’m happy that Guybrush no longer looks like he’s forty, but I don’t like that he looks and moves as if he’s made of plasticine. Some of the voices are brilliant, like Wally the Cartographer’s, but others just don’t seem to understand their lines and really muck up the deadpan humour. Worst of all, most of the characters just… didn’t end up looking like they did in the original, totally changing perceptions of their haughtiness or humility. Percy in particular just doesn’t look as sweet as he used to, and most of the fat and loveable characters now look fat and repulsive. The strangest thing about it is that the concept art for the update almost always gets it spot-on!

The humour isn’t quite as good as I remember, either, although it is excellent. There’s a lot more breaking the fourth wall than I remember, which never escapes being unfunny, and some of the puzzles are just ridiculous. How is anyone supposed to figure out how to turn off the waterfall pump, or what books are needed from the library? And I still leapt for a bit of paper when the skeleton dance came on, as I always did as a boy, never knowing that Guybrush writes the instructions on the spit-encrusted paper. I always thought if you missed writing it down, you were screwed!

Lastly, I simply cannot forgive one omission: how can they cut out the dancing monkeys from the intro? They were the thing I was looking forward to the most!