The Monkey Island games (particularly the first two and not so much the fourth) are arguably the finest series in adventure gaming.
Memorable characters, just the right level of challenging puzzles, great plots and the humour all add up to a fantastic ride.
Recently Special Editions of the first two games were released, updating the graphics to be more in line with the later games and adding voice overs. This was pretty exciting, but there are just a few things that haven’t gone too right about them.
After playing the Special Editions for a while I pretty much got fed up with them and switched back to normal mode to finish. I’d switch back from time to time just to see the lovely new visuals, but wouldn’t hang around to play there.
It’s a bit like the Star Wars special editions all over again…
So at the risk of sounding nitpicky and ungrateful after an attempt has been made to lovingly restore two classic games, here’s what we don’t like:
Voices
The new version brings back Dominic Armato and the rest to lend their voices to the characters we’ve all grown to love.
The added voices are a major feature of the new special edition, but in some cases, I feel as though they have ruined the game. I’d love it if at least some of it was rerecorded.
Stunted Lines
The game was not originally designed for voices, it wasn’t possible back then. Everyone was happy with the subtitles.
Due to it not being designed for voices to be a part of it, the addition of them is not all that smooth. The lines are spoken at the same time as their subtitles appear on screen, which more often than not leaves a couple of seconds of silence in between each voice clip.
This gives it a really unnatural feel, with the characters not talking fluidly as they normally would. In the games where voices were always a feature, the subtitles were designed to follow the flow of the spoken word. It doesn’t work the other way around.
Bad Voices
Perhaps this is that thing where you read a book and make a picture in your mind of the character which is then ruined when you see the movie.
Back when it was subtitles, everyone would hear their own imagined voices when characters spoke, now its spoonfed to you, whether you like it or not.
One that springs to mind is Largo LaGrande, one of my old favourite characters. He was a snidy little creep with a mean streak. He was a thug, but he had some wits about him. The voice they have chosen just makes him sound like one of those ‘Duh…yeah bohss..’ sidekicks you get in cheesy mob movies.
In my mind, he never sounded like the sidekick. He was the boss. Later in the game he becomes a sidekick sure, but when you first meet him, he has an entire island under his thumb.
Another was Fin, one of the three ‘Men of Low Moral Fibre’. He always looked like a little spaniard to me, but now he speaks in an American accent.
Another was the Phatt Island Fisherman. He was a smug little middle aged fella smoking a pipe. Now he sounds like he’d be at home with Bill and Ted.
Don’t get me started on the Parents Bones Song. I was so looking forward to finally hearing that with voices (it always struck me as odd that they put a song into a silent voice game). The delivery was terrible. Absolutely shocking. It makes no sense that Guybrush starts enjoying it and even says “They’re good” prompting him to write it down.
Badly Delivered Lines
For the most part Dominic Armato does a fine job as Guybrush Threepwood and you can tell he puts his heart into it. Still though, he gets some lines wrong.
For example when reading the book ‘Big Whoop: Unclaimed Bonanza or Myth?’ the last line in the passage is an ominous note on Captain Marleys death. The spoken line however is now delivered in quite a jolly way.
Later there’s a line where Threepwood is given a bet where he may have to eat a raw fish. One of the responses is something like ‘With rice, wasabi and soy sauce?’. I always imagined that being a desperate, fearful line, hoping for the best. It was delivered as an naively optimistic.
Misplaced Voice Overs
I don’t know why they felt the need to have a cheesy reading of ‘Deep in the Caribbean..’ etc. It was spooky enough as subtitles and the narrator ruins it.
Interface
In order to give the game more impressive visuals (which in most cases they have), they have removed the previous control interface that was permanently on screen.
At first this seemed like a good idea, allowing for a more attractive look and feel to the game world. The characters and settings were no longer squashed into just over half the screen. More detail could be added to make a more vibrant and interesting scene.
However, in perfecting the look of the game, they have very much messed up the actual game play.
Curse of Monkey Island had a full screen play area while still utilising point ‘n’ click controls, and managed it fine. They adapted the game to make it work. Here they’ve tried to shoehorn it in and forced it somewhere it just has no business being.
Where in CoMI you could right click to have your inventory appear, and left click to get your verbs in the MI Special Editions, they have chosen to utilise the keyboard.
It’s a point ‘n’ click game, which means you should only need your mouse. Now there’s all this fiddling around with a keyboard to make things more complicated and fiddly than they need to be.
Granted, the original games used the keyboard for pausing, saving and skipping dialogue, but those were all menu type options and not necessary for actual gameplay.
Now in the Special Editions, you have one keyboard key for your inventory, and another for your verbs. I’m not sure why they decided to seperate them making it twice as fiddly. Most of the time you’re going to want them both up. It makes the process of frustratedly clicking use everything on everything when you’re stuck on a puzzle a whole lot more frustrating.
If you can remember which buttons you’re meant to press thats a skill in itself.
Without getting that far I could already foresee a couple of puzzles that this was really going to cause problems for. A couple of puzzles which required timing and quick access to your inventory. I was not looking forward to juggling the melting mugs of grog or facing the baddie at the end of Monkey Island 2.
Final niggle with the new controls: space bar still pauses, but now goes to a menu screen instead of staying on the game. Not a huge problem, but its a preference.
The Music
Much like with the graphics, they got in some experts and masters to upgrade the beepy electronic original music from the old games and replace it with real instrumental tunes.
Though the new music is skilfully done, some of it does not have the same power that the original melodies had. Some don’t feel piratey enough, and some, even worse, just aren’t catchy any more.
Largos theme is one of these.
Missing Monkeys!
The opening of MI2 originally had an opening sequence with a couple of dancing monkeys and full cinematic credits. That’s all gone now. Where and why?
Character Designs
The intention was to make the old games look more like the newer ones so that there isn’t quite such a leap between the pixelated faces of old and the snazzy 3D of the new.
However, somewhere along the line someone thought it would be a good idea to change what some of the characters were meant to look like all together.
A good amount of the characters look great, much improved, and well worth the effort, but some are just wrong. Especially the major players who have been affected.
Elaine Marley
She is beautiful in every game. Except the Special Edition.
The model used in the original artwork was a lot of young lads first fantasy. I doubt the same will be said of the new Elaine.
See the comparison below.
To be fair, her MI2 version is much better, though she doesn’t really look like Elaine any more..
Ghost Pirate LeChuck
He’s meant to be a ghost. Why does he look solid? Why isn’t he transparent? Don’t tell me that bit of aura around him is meant to be his ghostliness. It doesn’t cut it.
Here’s an image of the original LeChuck, next to the terrible Special Edition version and a version by JinnDemonEvil on Deviantart that is infinitely better.
Captain Dread
This one is a slightly different gripe. When I think of Captain Dread, I think of a laid back yet cool guy. In the original you walk into his ship the Jolly Rasta and he doesn’t notice you til you speak while he’s gazing dreamily into the distance.
The remake has him asleep at the wheel. It gives a totally different first impression. He’s not laid back now, he’s just lazy.
It ruins his dude image.
Something about his general look is a whole lot less dudelike.
Largo LaGrande
What’s the story with that chin?
That’s not all of them, but we don’t need an extensive list here.
In Conclusion
For the most part the games look great now, and the interface and voices were somewhat dealt with better in MI2, but I’d still play through in the original style to get the most out of it.
Poor Largo seems to have gotten the brunt of the bad times, but maybe he deserved it?
