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| The Secret of Monkey Island |
 By publishing the all-time classics Maniac Mansion, Zak MacCracken, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and Loom, Lucasfilm Games (now "LucasArts") had successfully initiated the age of graphic adventures in the late 1980s and was able to crown this achievement with The Secret of Monkey Island in 1990. With beautifully hand-drawn graphics, compared to the standard at that time, and accompanied by vibrant Carribean sounds, the charming anti-heroe and wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood entered the virtual stage for the first time and sparked off an unparalleled firework of gags. His first sentence, "My name is Guybrush Threepwood, and I want to be a pirate!", was to change the way of adventure gaming for ever. |
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| Swashbuckling characters: |
 On his stony path to become a pirate, Guybrush encountered such illustrious characters such as Elaine Marley, Melee Island's ambitious governor with whom he fell in love head over heels, or galleon salesman Stan, who knew how to emphasize his words with expressive gestures like no one else. And, of course, he met the swashbuckling Undead Pirate LeChuck - Guybrush's archenemy - who left no stone unturned to find a way to send Guybrush on the direct route to hell. But we all know the devastating effect of malt beer on undead people.
Guybrush's ability to hold his breath for 10 minutes was legendary as well. Those who waited patiently were "rewarded" with Guybrush's one and only spectacular death in the entire game. Lucasfilm Games' philosophy was (and still is) that the characters cannot die in general in order to avoid the unnerving save and load procedure of so many other adventures of rival companies. |
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| Details: |
Producer:
LucasArts
Released:
In 1990
Nostalgia:
very high
System:
MS-DOS
Playable?
not any more
Available?
Low budget
Links:
MIsland.de
 Indy IV
DOTT
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| A success story: |
 With Monkey Island, Lucasfilm Games was finally able to establish its reputation as a developer of high-quality cartoon adventures and improved its position even further in the following years with Monkey Island II - LeChuck's Revenge (1991), Indiana Jones IV - The Fate of Atlantis (1992), Sam & Max Hit The Road, Maniac Mansion II - The Day of the Tentacle (both 1993), The Dig (1995), The Curse of Monkey Island (1997) and Grim Fandango (1998). Only the "interactive road movie" Full Throttle (1995) couldn't come up to its expectations, despite wonderful graphics and a cool atmosphere. |
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| Designer Ron Gilbert: |
 Monkey Island helped designer Ron Gilbert to cut a figure in the business, but after the completion of the second installment he left Lucasfilm Games and turned to developing software for children. In 1995, he returned into the gaming industry by establishing the software label Cavedog; with his first title, Total Annihilation (1997), he landed a substantial success. |
| © 2000 by CE |
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