I definitely give credit to Lucasfilm and the creators of Monkey Island for getting me hooked on Adventure games in the late eighties. The first and in my opinion the most memorable game of the series Monkey Island 1 starts out with wanna be pirate Guybrush Threepwood as he arrives on the Caribbean island of Mêlée. Guybrush encounters some very colourful characters including swords master Carla, Meathook (a man with hooks on both hands), a prisoner named Otis and three pirate leaders who set him challenges that he must complete to become a fully fledged pirate.
This in turn starts a sequence of puzzles that must be solved to move the story forward.
The real story starts when Guybrush meets the beautiful Governor Elaine Marley but unfortunately the dreaded Ghost Pirate Le Chuck has been in love with her and while Guybrush is kept busy his love interest is kidnapped and he is forced to travel to the mysterious Monkey Island. He drums up a crew, buys a ship and heads off to the mysterious island…
This is a thoroughly enjoyable point and click type adventure game by the company that created Kings Quest, Police Quest and Space Quest which were huge commercial and critical successes at the time, though on the Secret of Monkey Islands original release the game was touted as an instant
classic. Amiga Power magazine described it as "the first truly accessible adventure" and awarded it 90% while Computer + Video Game described the PC version as "utterly enthralling" and awarded it 94%.
It utilises the same game engine as the previous Quest games and shares a very similar feel to those other games though it is just as much a Comedy as an Adventure game. This game is a hilarious pirate spoof and a lot of fun to play. The graphics hold up incredibly well considering the age of the game as it recreates a magical ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ feeling. The most atmospheric sequences are the scenes set during night time on the island of Mêlée itself. The game spawned numerous sequels and there was talk of a movie, and even though a movie was never produced a play was faithfully adapted from the game. I still believe that the first two games are the best in the Monkey Island series and would highly recommend this game to those who love to have a laugh and enjoy a bit of adventure on the high seas! Ahoy Mateys!
