The Secret of Monkey Island SE($7.99)
Version 1.1
Review – “The fun puzzle/adventure game is back in a whole new way!”
If you ever loved the original version of this game or you are like me and just love puzzle games then this is a game that you simply must try. It is a great example for why the iPhone is such a great product, not because of the iPhone itself but because of developers willing to bring back the classics on a whole new format. On another note this game was made by Lucasarts in the 90s and they have lovingly restored and redrawn this game in order to re-release it for the iPhone.
When you first start the game you are greeted with a short movie scene that gives you the information about your character, Guybrush Threepwood, and the fact that he wants to become a pirate. The background images have all been redrawn and look great, the characters themselves are a tad pixelated and reminiscent of the original Secret of Monkey Island. In fact a neat little feature is that if you drag two features across the screen it will actually revert to the original pixelated version, so you can see what the game looked like when it was originally released.
After you the dialogue with the character on the cliff you start the actual gameplay. What you may have already noticed is that the characters in this game actually talk and have real dialogue, and it doesn’t go away either. The entire game has all of the dialogue of the original game which makes this considerably large for an iPhone game (400mb). But the voices are worth all the extra space, they are very funny and realistic. The voices are one of the many things that really brings this game to life.
With the game play itself you are given an arrow and like the original version when this arrow goes over objects, people or doors it can change in order to perform different functions, but it will usually stay in the walk mode. What I found incredibly annoying was that the different functions rarely showed up or worked the way they were supposed to and it would also go to the default of walking. On the bottom bar you can click the face icon in order to change the function. I found that this was much easier but still got pretty annoying at times.
Despite that small negative this game is massive, not only because there is a lot to it but also that the puzzle like nature of the game is actually very difficult. Don’t expect to solve everything and beat it on the bus ride home, in fact it may give you more than a few days of annoyance and frustration, depending on how much experience you have with these types of games.
Another fun feature of this game is a real storyline and great characters. That is to be expected since this was a full game before it got recreated into a game ready for the iPhone. Perhaps the iPhone will bring back all those pixellated games we used to love playing before we all went graphics crazy.
The cons of this is game is the interface can get annoying because the tap function does not tend to work the way you would like it to. Considering the small screen of the iphone gives a limited amount of space this is somewhat understandable but still very annoying when you are already frustrated from trying to figure out the game. The other con is that it is huge, granted this does give a better game in the end but those with smaller iphones may not be willing to sacrifice that much space for one game.
All in all, I really like this game. I have been wanting to try it out since I first heard about its release but I did not get around to it until now. I have no doubt that it will take me awhile to beat because I am rarely willing to take the time to click through every little thing that I need to, but for those who truly enjoy the puzzle type games this is definitely for you.
-Stephanie S.
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Developer – Lucasarts
DEVELOPER NOTES
Pirates! Adventure! Monkeys! Re-live the hilarious swashbuckling misadventures of the wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood as he attempts to become the most infamous pirate in the Caribbean!
What the press are saying:
“…a fabulous way to experience MI on a bus or at work when no one is looking.” – Destructoid.com
“Monkey Island’s point-and-click interface seems perfectly suited to the iPhone and we’re pleased to report that it works great.” – GameSpot.com
“You’re about to discover a true classic.” – Pocket Gamer
“…the best version of the game we’ve seen yet.” – Touch Arcade
FEATURES:
Back by popular demand, The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition faithfully re-imagines the internationally-acclaimed classic pirate adventure game from LucasArts with:
• An all new re-imagined contemporary art style
• Complete voice over by members of the original Monkey Island™ franchise cast
• A re-mastered musical score using live instruments
• Plus, scene-for-scene hot swap to seamlessly transition between Special Edition and Classic modes at anytime
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Full Version
Lite Version (Free!)
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