A question for the old school Monkey Island players..
First of all, thanks for being so cool. When you have a series that has been beloved for along time it's usually hard to break into that community. You guys have been great and I think that's definetly going to help this series to succeed. It's always more fun to get into a game if that community makes you want to be a part of it.
I've always been into console games, this is my first real PC experience( I've played stuff like card games). I loved this episode. Should I go after the older stuff? Will it seem dated? Would I be better off just trying something like Sam and Max? Another issue is that I found this really hard. I loved it, but I got really frustrated at times. Judging from other post, the old ones are harder.
This also scares me.
http://www.amazon.com/Curse-Monkey-Island-Pc/dp/B00004WGVX
Are all of them that high? Anywhere else to get them?
Thanks alot.
I've always been into console games, this is my first real PC experience( I've played stuff like card games). I loved this episode. Should I go after the older stuff? Will it seem dated? Would I be better off just trying something like Sam and Max? Another issue is that I found this really hard. I loved it, but I got really frustrated at times. Judging from other post, the old ones are harder.
This also scares me.
http://www.amazon.com/Curse-Monkey-Island-Pc/dp/B00004WGVX
Are all of them that high? Anywhere else to get them?
Thanks alot.
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Luckily you will be able to get Monkey Island 1 special edition in a couple of days from Lucasarts.
2, 3, and 4 your should be able to find on ebay reasonably priced.
Anyway, if you are interested to explore more in this genre, by all means, go for the older games. Telltale games are definitely a safe bet for the easy transition, as it will be on quite similar engine as the one you'd play (ToMI). Sam and Max is a good place to start, especially since one of the episode is playable totally free (ep 104). It is definitely much harder than MI, but you can always post in the forum for hints.
Other than TTG, there are other recent adventure games like Vampyre Story, Ceville and Ankh.
I personally would recommend The Longest Journey, which can be gotten quick cheaply off adventuregamers.com at $9.99.
Will really hold off the retro stuff a little, for the graphics will be dated and a lot of puzzles are literally pixel-hunting. Kind of take away the fun, if you are not dedicated enough to go through them.
The used ones seen reasonable. but still overpriced.
Have you tried Ebay?
However, in my opinion all the old MI games have held up incredibly well. I always hold MI 2 as the best in the series, but Curse of Monkey Island is another great jumping on point as the 2D backgrounds still look fantastic and it was the first to include voice acting. You can get it a lot cheaper than that $75 price tag on Amazon (look around eBay sites and stuff).
However, Tales of Monkey Island Episode 1 is incredibly easy when compared to some of the older puzzles (especially in MI 2 and Curse). However, this is why I again recommend looking into the MI 1 Remake (Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition) as they've added a hint system to help new players. Additionally, it will be available for the X-Box live arcade if you feel more comfortable playing on a console.
I replayed MI1 a few weeks ago and you know, it actually imo does stand the test of time. It's still funny, it's still charming and it's still absorbing. Will it feel dated? Well probably in terms of graphics and no voice acting, but it's not really a problem. 3 still looks beautiful. Ok so the characters are a little blocky but damn the background painting is gorgeous. Same really goes for 1 & 2, the backgrounds are fantastic!
4 however well, I find it easier to forgive dated 2d than dated 3d... just look at Alone in the Dark for an example of "so hideous it's almost unplayable"
Also, it's the worst in the series and most fans don't consider it canon so probably best to go for the first three. You can get all three on cd, the Monkey Island Bounty Pack. I have no idea how much this is on ebay though, it might be cheaper to locate each individually. Certainly it'll probably be easier to find 3.
And definintely give Sam and Max a go, it's great fun. Of course i'll always have a soft spot for the Lucasarts S&M game but telltale's two series are brilliant as well.
Hmmm, I'd say it depends a bit on your age (not so much because of things like maturity, but more so because of things like your focus in life--whether it be on business, a job, family, etc).
I'm and oldschool MI'er, so I'll briefly share my experience in hopes that it helps inform your decision.
I played MI 1 years and years ago on the Amiga, and loved it. I never finished it because it was too hard, heh, but I loved it to bits (then again, I loved almost any game to bits then, heh).
I played through MI 2 years later, after having played through CMI (i.e. MI3). I'm glad to have played and experienced MI2, and even played through it again recently, but I have to admit, it did feel a little dated (and well I played through it recently, I *gasp* went through the "light" version of the game with fewer puzzles).
CMI, on the other hand, was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed. From the rich, beautiful 2D backdrops, to the adorable characters chockful of personality (enhanced by the excellent voice acting), I feel a sense of appreciation that I got to experience a game as enjoyable as CMI (MI3).
MI4 was enjoyable, but I felt it took the MI series into a direction that, relative to the old games, felt a little... exaggerated.
My advice is to wait for the special edition of MI1 and see if you like that. If you enjoy that, MI2 isn't too different, so you'll probably enjoy MI2 as well. MI3 is different to the first two games, but I felt it still had the spirit of the first games. I'd say MI3 is worth playing.
What might enhance your experience of the games is if you print out a walkthrough and have it handy as you play. It sucks having to minimise out of a game to look at a walkthrough, so if you do get really stuck (or frustrated), you can at least maintain the game experience and move on through the game (although the new special edition of MI1 is supposed to have a great hint system).
A little more sane here, although I seem to remember I got a whole pack of Monkey Island games, maybe 1 through 3 or even all of them up to 4, for about that price or less.
That "Amazon Marketplace" crap is the second biggest Amazon dain bramage I have ever seen!
EDIT: Also, I wouldn't be surprised if MI 2-4 end up on Steam in the near future, like several other LucasArts games...
It's a great jumping in point, because not only is it the first game in the series but the special edition has all these updates which you will appreciate.
As for the best in the series, to me it's Monkey Island 2, but be warned it's also probably the hardest, and there is no speech/updated version for that one yet.
ScummVM team is dedicated in tuning the more notable adventure games from LucasArts, Westwood and Sierra, but some games may still be buggy. Dosbox, which emulates dos environment, give a somewhat more generic platform, which will work nicely with dos games. You will even enjoy the experience of editing "autoexec.bat" and "config.sys" files for enjoyable time to make the game run, just like how it was done in the before time. Good days.
Also, look out for fan-make patches of games on the net. They will definitely enhance the experiences of adventure gaming.
People are greedy
I used to own the Michael Jackson Moonwalker game for the megadrive and have been on and off checking ebay for the last year or two to try to get a copy for about a tenner.
Theyre about £50 now......
....Imagine how much the secret of monkey island would go for on ebay if guybrush died!
Like this for example: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/The-Curse-of-Monkey-Island-Lucasarts-Game-PC-CDRom_W0QQitemZ390067664385QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item5ad1d83601&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177&_trkparms=|293%3A1|294%3A50#ebayphotohosting
Seriously, people are more in the market of getting MJ's songs/albums at the moment. It will take a few years before the prices of his memorabilia start to spike. A mint condition of Moonwalker will fetch thousands in a decade or so.
And Guybrush did die. If not, visit Blood Island.
Temporary comedy death from holding ones breath too long or at the hands of a Goodsoup doesn't count...
damn
His life is definitely adventurous enough to deem him as a cartoon character. MJ I meant.
Kind of impressive how big a come-back he is having right now, without even trying. It seem like a whole new generation is getting to know his music with the pop-craze fervent like the 80s. And the whole period of his dubious decisions and *probably* criminal activities is just plain forgotten. This guy is like Guybrush in real life.
Btw, I'm not bashing MJ. If anything, a part of me was lost when he went to a better place. Rest in peace michael.
All in all, I would just say go crazy with the older adventure games. All of them are worth your time, especially Monkey Island. Hope my ramblings have helped. Welcome to the community!
But yeah, play MI!! NOW!
Haha, the sad thing about that is that I consider myself to be a pretty huge LOOM fanatic and am OBSESSED with a sequel needing to come out...but the only version I've ever played was the CD one...ironic isn't it?
I just finished replaying CMI again and I just love it to death.
The music always makes me happy and the characters are so much alive.
After all those years it's still my favorite game ever
I've used these hints myself occassionally, and although I guess it's not as hard core as figuring everything out yourself, it beats giving up on the entire game just because you can't figure out one puzzle.
As for Sam and Max, definitely worth it. You should definitely play them.
What is Day of the Tentacle and Loom? Are they by the same team as Monkey Island?
Yup they're by LucasArts who did MI1-M14. They're older style (Loom was released in 1990, DOTT sometime after that). Loom is a weird one, based around musical spells rather than the normal "pick up x, use x with y" etc format of games like Monkey Island.
DOTT is more of a classical MI-ish style adventure game. It's a sequel to an earlier game, Maniac Mansion (which I haven't played). Definitely worth a look at. It has tentacles in it!
Loom is a more serious epic adventure, with actually very few ties that I can think of to Monkey Island, which also has very little in terms of humor.
Loom is interesting in its gameplay. Puzzles are solved by playing music that casts spells, rather than through inventory puzzles. It's actually not too hard by classic adventure standards.
I'd say Full Throttle is a great starting point. It arguably has the best production values of all the LA adventures, its difficulty is pretty undemanding for someone who's new to the genre, and it's short enough not to suck up your life for weeks on end.