Summary
Another day, another
Monkey Island 2 review
The Good
You know, as far as I know, if a game company releases a game, and that game was successful enough to sell more than a thousand copies, then chances are the game company will release a sequel to the game. That's what happened to
The Secret of Monkey Island. In
The Secret of Monkey Island, Guybrush came to Mêlée Island’, where he says that he wants to become a pirate. He was told in order to become one, he must complete the three trials. After he completes them, he sets sail to Monkey Island’ where he rescues the governor and defeats LeChuck with root beer spray.
In
Monkey Island 2, Guybrush arrives on Scabb Island where he tells some strangers sitting by the campfire the story of how he defeated LeChuck at his own game, and that he is looking for some treasure known simply as Big Whoop. When the strangers don't believe him, he sets off on another one of his adventures. He then goes to the town of Woodtick, where he finds out that the whole island is taken over by Largo LaGrande, who gives specific instructions that nobody is to enter or leave Scabb Island (at least, not while he's in control). Guybrush encounters him when he attempts to cross the bridge. Largo takes all of Guybrush's treasure, makes a threat that he can't hide from him whether he is on sea or land, and then leaves. Guybrush's first task is to find a way to make Largo leave the island. Later, he finds out that in order to find Big Whoop, he must find four map pieces, with each map piece taken by four pirates that went their separate ways. Guybrush is free to leave Woodtick, and explore other areas of Scabb Island. The game tells you where Guybrush is when the map immediately appears.
After the stupid lame-o copy protection screen, you get two options. The first one, "Monkey Island 2", is the option available for hard-core adventure gamers. The option allows you to tough it out on the puzzles that lie ahead of you. If you select this option, the game will be so long that you won't be ale to finish it in the next two hours. The second option, "Monkey 2 Lite", makes it easier for people that are new to adventure games, and it is this part that contains no puzzles at all. Although this option is also available for people who don't want to waste days playing
Monkey 2, you should be aware that by selecting "Monkey 2 Lite", you risk of not seeing some amazing scenes that this game has to offer. for example, in "Monkey Island 2", you are supposed to enter this spitting contest. In "Monkey 2 Lite", this scene is omitted.
Like
The Secret of Monkey Island, this game has four parts. To make sure that I don't spoil it for you, I can tell you that Part One has Guybrush searching for a way to rid Largo, while Part Two has him locating the four map pieces, and this won't be easy (unless you have select "Monkey 2 Lite"). Once Guybrush gets rid of Largo, he is then free to explore three other islands by pointing to the sailor where he wants to go. These islands include Phatt Island and Booty Island. But later in the game, Guybrush will discover a fourth island, nicknamed "Dinky Island". Regardless of what island you select, there are plenty of things to see and do on each island. Since
Monkey 2 uses
LucasArts' SCUMM interface, you perform actions by choosing commands from the command menu. The list of commands has been reduced from twelve to nine, to make way for the icon-based inventory that also appears in the CD-ROM version of
Monkey Island. Therefore, you won't be needing any extra commands such as TURN ON, TURN OFF, and WALK TO. (The WALK TO command is automatically selected when you click on a command, then click nothing on screen.)
Mostly all the characters that were in the original game are also seen in
Monkey Island 2, including the Voodoo Lady, Stan, Herman Toothrot, and, of course, LeChuck and Governor Elaine Marley. I found it easy to relate to the characters. Stan has quit his job at selling previously owned vessels, and tries his luck selling you the best coffins. Elaine now hates Guybrush for leaving her for another woman, and Guybrush himself has recently ditched his old white button-up shirt, and grew a beard and wears a jacket to look (and feel) more like a man, not a wimp. I believe that
Monkey Island 2 has more humor than
Monkey Island. On Booty Island, I could rattle the garbage can outside a mansion's kitchen to make the chef come out, and run around the house while the chef curses at me. Also, every time I found one of the map pieces, I got to watch a cut-scene with Largo and LeChuck, and what evil plans that they have in store for Guybrush.
Like
Monkey Island, the games graphics are in 256 colors, and look to be hand-painted, causing them to be rich and a lot more colorful than those that the original game has. The sound and music is excellent as well, although they are not up to the same standards as
Sam & Max Hit the Road and
Day of the Tentacle. However, the music has that reggae feel to it. The sound can be heard through Adlib, Sound Blaster, Adlib, Roland, or the PC Speaker.
The Bad
Arg, ye dare question this game? I'll slid yer throat and feed ye to the sharks, I will.
The Bottom Line
An excellent game, but not good enough in relation to future Monkey Island adventures.
Monkey 2 worked beautiful on my P4/1.8G, no timer-related issue or no crashes. There was no need to use DOSBox or some slowdown program. What a surprise!
Rating: *****
