The Secret of Monkey Island

aka: The Secret of Monkey Island: Enhanced Version, The Secret of Monkey Island: VGA CD-ROM version
Moby ID: 141074
DOS Specs
Included in Original See Also

Description

An updated version of The Secret of Monkey Island with some graphical and audio updates.

A notable change includes the inventory using icons instead of text, like in *Monkey Island 2

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Credits (Macintosh version)

50 People (47 developers, 3 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 16 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 117 ratings with 4 reviews)

The BEST LucasArts game!

The Good
Everything! I loved the funny little sprites, the music, the dialogue, the sound effects - everything! I bought the CD version in a second hand shop for $3. Best $3 I ever spent!

The Bad
The one thing I didn't like about this game was that the puzzles were a bit tedious. Sometimes they didn't make sense. But that minor little problem doesn't let down the whole game.

The Bottom Line
If you get it, I'd get the CD version. It contains enhanced graphics and better music. It also includes sound effects. For $3, what a bargain! LucasArts really topped it off with this one!

DOS · by James1 (240) · 2001

Guybrush goes to the "Next Level".

The Good
The Secret Of Monkey Island for the Sega CD is a near-perfect port of the DOS game of the same name. Most of what is great about this Lucasfilm PC adventure game is still great on the Sega CD.

The player takes control of a young and naive wannabe pirate as he explores the people, places and puzzles found in some Caribbean islands.

Initially, you are on a quest to become a pirate, at least in the eyes of the pirate leaders who hang out in a crummy looking bar.

However, as the game's story progresses you quickly become entangled in a supernatural and super funny world of zombie pirates, sword fighting, jail breaks, monkeys, a beautiful governor, cannibals and, yes, a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle of it.

Guybrush is (mostly) easy to control with the standard Sega controller, and a password feature allows you to save your progress in the game.

But for a few faults the game is a perfect port of an adventure games classic. What faults are these you may be asking? Well, some are the fault of Sega and some are the fault of Lucasfilm.

The Bad
The Sega CD promised to be the "Next Level" in gaming, but the hype was mostly just that.

The Sega CD had less internal memory then the Sega Genesis, and could only utilize 64 on-screen colors out of a total pallet of 512.

These two design flaws made it difficult for Lucasfilm to produce a perfect port of the Secret Of Monkey Island.

Standard PC computers often had more internal memory and the ability to utilize far more colors.

The Sega CD port has fewer colors, giving it a somewhat duller or darker tone.

The Sega CD port has to pause, quite often, to load the music, or whenever you move to a new location or, in the sword fighting quest, look through your list of available insults. It rarely goes longer then a few minutes, but it is noticeable.

The password feature, while helpful, doesn't always save all the items you collected. It does save the items you need to complete the required puzzles, but it does seem to discard the optional inventory items, where much of the game's humor comes from.

Finally, I have to say that it probably would have made much more sense to have released Monkey Island 1 and 2 as a boxed set collection or, the first Monkey Island with another classic adventure games.

The Sega CD port of Monkey Island didn't sell enough copies to warrant future ports of Lucadfilm adventure games. Why?

Beyond a lack luster advertising campaign, little in the game really takes advantage of the massive storage capacity of the Sega.

Had the first two Monkey Island games been sold together on the Sega CD, or maybe the first two Manic Mansions sold with Monkey Island 1, it would have been in a better position to justify the port of classic adventure games to the CD format.

The Bottom Line
Sega CD gamers have, in this game, a nearly perfect port of a PC adventure game classic. The Secret Of Monkey doesn't highlight the Sega CD potential terribly well, and suffers from the system's embarrassing hardware limitations. However, the game is still fun to play and a must own for any die-hard adventure gamer.

SEGA CD · by Edward TJ Brown (118) · 2014

Look Behind You! Its A Three-Headed Monkey!

The Good
The Secret of Monkey Island came to the Sega CD! Few graphic adventure games were released for the home console systems, let alone a wonderful game such as this. Everything that was great and laugh out loud funny about the computer version is here in full glory, along with a password feature.

The Bad
The first two problems are due to the hardware limitations of the Sega CD, which become even more absurd given the fact that this is not a perfect adaption of an old computer game.

Their is a loading time, that is not too terribly long but you will probably notice it from time to time. While most computers used 256+ on screen colors, the Sega CD only used 64, which gives Monkey Island a slightly drab and washed out look. The other problems stem more from the choices made by the friendly folks at Lucas Arts.

The passwords only return you to the general vicinity where you quit, with some of the items you collected missing. It is not a major problem because it does not interfere with the ability to beat the game, but it is something worth noting.

Last, but not least, the marketing behind this game was almost non-existent from what I can remember. As a limited commercial success, LucasArts decided not to release more of their CD-ROM graphic adventure games for the Sega CD.

The Bottom Line
The Sega CD version of the Secret of Monkey Island does not offer any major differences from the CD-ROM computer edition, beyond a password feature, single speed loading time and a slightly more drab look.

While it is hard, if not unwise, to mess with something as great as Monkey Island the Sega CD edition never got the support that it needed to be successful and thus home console gamers had to do with more LucasArts adventure games.

SEGA CD · by ETJB (428) · 2010

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MAT.

Macintosh added by Kabushi. FM Towns added by Terok Nor. SEGA CD added by Unicorn Lynx.

Additional contributors: Alaka.

Game added January 21, 2020. Last modified March 2, 2024.