The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

The Good
The first Monkey Island in all its glory, who would say no? As anyone, when this game was announced, I was enthusiastic. I mean, what could go wrong with this remake? As long as the art style was good, there was nothing to be afraid of.

So, what's good in it ? First, the music. While true to the original, the passage from MIDI to real instrument is a blessing. Even if I miss the "warmness" of the original ones, here, it is just nostalgia.

Some continuity. I don't like Armato's voice as Guybrush, but at least Lucasarts didn't disappoint those who like him.

The ability to switch between old & new versions is a good idea, and the morphing is really well executed.

The Bad
Wait, I already know what you are thinking : "What, that's all you throw in the good section ?!" Yeah. I'm sorry.

First, the new graphics are just awful, especially the characters (Honestly, did you take a look at Guybrush ?!). Coupled with the fact it is just an override of the original game, animations don't fit with those new graphics.

Voices actors. When hearing them, I just had the feeling that the voice director at Lucasarts has gone out, asked the first people who came if they wanted to voice a game, and so they did. Another thing about the voices : why the hell am I not able to have them when playing the old version ? In order to stay true to the original way of playing ? It could just have been a great way to rediscover the original game...

Special note when your language is not english (so, english natives, skip this) : 1) This one is understandable, but it's disappointing : why don't we have voices in our languages, since MI3 and 4 had those ? Yeah, right, money... 2) Oh, why don't we have the text when playing in "old" mode in our language ? No, money is not an excuse there, the game has been translated for almost 20 years now.

The Bottom Line
I won't give this a rating.

I am in a situation where I want to give 5/5, just 'cause it is Monkey Island, and 1/5 to the remake, which is just not worth it in my opinion...

So, if what you see here and there on the net pleases you, don't hesitate, take it, I think you'll be happy with it, especially if you never played this masterpiece before. Otherwise, grab out your original Monkey Island, nothing which is worth it here.