Your first Monkey Island moment....

[elTee]

There seems to be an interesting number of people who remember being stuck on (or remembering how to solve) the cooking-pot=helmet puzzle. This is in fact the only puzzle I remember solving, because it came as a flash of inspiration when I was in my bedroom getting dressed, nowhere near to the PC downstairs. "I can wear the pan!!" I nearly broke my neck running down the stairs. Ah.

 

It's interesting though - The Secret Of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge are both fondly remembered as great games, and rightly so, but The Curse Of Monkey Island is different. I think (at least personally speaking) it was because as young Monkey Island fans who found Mixnmojo and The Scumm Bar online it was a big thing that "Ron wasn't involved in MI3!!" - like he single-handedly made the first two or something. Of course I loved CMI from the moment I played it, but there was a period of time where I regarded it as inferior or insignificant almost.

 

Of course, that's complete rubbish. The Curse Of Monkey Island is as good as anything LucasArts ever made, and the ridiculously high production values (and my God, the soundtrack) place it in an altogether higher calibre of adventure games. I always kind of doubted the whole "there's a big secret!" thing anyway, and in fact my very first post on the newly formed LucasForums was a debunk of that concept.

 

So anyway my long winded point is this: whilst I remember The Secret Of Monkey Island as the brilliant game that introduced me to point-and-click adventure games, and Monkey Island 2 as its superior sequel, The Curse Of Monkey Island has found a place in my memory as the "forgotten" Monkey Island game. If Ron Gilbert somehow managed to make a "real" Monkey Island 3, I would be very surprised if it were better than The Curse Of Monkey Island.

 

And there the trilogy ends. I once heard some crackpot talking about a fourth Monkey Island game, but that was just a bad dream.

[Joshi]

Yes, indeed, I was also stuck on the cooking pot thing (we figured out the pot-helmet thing as it being a hark back to the first time we did that). Possibly the only thing we had to get a walkthrough for was the cooking pot, but after we figured that out the rest was gravy (not amazingly easy, but entertainingly hard)

[orudge]

Oooh, that's going back a bit. First time I played Monkey Island was at school - we were doing a class project on islands, and the teacher brought in Monkey Island, which we got to play in groups now and then on the old 486 in the corner of the classroom (this would have been 1997 or 1998, I think). I seem to remember one day we had an open evening, and there were a few of us just sitting there playing Monkey Island the whole time - we completed MI1, and got started on MI2! I got my own copies of the games a bit later, and then CMI and EMI in future years, great stuff. I really must thank that teacher, as strict as she often was, for she introduced me to a wonderful world of adventure gaming.

[elTee]

Haha, we had a teacher that did that. Except it was Police Quest 1.

[Scorpicus]

The first time I played Monkey Island was because my little brother's friend had come round our house and brought with him a multi pack of MI 1, 2 & 3.

 

I came in to try and boot them off the PC so I could go on the internet, but instantly got hooked! We actually got the friend to stay overnght so we could keep playing!

[Ben31]

Sadly my memories of playing the Monkey Island games for the first time are very murky and vague. I do however distinctly remember getting Simon the Sorceror for my 7th birthday. Meaning i was younger than 7 at least 'cos MI got me into point + click adventures.. Our uncle copied SOMI for us. Although at that time it was really my 2 older brothers who were into it. When they decided to let me have a go after i'd be dazzled just watching them, i became hooked ever since.

 

Kinda a frustrating tale because i think due to it being cracked or something it crashed in exactly the same point ever damn time! Meaning we couldn't finish it It was the 4th disk that was messed up so we couldn't actually get onto Monkey Island. This was all on an old Amiga so by like the late 90's early 2000 i dont think you could get the games on it anymore. I did play it like over 40 times, my brothers were amazed at me. i had streams of saved games but for only to get to the cannon part each time praying it'd work. Heh, i love(d) that game so damn much it was so fun to play, just talking to the pirates in the Scumm bar was fun ! Anyway countless times my dad or his borther would have a "solution" and each time it failed!! Argh it was so sad when i got my hopes up and then for it not to work. I think we did get a version to work, which was magical, finally getting to Monkey Island. But it messed up when i used the banana's on the monkey. I think we must have leant it from someone since we didn't play again. By this time i'd also played MI2 30+ times which also crashed. Whenever you walked into the Big Tree screen or went to Elaine's mansion. I remember seeing the bounty pack in Sainsbury's. My jaw dropped to the ground, i was like !! omg omg omg !! Sadly we weren't with the times and didn't have a PC then. I was thinkin of just buying it anyway for the future but i didn't. Which i shoulda done. The time came when we finally got a PC - that woulda been in the year 2001 or 02. Anyway, i couldn't find the bounty pack i had seen in Sainsbury's, which was typical. I think around 03 i had the bright idea i could download them off Kazaa since i couldn't find them anywhere else. And the time came. I'd heard things about the ending and you burst into the wedding cos i wondered what that was used for. I COULDN'T wait!! I instantly loaded up the first one. It was great, the music, the graphics. Everything. Even though id played it through the last 7 years on and off, i was so excited at finishing it.

 

I played it through and enjoyed ever second of it. I used to think about what it'd be like, exploring the island, going into the fiery caverns!! And now i was experiencing it. I just loved going on the ghost ship. Going into the cannibals place i'd heard about. Then the end. I OFTEN thought to myself what it would be like running through the town of Melee Island to the church, t'was great! Then the ending was surprising. And very funny. Me and my brother couldn't stop laughing when it came up "Action Reply"

 

As for the second, arguably my favourite (its too close to tell! but i like the voodoo dolls/map peices stuff). This was great cos i hadn't played any further unlike SOMI. Going to the mansion, wow. That was fun. The whole thing. I'd also heard Wally's involved and couldn't wait to get near the end. Going to LeChucks fortress!!! Wow, magic. The ending was confusing but brilliant. I loved it when he pulls off LeChucks leg then for them to turn out as kids was confusing. But it makes you think of all the different meanings/possibilities. What it actually was. And i thought it was clever and loved it.

 

 

Eugh, i go on terribly... This thread started out as "Your first Monkey Island moment" i think i went slightly off the subject. But whilst i don't remember the first time i played it, i remember a lot of the time through the years around that time.

[Gabez]

My aunt and uncle first got me into gaming... they'd got a new computer and it came bundled with Magic Carpet, but they were too stupid to play it so they gave it to me. I loved that game, completed it, moved onto Dungeon Keeper. Loved it, completed it, moved onto Red Alert. Loved it, completed it, saw a screenshot for CMI in a games magazine, thought that looked like fun, bought it, completed it (etc. etc)

 

I do remember playing Grannies Garden on the BBC computer with my sister when I was three, though. That probably gave me the lust for adventure gaming later on.

[Melody]

Mine would have been in 1990, when I was 10. I had the discs for the Amiga.

I was forever phoning my friends for tips. Ever since then Ive been the one handing out hints for adventure games. You just cant beat them!

 

I love Murray, he rocks!

 

MWHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

 

[Peff]

1998 i think. I phoned a pc store and asked if they had any monkey island games. He said "No we don't have any monkey island games". A person who was in the same room recognized "monkey Island" and said "My son has that game!"

 

Then he made a copy and sent it to me. I was 7, and the game was Comi ^^

Later in 2000 I got Efmi for Christmas and played it ^^ Loved it.

 

Then the Comi cd one day got bugged and I bought the bounty pack on ebay.

 

I have now played all of the games, and cant put my finger on wich i think was the best..

 

Last month i re-played Efmi for the 2 time in 6 years, and now I'm loving it even more

[Mr.Lukie]

Something like 1993. I was about 4, and My uncle [These guys must have some kind of "Monkey Island introducing" cult. So many of us were introduced by our uncles!] Anyway, I was watching my Cousin play my Uncle's computer one day, and I remeber being intrigued by the name "Monkey Island". My earliest memory of it is seeing those Monkies running across the screen at the start of Monkey Island 2. The other images that stuck in my mind were the interior of Largo's hotel, and the moment were there is a flash of lightning as Guybrush hold up the bone of Largo's relative. Priceless.

 

My Uncle also introduced me to a lot of other Lucasarts games. I have distinct memories of being introduced to DOTT, Sam and Max and Indianna Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, in that order.

 

Anyway, these games were nothing but intriguing memories for about 10 years, as I existed without adventure games. However, one day to my great surprise I found a copy of EMI for loan at my local library. Remembering the game that had interested me so long ago, I decided to try it out. What did I have to lose? Needless to say, I was captivated. I immediatly bought CMI, loved that even more, and then aquired MI1 and MI2.

 

I even found a talkie double disc of Sam and Max/Day of the Tentacle at a garge sale for $2.

 

Long story short, I've been very fortunate.

[Thrik]

Hahaha. Yes, the common intervention of uncles is indeed a little odd!

[igyman]

I don't remember exactly how old I was, but let's say nine, or ten. The first Monkey Island I've played was Curse of Monkey Island and it was one of the best games of that time.

[RicardoLuigi...]

*Sigh* Oh geez.

 

I was like 6 or 7 and my grandpa sent us the first one, and I played through the whole thing with my mom, and we didn't use any hints or walkthroughs or anything. It was so much fun. From there, he sent the second and third, and...I'm not sure whether he sent the fourth, or whether I bought it myself when it came out. I think I must have gotten it myself for some reason.

[poolking]

I first came across Monkey Island back in 1992.

[Smon]

My first MI experience was about a year ago when I borrwed MI2 from a friend after reading about Schafer's games before Psychonauts.

[Krakko]

Unfortunately, the first and the only Monkey Island I have ever played was Escape from Monkey Island. I got it recently because I was watching G4 and there was stuff about how good MI was, so I thought, heh, what the heck it's cheap and it's an MI game, so it must be good. Boy was I wrong. I wish I could have played secret 1 or 2, but I'm getting Curse soon.

 

By the way, did Tim Schafer help with Curse of Monkey Island?

 

dude just download them (MI 1 & 2).. or is that like condemned here? You're not gonna find them in any stores anywhere, maybe on ebay if your lucky

[elTee]

It's not encouraged... if people want to illegally download games, we can't stop them, but obviously don't shout about it and/or paste any links in the forums.

[Smon]

I thought SMI & LcR were abandonware since LA doesn't sell it anymore...

[Thrik]

There's no such thing. At least, not in a legal sense.

[elTee]

Some benevolent companies that realise there is no more milk to be had from the cow give their old games away free, and supported. I'm talking about Revolution. LucasArts would have a lot more friends if they put Zak McKracken or Loom for download on their website - no one will ever pay for these games again, excluding collectors who won't be interested in downloads anyway. Hell, they should bundle Fate of Atlantis or Last Crusade as a freebie with their 2007 Indy game. If Nintendo can give away Zelda, and Revolution can give away Beneath A Steel Sky... well.

 

I mean, they could probably make some money out of offering those old games on a $5 download-only platform. Three for ten dollars! In a nice self-extracting zip file.

 

Of course, doing that would mean they'd have to either a) rework the games slightly so they'd work on XP (faaar too much trouble) or b) start supporting ScummVM, like Revolution did. That kind of fan-outreach would be grossly out of character though.

[Joshi]

Or, like revolution, they could continue to sell their old game, like Broke Sword, where as far as I know, the first two (I know the second one definately is) still available in stores (as is the third, but that's only to be expected it beig so new)

[Thrik]

I've not seen BS in stores since, like, ten years ago. Where'd you see it? Might have to go have a scout! ;

[loveandevol]

I was too young too remember specifics but it was Secret of Monkey Island on windows 3.1. My only adventures before that were Kings Quest 1 & 3 and Police Quest 3. My wheel was photocopied and I never saw a box for it so I assume it was a pirate my gramps had but I didn't know what that was at the time. The version was the 16 color issue.

 

What did I get stuck on or remember the most? Well I was shocked to get into the scummbar kitchen, I did as much of the story as possible without going in there. I was badly tricked by the stump joke I think I may have even dreamt going into it. I was also really bothered by the PTA minutes as I never heard the term minutes used that way and I swear I tried to use them on every single thing in the game.

 

What I think of first when MI comes up is just how believable all those places were. I am just now starting to work with AGS and making similar adventure games but its made me remember and appreciate the magic of the story coming together with the backgrounds. When I went to Monkey Island I really felt a world away from the lookout point at the beginning of the game. Nothing has really brought that sense of world, not even QFG games, Mario 64, or the Grand Theft Auto series in all its 3d glory.

 

I have only finished the first two and played 30 minutes worth of CMI. I really don't know if I want to play the last two. Maybe EMI for the nostalgia of the first one but I really wasn't that impressed with MI2 even. I see its usually taken to be the best in the series but I just can't agree. Like Cool Runnings, it had its moments. But I have replayed MI 1 every other year since I first came across it and I have a feeling that until I make my own MI themed game I will never be satisfied.

[counting_pine]

I've not seen BS in stores since, like, ten years ago. Where'd you see it? Might have to go have a scout! ;

You can buy Broken Sword, on its own or bundled with Broken Sword 2 (they're both the same price, so, tough choice...), online from Sold-out Software

[Joshi]

=I've not seen BS in stores since, like, ten years ago. Where'd you see it? Might have to go have a scout! ;

 

About a month or so ago I was inexplicably in Dixons and my friend bought BS2 (indeed distributed by Sold Out) and I do remember seeing the first on sale there as well (which I'd told him to buy considering he hadn't played a single BS in his life, but nevermind).

 

I should also think that any Game store would have it stocked, and yes, you can also buy it bundled with the second game.