Monkey Island 2 Remake

[Jenni]

I just finished it. A couple of things bugged me, all of which have been mentioned here. The thing that bugged me the most, of course, was the lack of the intro. It really took a lot away from the polished feel of the game. I really don't know why they took that out.

 

The other thing that bugged me was the too-fast timing on some puzzles, all of which have been mentioned. Stan popped right out of the coffin without even giving me a chance to hammer it shut, and the Spit-Master came right back after I blew the horn. That made it more frustrating than it should have been.

 

Everything else I loved though. The interface was much better this time, although I got so used to the short-cut keys for verbs from the last special edition, I used them here too (I was glad to see they kept the shortcut keys the same too, since I'd already had them memorized).

 

Oh, and another nit-picky thing I noticed about changed dialog: the dialog when Guybrush inhales helium has been changed. The song Stayin' Alive is gone, and the monkey in my pocket song from CMI is in there instead.

[ATMachine]

"There's only shiny pages left in the catalogue" (at the outhouse)

"Cheese grater/Sword sheath"

"Inspected by 27" (when looking at the hat)

 

The "catalog" is most likely a Sears catalog. For years Sears published a lavish semiannual catalog in the US, and its pages were often used as impromptu toilet paper by people who'd run out while reading the catalog on the john. I guess Guybrush doesn't want to use glossy paper to wipe up.

 

The "cheese grater/sword sheath" is an object in the antique shop that looks so unusual that Guybrush can't even tell what it does. It's always been hard to make out just what it looks like, though, thanks to the low resolution. It's much clearer in the original concept art (as can be seen in the SE art gallery).

 

"Inspected by 27" is a reference to the sort of stickers that come on hats and other articles of clothing, usually mass-produced items, when you first buy them. They're stuck on the hats as part of the production/quality-control process, and you remove them before wearing.

 

Oh, yeah, you were right: I was wrong about the dialogue on the pier, and about the fountain pen/wreath. I can't get EVERYTHING right, can I?

[elTee]

Ouch. At the end of the credits it says 'Tim Schaffer'. That sucks! This is an official product, not a forum :~

[elTee]

Oh and haha, I'm listed at #31 on the PSN leaderboard. SurplusGamer is at 29! That's funny. Of course, as more and more people play it, the lower down the board I'll go... but maybe a speedrun will be in order one day ;

[KestrelPi]

Thought I'd just let you know that I'm working on mixing together the extracted MI2 soundtrack files into something more usable as a soundtrack to listen to. I've started with Captain Kate. Sounds pretty good!

[Aububuh]

Thought I'd just let you know that I'm working on mixing together the extracted MI2 soundtrack files into something more usable as a soundtrack to listen to. I've started with Captain Kate. Sounds pretty good!

 

I was about to do that, but all right. Maybe we can work on separate tracks, and get it done faster. I'll start on the Underground Tunnels.

[ATMachine]

A couple of other people on the Telltale forums noticed a few other legality-based changes:

 

Originally Guybrush said "I feel pretty, oh so pretty" when looking at himself (wearing the dress) in the mirror in Elaine's bedroom. This is a copyrighted song, and has thus been replaced by a remark where he admires his new-grown beard.

 

Also, when Guybrush inhales helium in the underground tunnels, originally he might sing a section from "Stayin' Alive." This likewise has been removed, and in its place he sings "There's a Monkey In My Pocket" from CMI.

[KestrelPi]

Aubuhbuh - Okay, I've been working on the Swamp music, so if you do woodtick I'll work on some of the Phatt island tunes. That's most of the hard stuff, I think, the rest is pretty straightforward rips.

[Aububuh]

Aubuhbuh - Okay, I've been working on the Swamp music, so if you do woodtick I'll work on some of the Phatt island tunes. That's most of the hard stuff, I think, the rest is pretty straightforward rips.

 

All right. Just as a heads up, I'm going to be leaving tomorrow for a couple of days, so Woodtick will have to wait until I get back. I can probably get a good chunk of the tunnels done before I leave, but I'm just making sure you don't think I'm just not doing it.

[KestrelPi]

Okay, well once I've done a couple more tomorrow night (maybe I'll do largo/stabbing largo and something else) I'll start up a new thread so we can keep everything organised.

[The Tingler]

What the hell is the leaderboard judging anyway? Time? I'd gladly lose that contest.

[ATMachine]

So I just extracted the original-MI2 background drawings from the SE, and made an interesting discovery in the process.

 

One of the early backgrounds, an unused nighttime version of the kitchen in Elaine's mansion, bears the label "Marley's Kitchen - Crooked Is."

 

An unusual name. But, all of the daytime Booty Island backgrounds are clearly labeled Booty Island.

 

So, it appears that early on in the process of designing MI2, Booty Island was known as Crooked Island, and it was always nighttime there, like on Scabb, or Melee Island from MI1.

 

Then the island was switched to daytime and renamed from Crooked to Booty.

 

Incidentally, a few other alternate nighttime backgrounds from Crooked Island are shown in the SE art gallery, including the antique shop interior, the mansion guardhouse, and the interior of Stan's Used Coffins (the latter of which survived long enough to be seen in the old MI2 rolling demo).

 

Oh, and it's REALLY fascinating to see other rooms that got cut from the game. Of which more later.

[Aububuh]

Alright, Underground Tunnels finished. Where should I put it so you guys can have a listen?

[Kroms]

Ouch. At the end of the credits it says 'Tim Schaffer'. That sucks! This is an official product, not a forum :~

 

What did I tell you? That Schaffer guy is slowly taking over the world.

[draedan]

yesterday, I just started monkey2 se and stayed at the same scene just to listen to the melody I loved while working. So, I really do appreciate if anyone extracts all the new music in mp3 or else form !

[gazzalfc]

Few criticisms for the iphone version

 

No intro - what the f***! the intro was one of the best bits of the original

 

Poor translation of the iMuse system - This was explained during the trailer and that is the limitations of using digital music but the music when swapping between rooms just isn't as seamless as the original

 

Massive lag when exiting rooms - Can be really noticable when playing and does take you out of the game

 

I'm sure some of these will change with updates but it really is a quality game. Surprised at how much i remembered from the last time I played

[gazzalfc]

I have a theory on why the intro was cut

 

Its been well documented that the team had major problems with the iMuse system.

 

Maybe they just couldn't seamlessly link the intro music to the woodtick music so decided to dump it

 

I still think its criminal that its been removed

[ThunderPeel2001]

Oh, yeah, you were right: I was wrong about the dialogue on the pier, and about the fountain pen/wreath. I can't get EVERYTHING right, can I?

 

No sir! I think 99.999% of the time is good enough, though

[Monkey Mania]

Evidence suggests that LucasArts ran out of time and released an incomplete game. When the graphics are extracted, you can see many sprites that never got translated. The dancing monkeys were complete, but mad guybrush wasn't.

 

The intro wasn't included because it wasn't finished!

[Laserschwert]

As I've said before, a music file named "OpeningCredits" is included, so the credits were expected, at least on Jesse Harlin's part.

[elTee]

So, it appears that early on in the process of designing MI2, Booty Island was known as Crooked Island, and it was always nighttime there, like on Scabb, or Melee Island from MI1.

 

Weird! Crooked Island would be a more appropriate name for what is now Phatt Island.

[Laserschwert]

Possibly it was just renamed to Phatt Island once Governor Phatt rose to power

 

By the way, the pure "Whistle"-track, than ran during the "you could go an wash your car" post credits is included as well... strange, that those lines are still missing from the game.

[JezzaTheLagomorph]

How is mad Guybrush not complete? I'm not going to be getting the game for a while, so I'd like to know about some of this stuff.

[LordTrilobite]

Did anyone notice that this is the second time they added a Grim Fandango reference in to the game that wasn't there before? Could this be a subtle hint? I hope so

[simonsoup]

I'm enjoying it very much so far! Just into Part Two now.

 

Like others, I was quite disheartened to find that the credit sequence was cut - the whole original structure of the intro establishes the atmosphere so well, and I think it was an awful mistake to trim that. I agree it must have been a rush rather than a design decision on LucasArts' part.

 

But after that first disappointment, it's a pleasure to play the game with all of the improvements in place and the general polish is terrific.

 

My favourite updated art so far is Captain Dread's map, so I made it a widescreen 1600x900 desktop - if anyone else would like to use it, here it is.

 

Edit: Oh, for some reason Tumblr has has made my 1600x900 file only 1280x720 - maybe I'll upload elsewhere later on...