Your favorite Monkey Island game

[Valkian]

Let's see:

1. MI1
2. MI4(GP)
3. MI6(F)
4. MI5(RN)
5. MI3
6. MI2

We are talking about Mission Impossible movies right?

[Rum Rogers]

Ok, you all had loads of fun, but this ends here.

This is the real™ official ordered list:

 

1) MI2

2) MI1

3) CMI

4) EMI

5) TMI

 

That's just how it is. Sorry to be 100% objectively right.

[Remi]

I'm glad we all agree CMI shouldn't even be considered a Monkey Island game!

[Rum Rogers]

Sure, provided that TMI stays at the last position!

[ddevlin]

On 8/18/2020 at 5:23 PM, Valkian said:

Let's see:

1. MI1
2. MI4(GP)
3. MI6(F)
4. MI5(RN)
5. MI3
6. MI2

We are talking about Mission Impossible movies right?

 

I would pay good money to see remakes of the Mission Impossible movies starring @Dmnkly as Guybrush in the Ethan Hunt role. 

[Udvarnoky]

On 8/8/2020 at 1:24 PM, Udvarnoky said:

You might have a point there with Maniac Mansion, but that game is still pretty overtly a horror/sci-fi B-movie parody, while its sequel is overtly a Saturday morning cartoon. In addition, we've seen interpretations of Maniac Mansion rendered in ink, oil and clay that predate Day of the Tentacle that managed to be much more evocative of the game's world, in my opinion. I need to shut up about that now, because if I work through my ideas here I'll end up using it as an excuse not to make the article.

 

The article, as threatened.

 

Also, special thanks to Remi for inspiring me to replay CMI this weekend. Man, what a game.

[AlfredJ]

Guys, guys, it's:

 

1. Revenge

2. Secret

3. Tales

4. That bit where you meet Herman Toothrot in The Cave

5. Curse

6. Raz saying 'it opens up into a system of catacombs' when looking at a tree stump in Psychonauts

7. Sid Meier's Pirates

8. Escape. 

 

I replayed the series not too long ago, and Escape has actually gone up a bit for me (still not enough to beat any of the others though). There are definitely weak parts (Elaine, the odd Herman stuff, a lot of the comedy/story stuff falling flat), but there are some good puzzles, some genuinely funny bits, and it does feel like a giant adventure in a large world I enjoy being a part of. Of course, due to the technology involved and some iffy art style choices, it's easily the ugliest Monkey Island game. 

 

And while I still love Curse and think it's super charming, I did feel the pacing and a lot of the comedy wasn't as good as I remember. It honestly bored me a bit at times - something the first two games never do, even though I know every single pixel of those games by heart. There's a lot of memorable fun stuff, but it's not the timeless classic some of the other Lucas games are for me. I do have a lot of fond memories playing through that game with my brothers/classmates though, so I'll never actually dislike it. 

[Remi]

4 hours ago, AlfredJ said:

Guys, guys, it's:

 

1. Revenge

2. Secret

3. Tales

4. That bit where you meet Herman Toothrot in The Cave

 

 

(a bunch of other nonsense)

 

 

I'm actually going to amend my list, and put the moment in The Cave down as #4, too. Because The Cave is awesome.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I love The Cave. Very under appreciated if you ask me. You're still a monster, though

Edited August 25, 2020 by ThunderPeel2001

[Remi]

If calling CMI meh is being a monster, then Frankenstein was in the right when he threw that little girl in the water. Or something like that.

[AlfredJ]

1 hour ago, Remi said:

If calling CMI meh is being a monster, then Frankenstein was in the right when he threw that little girl in the water. Or something like that.

 

I think you mean Frankenstein's monster. Who wasn't a monster, I agree.

 

Wait

[Remi]

I cannot believe I made the age-old Frankenstein vs. Frankenstein's monster mistake...

 

Either way, somebody threw the girl in the water, and it was OK because CMI is meh.

[Jake]

But Remi what do you REALLY think of Curse?

[Remi]

I think it’s pretty OK.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I'd like to remind the jury of the defendant's previous words:

 

On 8/13/2020 at 8:39 PM, Remi said:

CMI is a nineties sitcom gone wrong.

 

On 8/13/2020 at 8:39 PM, Remi said:

My favourite pastime is buying old boxed copies of CMI and setting them on fire.*

 

(*This quote may have been made up by me.)

 

**everyone in the courtroom faints**

 

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by ThunderPeel2001

[Jenni]

On 8/24/2020 at 8:16 PM, ThunderPeel2001 said:

I love The Cave. Very under appreciated if you ask me. 

I'm a big fan of The Cave too. If there was an option to hold two or more items at a time to reduce backtracking, it would be near perfect.

[madmardi]

Yup. I felt it was timely/appropriate to revive a 2 year old post. Especially since I saw EMI needed some love 😅

 

Anyways, just after Escape was released (around ~2000) my list was

 

1. MI2 and EMI (Tied)

2. Curse

3. MI1

 

Replaying them again recently, my opinion of Escape stayed about the same but my opinion of MI2 changed a little (just a little) for the worse as I found that it was even 'darker' than I remembered, and I'm still not sure what I think of the ending. The gameplay, music and map pieces chapter are amazing though. My new list became

 

1. EMI

2. MI2

3. Curse

4. MI1

 

And I've only played TMI twice now. Once recently, and once around when it came out, and even though it's been like 12 years I feel like I still haven't sat with it enough to definitively say where I'd place it compared to the rest (I know, I know... I need to play it a few more times). If I had to though, I would say

 

1. EMI

2. MI2

3. Curse

4. MI1 and TMI (Tied)

 

Don't get me wrong - I love them all. Every one of them. Like Dom said on twitter once, rating them is like saying which one of your kids you like best. Difficult to do, and when you compare them to the neighbours kids, you can't help but love them more 🤣

 

Oh, and btw, if it makes any difference I played them all in order, pretty much within a year or two of them each coming out. Escape wasn't my first introduction to the series in case you were wondering...

 

Edited June 6, 2022 by madmardi
because Escape From Monkey Island is awesome.

[OzzieMonkey]

I feel like ranking the MI games (or at least, my bottom 3) has to be done with the other Lucasarts adventures to provide greater context on my feelings over their overall quality. Otherwise, you have Tales and Escape right next to each other, and I don't really think they're comparable; to me, Tales is leagues better, but something has to be second last and it's hard for me to seperate the first 3 games. So here goes, my official ranking of all the Lucasarts adventures, plus Tales, plus the Telltale Sam & Max seasons (cause why not?)

 

EDIT: Updated the list to include Broken Age and Thimbleweed Park (again, cause why not)

 

1. CMI

2. MI2

3. MI1

4. Grim Fandango
5. DOTT
6. Full Throttle

7. TMI
8. Fate of Atlantis

9. Thimbleweed Park
10. Sam & Max: TDP
11. Sam & Max: BTAS

12. Sam & Max HTR
13. Sam & Max STW

14. Broken Age

15. EMI
16. The Dig
17. Last Crusade
18. Maniac Mansion
19. Zak McKracken
20. Loom

 

Edited June 7, 2022 by OzzieMonkey

[madmardi]

18 hours ago, OzzieMonkey said:

I feel like ranking the MI games (or at least, my bottom 3) has to be done with the other Lucasarts adventures to provide greater context on my feelings over their overall quality. Otherwise, you have Tales and Escape right next to each other, and I don't really think they're comparable; to me, Tales is leagues better, but something has to be second last and it's hard for me to seperate the first 3 games. So here goes, my official ranking of all the Lucasarts adventures, plus Tales, plus the Telltale Sam & Max seasons (cause why not?)

 

1. CMI

2. MI2

3. MI1

4. Grim Fandango
5. DOTT
6. Full Throttle

7. TMI
8. Fate of Atlantis
9. Sam & Max: TDP
10. Sam & Max: BTAS

11. Sam & Max HTR
12. Sam & Max STW
13. EMI
14. The Dig
15. Last Crusade
16. Maniac Mansion
17. Zak McKracken
18. Loom
 

 

Interesting... I have always grouped the MI games together as one, but throwing the other LA adventures into the mix does make it a bit more interesting. I'd have to think about it some more to see how my bigger list falls...

[anothercustard]

I think I'm coming in at..

 

1. MI2

2. CMI 

3. MI1

4. RMI

5. TMI

6. EMI

 

Obviously early days for Return, maybe it could switch with MI1 but can't see it ever displacing MI2 or CMI for me

[Alexandra IDV]

Not far enough into Return to rank it, but...

 

1. MI2

2. Secret

3. Curse

4. Tales

5. Escape

 

For a while, MI2 and Curse were tied for #1 to me, but having replayed the series ahead of Return, I've had to change my mind. The parts of Curse that I like, I really do love, but... the rushed and sudden ending, the carnival area, the way the entire town of Puerto Pollo is one screen seen from a distance + interiors... still a great game, but it's not as perfect as my memory of it was. Meanwhile, I gained a lot of new appreciation for Secret in my recent playthrough - especially the part set on Monkey Island, with its air of mystery and with its nature scenes.

[Wally B.]

I still haven't been able to play Return (and probably won't until this weekend unfortunately) but now it's a good time to rank them, since I haven't been tainted by Return and played the other 5 pretty recently (MI1 and MI2 a year ago and Escape and Tales months ago)

 

1. MI2

2. MI1

3. CMI*

4. EMI

5. TMI

 

I'll come back and make a new list when I finish ReMI and see where it goes.

 

*It almost pains me to put it in number 3, it almost ties with MI1, but just barely loses...

[Staple Remover]

Monkey Island Ranked

1. Secret of Monkey Island

2. Return to Monkey Island

3. Tales of Monkey Island

4. Curse of Monkey Island

5. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge

6. Escape from Monkey Island

Ranking all Lucasfilm (and others) Games

1. Secret of Monkey Island

2. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

3. Grim Fandango

4. Return to Monkey Island

5. Tales of Monkey Island

6. Curse of Monkey Island

7. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge

8. Day of the Tentacle

9. Thimbleweed Park

10. Sam and Max: DP

11. Full Throttle

12. Sam and Max: BTS

13: Sam and Max: STW

14. Escape from Monkey Island

15. Sam and Max: HTR

16. Maniac Mansion

17. Indy Last Crusade

18. Loom

19. The Dig

20. Zak McCracken

21. Broken Age

[backtothemansion]

At the moment i'm head over heels in love with Return so my current opinion might be biased and change over time.

 

1. Secret of Monkey Island

2. Return to Monkey Island

3. Curse of Monkey Island

4. Monkey Island 2

5. Tales of Monkey Island

6. Escape from Monkey Island

[BaronGrackle]

1. Secret

2. Revenge

3. Tales

4. Curse

5. Return

6. Escape

7. Full Throttle, Sam and Max, several other games

 

I'm still in Part 2 of Return, so I'll update if my opinion changes.

 

If I can put The Cave on the list, move it to #1. Maybe the Hillbilly is in Guybrush's family. 😛 But I got the message from that game, about obsession with what we perceive as our heart's desire driving us away from life itself.

Edited September 26, 2022 by BaronGrackle