Details of Monkey Island

[MurraySchull]

As much as I love this series, and have done since I was 12, I do think, looking back, that I did probably overplay them back in the day. I played them a lot as a kid when I first discovered them (simultaneously as well, which was interesting!) and not only did I cheat all the way through the series after one difficult puzzle, but I printed off WorldOfMi’s “Easter eggs” pages for all of the games and made sure that I tried *all* of them! (I had a lot of free time in the 2000’s, okay!) Even Tales, I went back and replayed often very quickly. Because of this, I feel like I've discovered everything there is to discover, and I don’t really express much emotion when playing through the series anymore as they’re just second nature to me at this point, even with years between playthroughs as it’s been since 2010.

 

That being said… I didn’t know about the storekeeper stuff! Just tried it out and yeah, it’s great! I also only discovered fairly recently that you can get money for breath mints/the minutes from the Melee Island map pirates. Once in a while during a playthrough, there will be something new I discover, but I did most of that back discovery back in the day to be honest!

 

For these reasons, and also due to being older and just generally having less time, I’ll definitely take my time during the first ReMI playthrough, won’t cheat (barring the hint system if required) and replay it more sparingly over time to allow myself to have an emotional attachment to it for longer.

Edited September 17, 2022 by fentongames

[ThunderPeel2001]

The danger in following a walkthrough is that you miss all of the other little details.

 

I've probably written about my experience with Monkey 1 before, but here it is again: I fell in love with the game from the Amiga Power review of it... I just didn't have the RAM upgrade that allowed my Amiga to play it. I got myself a copy of the game from a friend (hey Ron absolved me from my childhood piracy when I backed Thimbleweed Park!) and waited with the disks until I eventually got the RAM required to play the game for my birthday, many months later (felt like a whole lifetime!).

 

When I finally got the RAM upgrade, it was time to put these mysterious disks in and see what the game was about. I loved it from the opening appearance of the LucasFilm logo. The music was incredible. I say through the entire thing and the game just kept on giving.

 

It was one of the few times in my life where my expectations didn't destroy the reality. The game was as good as, or even better than, I imagined. I felt someone had reached out directly to me, and my sensibilities. I adored it.

 

For some reason I thought the entire game was just on Melee Island. I thought when I got the ship from Stan that the final disk (#4) was going to be used for a big animation or something. I couldn't believe it when I actually got to go aboard and enjoy that fun little self-contained puzzle. It was a nice breather after the long time I spent on Melee... but LO! if I didn't then get to spend disk 4 walking around Monkey Island itself!

 

I honestly don't know why I was so surprised. I guess I was 12. But I loved it either way.

[ThunderPeel2001]

You know, in hindsight I don't see "Meathook" is that much of a better name than "Canonball Head" 🤔

Edited September 19, 2022 by ThunderPeel2001

[BillyCheers]

12 minutes ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

You know, in hindsight I don't see "Meathook" is that much of a better name than "Canonball Head" 🤔

Lots of the names in MI1 and 2 are kind of … childish/weird? 😅

 

Booty, Phatt, Scabb etc.

[ThunderPeel2001]

8 minutes ago, BillyCheers said:

Lots of the names in MI1 and 2 are kind of … childish/weird? 😅

 

Booty, Phatt, Scabb etc.

 

I just mean because a bald man with hooks for hands gets really upset at being called Canonball Head and wishes you to call him... Meathook instead

[BaronGrackle]

18 minutes ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

 

I just mean because a bald man with hooks for hands gets really upset at being called Canonball Head and wishes you to call him... Meathook instead

[Skinkie]

I didn't see a thread that perfectly fit this in the first few pages, and it didn't seem worth opening a new one. But does anyone know off hand if the Steam versions of Tales of Monkey Island has the Earl Boen version of LeChuck in Chapter 1? I could dig out the disc to install I suppose, but I'm feeling lazy

[Jake]

Disc and GOG versions only, for inexplicable reasons. 

[Skinkie]

GOG version you say? Well that's something I can work with at least. Thanks Jake!

[Niemandswasser]

37 minutes ago, Jake said:

Disc and GOG versions only, for inexplicable reasons. 

Does that extend to the disc version in the Limited Run set? I haven't popped it in to give it a whirl but I am curious now

[Lagomorph01]

13 hours ago, Niemandswasser said:

Does that extend to the disc version in the Limited Run set? I haven't popped it in to give it a whirl but I am curious now

Nope! You don't expect Limited Run to offer a product that has been quality checked, do you? 😉

[BaronGrackle]

I'm pretty sure the PS3 version has Boen at the start. I kind of prefer the Harrington version though... it gave me a sense that LeChuck was sort of unraveling at the seams in Chapter 1, after all the years of deaths, resurrections, repeated transformations... Are you a zombie demon something right now? What's this monkey scheme even about? And then, at the end of Part 4 when Boen returns, it was like he was able to get straightened out with a "fresh" start again on the voodoo.

Edited September 22, 2022 by BaronGrackle

[LuigiHann]

Vaguely vaguely on the topic of details and versions and voices.

 

In the original MI2, when you "look" at something with no description, like a door or a rock, Guybrush will dynamically say "Nice door" or "Nice rock" or whatever it is. Easy to do with text, but a fun touch.

 

MI2SE didn't have Dominic record a voice line for every object in the game, so now whenever he looks at anything, he just goes "Nice!"

 

At first that bugged me a little, but the more it went on, the more I love it. I think there are at least a half dozen distinct readings of "Nice!" and they're all fun

[MichaelSon]

11 hours ago, LuigiHann said:

At first that bugged me a little, but the more it went on, the more I love it. I think there are at least a half dozen distinct readings of "Nice!" and they're all fun

 

Nice! find 😉

[BaronGrackle]

I'm feeling a renaissance of appreciation for the ISLAND of Monkey Island itself, rewatching playthroughs of SMI Part 3 and EMI Part 3, in between the times that my children and I make progress at RMI (a game that uses Monkey Island's vista for its title screen).

 

For your consideration:

* In Secret, the Cannibals live on Monkey Island, which has a dormant volcano.

* In Curse, the Cannibals live on Blood Island and explain they have tamed the local volcano (Sherman, AKA Mt. Acidophilus), which had been wildly active before they repaired its diet and set it at peace. Until Guybrush ruined it.

* In Escape, the Cannibals are absent from Monkey Island. And... the volcano is active now.

 

I want to know the name of the volcano god on Monkey Island, as learned by the Cannibals, and I want to know the diet regimen they gave it before it binged on Big Whoop carnival mojo.

Edited October 4, 2022 by BaronGrackle

[Udvarnoky]

Two quasi-obscure jokes in CMI, especially for non-Americans:

 

 

This is aboard the Sea Cucumber, which you may recall is the ship captained by an ape. The joke here is a reference to an old series of commercials by American Tourister, a luggage company. The durability of their product was advertised by depicting a suitcase thrown into a cage with an angry gorilla, which attempts to destroy it to no avail. It was an oft-parodied pop culture image -- this MST3K host segment being an example (look in the background).

 

 

This line is triggered when you "Talk" to the pepper found by the Blood Island windmill. It's a catch-phrase from the NBC series Police Woman (1974-1978). Its titular heroine was Sgt. "Pepper" Anderson, who routinely went undercover on the orders of her superior, Bill Crowley. Dom's delivery is an impression of him.

 

I think CMI in general is a little undersung when it comes to how stuffed full of tiny details it is. The first two games were made under circumstances that made it plausible to alter content up until the last minute, and the improvisatory possibilities were taken advantage of. CMI’s production required certain things to be locked down upfront, in particular the list of rooms, the puzzle chain, and the cutscene script. However, when it came to wiring the rooms, and thus writing all the interactive dialog (only like 90% of the game’s script), it seems that the programmers were given a similar kind of free reign and generous timeline for embedding jokes as they went, and it’s a huge part of the sense of density and polish that CMI boasts. Chuck Jordan and Chris Purvis deserve more credit than they probably usually get for serving a role similar to the one Tim and Dave did in 1990.

[Staple Remover]

3 hours ago, Udvarnoky said:

Two quasi-obscure jokes in CMI, especially for non-Americans:

 

 

This is aboard the Sea Cucumber, which you may recall is the ship captained by an ape. The joke here is a reference to an old series of commercials by American Tourister, a luggage company. The durability of their product was advertised by depicting a suitcase thrown into a cage with an angry gorilla, which attempts to destroy it to no avail. It was an oft-parodied pop culture image -- this MST3K host segment being an example (look in the background).

 

 

This line is triggered when you "Talk" to the pepper found by the Blood Island windmill. It's a catch-phrase from the NBC series Police Woman (1974-1978). Its titular heroine was Sgt. "Pepper" Anderson, who routinely went undercover on the orders of her superior, Bill Crowley. Dom's delivery is an impression of him.

 

I think CMI in general is a little undersung when it comes to how stuffed full of tiny details it is. The first two games were made under circumstances that made it plausible to alter content up until the last minute, and the improvisatory possibilities were taken advantage of. CMI’s production required certain things to be locked down upfront, in particular the list of rooms, the puzzle chain, and the cutscene script. However, when it came to wiring the rooms, and thus writing all the interactive dialog (only like 90% of the game’s script), it seems that the programmers were given a similar kind of free reign and generous timeline for embedding jokes as they went, and it’s a huge part of the sense of density and polish that CMI boasts. Chuck Jordan and Chris Purvis deserve more credit than they probably usually get for serving a role similar to the one Tim and Dave did in 1990.

It’s amazing that 25+ years later there’s still new details that I am learning about this game. 

[Remi]

11 minutes ago, Staple Remover said:

It’s amazing that 25+ years later there’s still new details that I am learning about this game. 

https://scummbar.com/game/the-curse-of-monkey-island/trivia

 

What do you mean shameless

plug? 😒

[ThunderPeel2001]

On 4/20/2024 at 6:15 PM, Udvarnoky said:

I think CMI in general is a little undersung when it comes to how stuffed full of tiny details it is. The first two games were made under circumstances that made it plausible to alter content up until the last minute, and the improvisatory possibilities were taken advantage of. CMI’s production required certain things to be locked down upfront, in particular the list of rooms, the puzzle chain, and the cutscene script. However, when it came to wiring the rooms, and thus writing all the interactive dialog (only like 90% of the game’s script), it seems that the programmers were given a similar kind of free reign and generous timeline for embedding jokes as they went, and it’s a huge part of the sense of density and polish that CMI boasts. Chuck Jordan and Chris Purvis deserve more credit than they probably usually get for serving a role similar to the one Tim and Dave did in 1990.

 

I so agree with this. The endless tiny details make exploring CMI so rewarding to explore and even get stuck in. 

[LGH_]

This article from Mojo contains tons of interesting details about Return, for those who haven’t seen it yet:

https://mixnmojo.com/features/sitefeatures/ICYMI-Return-to-Monkey-Island

Thanks 😉

 

BTW, there‘s also a funny joke that only occurs in the easy version. I’ve discovered it in a YouTube let’s play (but unfortunately don't find the video anymore):

 

 

When you ask Locke Smith about her golden key, in the hard mode she’ll tell you it has been destroyed by the court. In the easy version, she still has it. Then Guybrush goes on: I’ll offer you my first born child if you let me have it. Then the camera goes to Boybrush, who says “What?!” And Guybrush replies that it’s just an idiom.

😉 And then you get the key.

 

Edited June 6 by LGH_
spelling

[Remi]

9 hours ago, LGH_ said:

BTW, there‘s also a funny joke that only occurs in the easy version. I’ve discovered it in a YouTube let’s play (but unfortunately don't find the video anymore):

 

  Reveal hidden contents

When you ask Locke Smith about her golden key, in the hard mode she’ll tell you it has been destroyed by the court. In the easy version, she still has it. Then Guybrush goes on: I’ll offer you my first born child if you let me have it. Then the camera goes to Boybrush, who says “What?!” And Guybrush replies that it’s just an idiom.

😉 And then you get the key.

 

 

Hah, I have a save game right around there, so I'll see if I can grab a video of it. Thanks for reading!

[Remi]

Turns out there are some good answers in there:

 

 

[demone]

Regarding the three pirates (four counting the one with the silver key) that were found dead on Terror Island, I always assumed LeChuck murdered them during one of his visits to the island since his diary mentions roasting smores with Iron Rose over burning bodies on Terror Island. There were tongs and a campfire where the bodies were found, so I always assumed that was the implication. 

 

I like to think Terror Island was a sort of a retreat area for LeChuck to perform some truly horrific stuff and voodoo magic, to the point that the island itself began to emulate some of that evil. That's more of my headcanon though.

 

Edited June 11 by demone

[ThunderPeel2001]

On 6/6/2024 at 11:02 PM, Remi said:

Turns out there are some good answers in there:

 

 

 

I wish the script had been:

 

Guybrush: Would you consider my first-born child in exchange?

CUT TO:

Boybrush: What?!

Guybrush: It's just a figure of speech.

CUT BACK:

Locke: I hope you're not serious.

Guybrush: Yes. Yes, I am.

 

 

[Thrik]

I find the repetition really funny for some reason. 😅