Avast me hearties! Guybrush Threepwood be back with a new adventure for ye. So, grab your mouse and be ready for more whacky adventures says I.

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge is a single-player point-and-click adventure game, and the second game in the Monkey Island series. It was developed and released by Lucasart in 1991 for the Amiga, FM Towns, Mac OS, and MS-DOS. The special edition was released in 2010 for iOS, Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. I chose to review the version downloaded from Steam.

Now I realise that I only recently reviewed The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, but I felt that I had to play this second instalment straight way.

Plot

Seven months after defeating the pirate LeChuck, wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood finds himself back in the Caribbean in an attempt to locate the treasure of Big Whoop. From finding ingredients to make a voodoo doll, to attending fancy dress parties, rigged gambling, and drinking and spitting contests, Threepwood attempts to locate the map that’ll lead him to Big whoop.

Gameplay

The gameplay is identical to The Secret of Monkey Island. So I have copied and pasted what I wrote from there: You control the cursor and must search the environment for people and items that you can interact with. The screen is broken into four parts:

1. Animation Window – Where the action happens
2. Sentence Line – When you cursor hovers over something you can interact with, a sentence will appear such as ‘Talk to pirate’.
3. Command List – Click on a command and then interact with a character or the environment. There are 12 different commands to perform which are: open, close, push, pull, walk to, pick up, talk to, give, use look at, turn on, and turn off. You can alternatively use the keyboard hot keys.
4. Inventory – List where you can find the items you have collected.

When talking to a character, a list of questions and conversation starters will appear at the bottom of the screen.

How Does It Handle?

The option to use the hot keys is a bit of a God send else it would be very tiring having to use the mouse to click on the command list every time. The controls are simple and easy to use, you just have to make sure you are precise with your commands.

In the Special Edition, they have simplified the command list even more by doing away with the list completely. When hovering over a character or a bit of the environment you can interact with, an icon appears depicting the action.

However, for some reason that I can’t put my finger on, I didn’t enjoy this game quite as much as The Secret of Monkey Island, and that may be because there was nothing new to learn. Then again, that may just be me being very picky.

Graphics

The graphics are also identical to The Secret of Monkey Island:

Although cartoonish, and originally in 8-bit graphics, the backgrounds and characters are very colourful and incredibly detailed with a large number of internal and external scenes. When moving around, the characters move surprisingly fast which is a relief as some point and clicks have very slow moving characters making the game drag. Oddly enough, when close-ups of characters occur, they look very life-like, which is the opposite of the Special Edition. For me, the Special Edition graphics adds more life to the environment.

The scrolling not as smooth as it could be but that tends to be standard for these sorts of point and clicks.

Music and SFX

The introduction music is quite jaunty new take on the original Monkey Island (1990) theme but I didn’t like it as much as the original. This is one of the first adventure games with music throughout the gameplay. The music throughout fits the game well. It is quite understated but fits well with the game.

There is still no vocalization and the SFX are few and far between but it doesn’t take away from the experience of the game.

In the Special Edition, the music has been updated. The speech is now vocalised and the SFX are more ambient (lightning strikes, birds tweeting, and water running). These new SFX really add to the experience.

Replay Value

All point and clicks have limited replay value as they tend to be single-player games with on difficulty setting. You may revisit it annually, but not as often as you would other genres.

Did I Complete The Game?

Yes, I did complete the game with the assistance of a walkthrough on several occasions.

What The Critics Said About The Original:

Amiga Computing: “…horribly close to being a perfect game. It’s certainly the best adventure game I’ve seen in ages… Overall 95%”[1]

Computer and Video Games Magazine: “Already Monkey Island has staked a claim to the best game of this year…. Overall 96%.”[2]

What The Critics Said About The Special Edition:

“…good, but the lack of keyboard support took something away for me. That said, the game picked up on the problems I had with the first and changed it for the better. I did feel that this game took away some experiences, so that brought its score down a little. There are things you should be told but you should also learn on your own, and they gave away too much to the player this time around. Overall B+.”[3]

Awards:

Winner – 1992 Computer Gaming World ‘Best Adventure Game of the Year’[4]

My Verdict:

“Lucasart have done it again. They have produced a worthy sequel with plenty of humour, challenging puzzles and plenty of head scratching moments. The animation is smooth, the characters and the backgrounds are colourful and detailed”

Rating:

What are your memories of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge? I would love to hear your thoughts, and don’t for get to follow and subscribe so that you don’t miss my latest reviews! You can also find me on Instagram: @nicklovestogame.

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[1] Whitehead, D., . ‘Review: Amiga – Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge’. Amiga Computing. (August 1992). Issue 51:10-1.

[2] Boone, T., ‘Review: PC – Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge’ Computer and Video Games Magazine. (February 1992). Issue 123: 15-7.

[3] Meitzner, B., (Sept 19, 2011). ‘Review: Monkey Island 1 and 2 Special Edition’. Gaming Bus. (https://web.archive.org/web/20110927164615/http://www.gamingbus.com/2011/09/19/review-monkey-island-1-and-2-special-edition/ Accessed 14^th December 2019).

[4] ‘CGW Salutes the Games of the Year – Best Adventure Game of the Year’. Computer Gaming World: Collector’s Edition. (November 1992). Issue 100: 110. (https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_100/page/n109/mode/2up Accessed on 6^th February 2020).