Monkey Island (series)
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This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (June 2009) |
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Monkey Island series
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 The official logo of the series |
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| Developer(s) | LucasArts |
| Creator(s) | Ron Gilbert Dave Grossman Tim Schafer |
| Platform(s) | Windows/Mac PCs |
| First release | The Secret of Monkey Island / 1990 |
Monkey Island is the collective name given to a series of five graphical adventure games produced and published by LucasArts, originally known as LucasFilm Games through the development of the first game in the series. The fifth installment of the franchise was developed by Telltale Games in collaboration with LucasArts. The games follow the misadventures of the hapless Guybrush Threepwood as he struggles to become the most notorious pirate in the Caribbean, defeat the plans of the evil undead pirate LeChuck and win the heart of governor Elaine Marley. Each game's plot usually involves the mysterious Monkey Island and its impenetrable secrets.
The games were created as a collaborative effort between Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman. Gilbert worked on the first two games before leaving LucasArts. Grossman and Schafer, who also worked on the first two games, would enjoy success on other titles before both of them also left. The rights to Monkey Island remained with LucasArts, and the third and fourth games were created without the input of the original writing crew. Development of the fifth game was headed by Dave Grossman, with work from Michael Stemmle; while not actively engaged in project, Gilbert was involved with the initial design of the game.
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[edit] Overview
The Monkey Island series is known for its humor and "player-friendly" qualities. The player cannot permanently place the game in an unwinnable state or cause Guybrush to die without great effort on the game player's part. This "player friendly" approach was unusual at the time of the first game's release in 1990; prominent adventure-game rivals were Sierra On-Line and Infocom, both of which were known for games with sudden and frequent character deaths or "lock-outs". LucasArts itself used such closed plot paths for its drama games like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure (1989) but preferred the open format for other humor-oriented adventure games such as Sam & Max Hit the Road (1993) and Day of the Tentacle (1993). After Escape from Monkey Island the franchise went on hiatus frequented with numerous rumors about a revival until the announcement of Tales of Monkey Island by Telltale Games in early 2009.[1][2][3]
Much of the soundtracks of the games is composed by Michael Land. The score largely consists of dub and reggae-inspired music.
The series also tends to break the Fourth wall where the characters are aware that they are in a video game.
[edit] Setting
Each of the games takes place on fictional islands in the Caribbean. The time period in which they take place is around the Golden Age of Piracy sometime during Eighteenth century. The islands teem with pirates dressed in outfits that seem to come from movies and comic books rather than history, and there are many deliberate anachronisms and references to modern-day popular culture.
The main setting of the Monkey Island games is the "Tri-Island Area", a fictional archipelago in the Caribbean. Since the first game in the series, The Secret of Monkey Island, three of the games have visited the titular island of Monkey Island while all have introduced their own set of islands to explore. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge features four new islands but does not visit Monkey Island, The Curse of Monkey Island introduces three, and The Escape from Monkey Island, which revisits some of the older islands, features three new islands as well resulting in the "Tri-Island area" actually containing a total of 13 visitable islands.
The main islands of the Tri-Island Area are Mêlée Island, Booty Island, and Plunder Island, which are all ruled by Governor Elaine Marley in place of her long lost grandfather, Horatio Torquemada Marley. Elaine moves from island to island at her convenience, though she considers her governor's mansion on Mêlée Island, the capital island of the area, as home.
Other islands in the region are considered under the umbrella of Tri-Island Area as well, even though Elaine does not rule them.
- These include the pirate islands: Scabb Island, Phatt Island, Melee Island, Plunder Island, Flotsam Island
- The urbanized: Lucre Island, Jambalaya Island
- The minor islands: Hook Island, Dinky Island, Skull Island, Knuttin Atoll, The Rock of Gelato
- And the volcanic islands: Blood Island, *Monkey Island
Additional islands seen in maps of the area but never visited include Spittle and Pinchpenny.
[edit] Characters
Many "supporting" characters have recurring roles in the games, including:
- Stan, a disreputable salesman.
- The Voodoo Lady, who advises Guybrush in supernatural matters and supplies tips.
- Herman Toothrot, an old hermit who has a surprising past.
- Wally B. Feed, a myopic, height-challenged cartographer.
- Carla, the Swordmaster of Mêlée Island.
- Otis, the flower-fancying pirate and friend of Carla, who invariably gets locked up.
- Murray, an evil, demonic, talking skull with delusions of taking over the world.
- The Monkey Island Cannibals who eventually convert to vegetarianism.
- Meathook, an artist who used to be a pirate and has two hooks in place of his hands. Lives on Hook Island
[edit] Inspiration
Although Ron Gilbert has been widely quoted that the game was inspired by Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride, in his blog he stated that his true inspiration was Tim Powers' book On Stranger Tides.[4]
[edit] The games
[edit] The Secret of Monkey Island
The series debuted in 1990 with The Secret of Monkey Island on the PC MS-DOS, Atari ST and Macintosh platforms, and it was later ported to Amiga, FM Towns and Mega-CD (1993). A remastered version will be released for PC Windows and Xbox Live Arcade on the 15th of July 2009[5].
The game starts off with the main character Guybrush Threepwood stating "I want to be a pirate!", and he is soon off to prove himself to the old pirate captains. During the perilous pirate trials, he meets the beautiful governor Elaine Marley, with whom he falls in love, unaware that the ghost pirate LeChuck also has his eyes on her. When Elaine is kidnapped, Guybrush procures crew and ship to track LeChuck down, defeat him and rescue his love.
[edit] Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
The second game, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge from 1991, was available for fewer platforms; it was only released for PC MS-DOS, Amiga, Macintosh, and later for FM Towns.
As Guybrush, with a treasure chest in hand, and Elaine hang onto ropes in a void, he tells her the story of the game. He has decided to find the greatest of all treasures, that of Big Whoop. Unwittingly, he helps revive LeChuck, who is now in zombie form. Guybrush is eventually captured by his arch-nemesis, but escapes with help from Wally and finds the treasure only to find himself dangling from a rope, the situation from the beginning of the game. As Guybrush concludes his story, his rope breaks and he finds himself facing LeChuck, who he finally defeats using voodoo. The ending is very surrealistic and is open to a number of interpretations. In the manual of The Curse of Monkey Island, it is stated that Guybrush falls victim to a hex implemented by LeChuck. However, it should be noted that while LeChuck's Revenge was designed by Ron Gilbert, The Curse Of Monkey Island wasn't, so once again the continuity between the episodes is very loose.
[edit] The Curse of Monkey Island
The Curse of Monkey Island, the third in the series, was exclusively available for PC Windows in 1997.
Guybrush unwittingly turns Elaine into a gold statue with a cursed ring and she is soon stolen by pirates. He tracks her down before searching for a ring that can lift the curse. LeChuck appears in a fiery demon form, and is on the heels of Guybrush until a standoff in LeChuck's amusement park ride, the Rollercoaster of Doom.
[edit] Escape from Monkey Island
Escape from Monkey Island, was released in 2000 for PC Windows, and in 2001 for Macintosh and PlayStation 2.
When Guybrush Threepwood and Elaine Marley return from their honeymoon, they find that Elaine has been declared officially dead, her mansion is under destruction order, and her position as governor is up for election. Guybrush investigates and unearths a conspiracy by LeChuck and evil real estate developer Ozzie Mandrill to use a pene voodoo talisman, "The Ultimate Insult," to make all pirates docile in order to turn the Caribbean into a center of tourism.
[edit] Tales of Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey Island is a five-episode adventure series, currently being produced by Telltale Games for WiiWare and PC. The first episode was released on July 7, 2009.[6]
During a heated battle with his nemesis, the evil pirate LeChuck, Guybrush unwittingly unleashes an insidious pox that rapidly spreads across the Caribbean, turning pirates into zombie-like monsters. The Voodoo Lady sends Guybrush in search of a legendary sea sponge to stem the epidemic, but this seemingly straightforward quest has surprises around every corner.[7]
[edit] Common themes
The games in the series share several minigames, puzzles, in-jokes, and references.
[edit] Maps
Each game contains a map puzzle, wherein Guybrush must use an unconventional map to find his way through a maze. The first game features a set of dance instructions that point the way through the dense forest of MêléeTM Island to find the Island's fabled treasure. In the second game Guybrush must use a song in a dream sequence to guide his way through LeChuck's dungeon. The third game is the reverse of this, as the instructions the player receives are traditional directions and need to be used on a theatre light board. The fourth game has a set of directions based on time and the fifth based on animal sounds and the direction of the wind.
[edit] Recipes
Each game features a sequence of some sort, where players must gather the ingredients to create an item. Then, later in the game, the player has to create the item again, but this time around with improvised materials. In the first game, Guybrush must brew a voodoo concotion but, lacking ingredients, must improvise with the contents of his inventory, leading to amusing puns. In Monkey Island 2, at two points of the game, Guybrush has to create a voodoo doll, one time with legitimate ingredients, and one time with improvised ingredients. The same goes with the hangover medicine in Monkey Island 3 and the Ultimate Insult in Monkey Island 4. A preview of Tales reveals that the first puzzle in the game is to reconstruct a magic cutlass with improvised parts after Guybrush breaks it in the introduction. [8]
[edit] Minigames
Each game also contains a minigame based on learning and repetition of a sequence in order to become more proficient: Insult Swordfighting in the first and third games, a number-based "password" as well as a spitting contest in the second, banjo fighting in the third, and insult arm wrestling and Monkey Kombat in the fourth. The first and fourth games also both feature a puzzle which involves following another character through several locations, a trick also used in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Some other minigames include naval cannon battles, and platform diving.
[edit] Pop-culture references
The Monkey Island series is full of spoofs, in-jokes, humorous references, and Easter eggs: so many, in fact, that entire web sites are dedicated to their detection and listing.
Running gags include lines such as "Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!", the introduction "My name is Guybrush Threepwood and I'm a mighty pirate", "How appropriate, you fight like a cow", "I'm selling these fine leather jackets" (a reference to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure), and "That's the second biggest [object] I've ever seen", a catchphrase from the TV series Get Smart (and in EMI "That's the second bigg... No, that's the biggest conch shell I've ever seen!"), and the astounding fact that Guybrush can hold his breath for ten minutes.
Ron Gilbert has openly admitted that sections of Monkey Island 2 borrowed extensively from the original Disneyland ride, such as the famous "dog holding the keys to the jail-cell". However, he has also said that he thought the second movie (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) may have 'borrowed' from the Monkey Island series.[9]
Each game in the series features cameo appearances by Steve Purcell's characters Sam & Max, who were featured in their own LucasArts adventure game, Sam & Max Hit the Road.
[edit] The secret
None of the games explicitly reveal the "Secret of Monkey Island" (although creator Ron Gilbert has stated that the secret was not revealed in any of the games, and that the true secret would be revealed if he got to work on the fifth entry in the series). LeChuck himself, when asked in the second and third games, refuses to answer the question; Guybrush can eventually prod LeChuck to confess that he does not know what the secret is.
Gilbert stated that he never told anyone what the true secret of Monkey Island is.[1] A large article about the subject can be found here.
Gilbert stated in a 2004 interview that when the game was originally conceived it was considered "too big", so they split it into three parts. He added that he "knows what the third [part] is" and "how the story's supposed to end," indicating that he had a definite concept of the secret and a conclusive third game.[10]
The team behind Escape from Monkey Island attempted to resolve the issue by showing that the Giant Monkey Head was actually the control room of a Giant Monkey Robot. The cut-scene in which the revelation was made is called The Real Secret of Monkey Island.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Greg Kasavin (30 June 2006). "Designer Threads feat. Ron Gilbert" (html & mp3). http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6153188/p-2.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
- ^ http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/wallace_gromits_grand_adventures/preview-1528-3.html
- ^ "Lucasarts Jim Ward talks Indiana Jones and Empire" (Flash Video). 11 May 2006. http://www.g4tv.com/pile_player.aspx?video_key=11326. Retrieved on 2007-05-28.
- ^ Ron Gilbert (2004-09-20). "On Stranger Tides". Grumpy Gamer. http://grumpygamer.com/6476640. Retrieved on April 17 2006.
- ^ LucasArts (2009-06-01). "The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition product page". LucasArts. http://www.lucasarts.com/games/monkeyisland/. Retrieved on June 01 2009.
- ^ http://kotaku.com/5273950/new-and-old-monkey-island-adventures-in-the-works
- ^ http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland/faq
- ^ http://adventuregamers.com/article/id,1024
- ^ Ron Gilbert (2006-06-24). "The Monkey Island Movie". Grumpy Gamer. http://grumpygamer.com/8123463. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ Idle Thumbs, Ron Gilbert Speaks: Part 2
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Monkey Island |
- miwiki.net - A Monkey Island wiki
- Grumpy Gamer - The personal blog of Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert
- LucasArts Soundtracks - Soundtracks to all four Monkey Island games, converted to mp3 format and free for download.
- ScummVM - A multi-platform open-source SCUMM interpreter allowing the first three MI games to be played on all modern platforms
- The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar A popular fan site (Re-opened after the announcement of Tales of Monkey Island.)
- World of Monkey Island A large Monkey Island fan site (Closed, but content still viewable.)
- The Legend of Monkey Island Another fan site with lots of information
- Quick and Easy How to run LucasArts adventure games in Windows XP, 2000 and NT with no problem at all
- ATMachine's House of LucasArts Detailed information about the graphics in the games
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