Monkey Island Series question

[Etcher Squared Games]

call me nuts but you could just get them from lucasarts on CD

it says Curse and Escape are available, but the 2 "secret" ones are no longer


(from curse)
  PC Windows    $14.95           Quantity       

Genre: Adventure

In this hilarious third installment in our award winning series, Guybrush Threepwood once again takes up dull blade and rapier wit against the nefarious demon pirate LeChuck. Single player.
The first two Monkey Island games, The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, are no longer available.

[Scummbuddy]

It may contain "Monkey Madness": the first two games on one cd

[PaulSC]

I and II are all you'll ever need. And all there should ever have been. But I don't want to get into all that again.

[Adamski]

III is worthy for its soundtrack alone. It is submile. (edit: submile? i'm sure i ment 'sublime')

The rest of the game has a lot of atmosphere too... not as dark as 2 though. It feels piratey and carribean-y though, which EMI doesn't.

[HillBilly]

I think MI3 was great. Still, if the game ended at MI2, that would be pretty cool too. It's one of the most funky endings ever. 

[monkey0506]

In regards to SOMI (MI1) and LCR (MI2), I'd suggest eBay. Online stores are the only place you're going to find these games any more. LucasArts had a lot of surplus of SOMI and LCR, so they started the "Mega Monkey Bundle Pack", which contained all four MI games, but it has since been discontinued. LucasArts has sold their remaining stock of SOMI and LCR. Trust me, I emailed them and asked about the games. They're all gone. My parents got me MIM (MI Madness (SOMI & LCR on 1 disk)) off of eBay for Christmas, and with the price they bid it up to, and the shipping and handling, it cost around $50. It was well worth it IMO.

And as for the ending of LCR, I do have an explaination. But... I'm too lazy to go into that now. It's a long story...

[Mr Flibble]

Also note that CMI and EMI were made for financial reasons. Ron Gilbert said that MI2 was supposed to end it all, and that

Spoiler

The sparks from Chuckie's eyes

[close]

were only added in in case a sequel was requested.

Having said that, CMI is highly enjoyable. EMI is good as well, but listen to too many negative opinions of it. If you play it expecting t to be crap, it will be.

Keep an open mind.

[Krazy]

Also note that CMI and EMI were made for financial reasons. Ron Gilbert said that MI2 was supposed to end it all, and that

Spoiler

The sparks from Chuckie's eyes

[close]

were only added in in case a sequel was requested.

Having said that, CMI is highly enjoyable. EMI is good as well, but listen to too many negative opinions of it. If you play it expecting t to be crap, it will be.

Keep an open mind.

But hadn't Ron already made plans for his own MI3 before leaving Lucasarts?

[Nacho]

But that "if you expect it to be crap, it'll be" stalement fails on me. I was disconnected somewhat of the videogames world, but I saw EMI in a shop and I bought it without knowing anything about it.

And I started watching the intro. It was in 3-d, ok, who cares? Manny was too in 3-d and in was supperb. But then... I started playing... 

[HillBilly]

I started playing EMI in the belive that it was a great game. But at the time I reached Monkey Island, I understood the magic was gone. 

[Scummbuddy]

Farl, when they made Grim a 3D game, it worked with the crazy style of game it was. Taking a perfectly good 2d game/style and pushing it into 3d was only to increase the possibility of selling it. That helped alienate vintage gamers even more away from liking it.

I mean, who wants to play 2d adventures anymore. 

[Adamski]

It wasn't the 3dness of EMI that made it a bad game for me, it was the complete disregard for the atmosphere and characterisations of the first two games. Monkey Island 3 at least had some team members that worked on the first two games so some of the original spirit was retained, but for EMI it felt as though it was made by an incompetent team that were just trying to ape Bill Tiller's art style in 3D and fill a jumbled mess of ideas around it that featured mangled locations, characters and concepts from the first game.

It didn't even feel remotely pirate-y.

[Esseb]

Marco


Polo.

* Esseb shivers

[Eggie]

EMI let me down the minute the game started and it didn't go 'deep in the Carribean...' and then have funky opening credits.

Opening credits are often the best bit of any movie/ game because they show all the non-acting/ programming talent and it's best work...

[Nacho]

Ah, sorry! I haven't explained myself clearly... my words were "It was in 3-d, ok, who cares?"

That means that I wasn't bothered, even a little bit, for the 3-d stuff... Grim was in 3d too and it was great.

Actually, I was used to big changes of the style of the lucas series because of the great success on changes in a previous game which was not of the series. For example, Indy 3 was a great graphic change if we compare it to Zak or MM. The next games were in that style, Monkey 1 and 2 (but an updated "oil" version, we could say...)

With DoTT the "goofy style" entered in Lucas. Tull Throttle and Sam were graphically good. The next step, with higher resolutions, was COMI. And I loved it. It was not a part of "Ron's Monkey Island", but, who cares? It was good. Someone complained to Cameron for "Alien 2"? No... It was not "Alien, the 8th passenger", but Cameron was not Riddley Scott. He made a nice job, IMO.

With Grim Fandango, the room of the "3d adventures" was opened. I was opened to accept it.

But then... as said before... I started playing... Ã,  And then... Ditto ditto ditto to what Dark Stalkey said.

I don't know about the English version... But in Spanish, even having the same dubbing actor who made COMI (Who performed perfectly in COMI, very alike to the English version of MI3) it seemed he had just swallowed hellium. That made it childish...

Guybrush is now smaller to the average. In COMI he was bigger. Why did they change it? That made it childish...

All the members of the crew in Elaine's ship are the same guy! I know Monkey Island has some humour based in anacronisms... but pretending that Elaine has some clone tecnology seems going a bit too far for me. And what about the skins for that 3-d models? They're too small, they're terribly pixelated. Were the artist in such a hurry that they were not able to made a decent crew? I don't demmand to make 30 different models for each member of the crew, but at least 5 or 6... Ã, 

When Guybrush reaches Mêlée...

Spoiler

He crushes Elaine's ha't boxes putting the heavier box at the top, even when Elaine told him not to do it...

[close]

That makes look him terribly stupid, naive and childish... Do you imagine the Guybrush of "LeChuck's revenge" taking Elaine's lugagge? I don't.

And the part I of the game... while Elaine is in Mêlée facing LeChuck, Guybrush is making silly tasks refering to heritages. He has become in Elaine's Yorkshire dog. (Please, don't make me mention Elaine's fringe...)

What about the puzzles... Do you see logic to:

Spoiler

Go to a sewer to see three names that you gotta tell to a man in a protesic shop, so he gives him a protesic skin that will make you jump...

[close]

Where is the logical there?

Spoiler

LeChuck turns into a stupid footman of an Kangoo

[close]

How could he fall so down? It is like making a super-villain reputation for years, and then reveal he is not that dangerous. Do you imagine Darth Vaden coming back in chapter VI as a soldier of fortune hired by a creature like Watto? How would you feel?

Personally, all the "Planet Guybrush" stuff seems pretty stupid for me. As said, anacronisms were a reference for jokes in MI 1 and 2. Making THE WHOLE game an anacronism made me feeling very dissapointed.

And it's the Murray 3-d model issue... I am really talking seriously when I say that a 3-year old kid could have made it better.

And it's the monkey combat... Ã, 

Again... the 3-d is the smaller problem of EMI...

And the

Spoiler

mech monkey...

[close]

[HillBilly]

Man, I really hope I forget all the puzzles in MI2 and 3 so I can play it again.

I also wish I could play MI1 with a graphical inventory system, instead of those silly letters.

[Esseb]

You can.

[HillBilly]

Yes, but not with the version I got. 

[Bombadil]

Yes, but not with the version I got. 

You can always make a remake for yourself with AGS ^^

[HillBilly]

PFfFffT. Lucas Arts would probably cancel it the minute I got started.