Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge, Retro Review – The ’90s GOTY

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Monkey Island 2 Lechuck39s Revenge Retro Review The 3990s.png
Monkey Island 2 Lechuck39s Revenge Retro Review The 3990s.png

Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman continued to narrate the adventures of Guybrush Threepwood in an excellent follow-up to PC. A marvel.

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

Topicazo to the song. They say that second parts were never good, but this is not entirely true. There we have Terminator 2, a marvel of tape that impressed people and strangers taking digital effects to a new level. Sonic 2, Assassin’s Creed II or Resident Evil 2 They are other clear examples but taken to the field of the video game. Even Ghostbusters II It was better than the last! Well … this maybe don’t strain.

(embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt5VChEDSn0 (/ embed)

When Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge was announced, this topic already existed and that fear was hovering over the players’ heads as if an alien was chasing them through the Nostromo. And not in vain, since the first part was so round that it seemed difficult to overcome. Luckily LucasArts left us one of the most amazing titles in the genre of the graphic adventures that we are going to review today.

I want to be a pirate! Part II

In Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge we take control of Guybrush threepwood, who is now a pirate who swims in monetary abundance. In his attempt to be even richer, he decides to sail the seas to find the treasure of the Big Whoop. It all starts on Scabb Island, dominated by the evil pirate Largo LaGrande, who greets him by stealing all his money. This misleading thief turns out to be the right hand of the current – at the time where the video game is set – ethereal LeChuck, whom LaGrande also tries bring it back to life.

Everything else you can imagine. While we try to find the treasure of the Big Whoop we are involved in a plot in which LeChuck continues his efforts to annoy us for the events of the past throughout the three islands – and other scenarios – that we visited in this second chapter.

The video game continued to use the SCUMM engine that the first part boasted, Maniac Mansion or Loom among others, but with some differences. The number of verbs was cut from the original title – an improvement that would later be added to the CD version of the first Monkey Island – the font was improved, images were added instead of text to the objects that were obtained in the adventure and everything looked much better overall. Obviously, this was also the result of the technological advance that occurred in the year of development between the two launches. But later we will talk about the technology he used …

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The gameplay was not much different from that of The Secret of Monkey Island; Everything consisted of dialoguing with the game’s characters to tie up dots and solve the puzzles that the title offered. Some were reasonably natural, while the vast majority had to be pulled crazy wit to find the solution, a mechanic that worked tremendously well in the first chapter.

The insult fights, the rubber chicken with pulley and Monkey Island were replaced by spit contests, wood polish wax, and Dinky Island respectively. Everything was new in LeChuck’s Revenge but, at the same time, familiar. The humor was in each conversation and the script was still the most ingenious and fun. What’s more, the original version included two modes of difficulty They basically differentiated themselves by making the puzzles somewhat easier in the first mode and a little more complex in the second. And some, by design, were truly real.

Old acquaintances such as Stan, the original pirate trio, Herman, the Voodoo Lady or LeChuck himself returned, but new ones like Largo LaGrande, Captain Dread or Wally also arrived, all with a charisma and personality that today is difficult forget about them. However, none of the previous scenarios – except one minimally – could be visited in this iteration, although they were not missing at all because in the new ones there was much more interaction than in those.

The puzzles were more worked but they were also maddening and meaningless. Some were so clever that you had to wait for the right moment to solve it, like Wally’s monocle, an evolution of the gull puzzle from the first title. Others took you to desecrate a grave —Again— or you were forced to catch a rat to serve alongside a delicious vichyssoise. They were delightfully schizophrenic.

Move at pleasure between the different islands he also had his one. There were many cultural and not-so-cultural differences between them. Its inhabitants were also unique and even in one of them Mardi Gras was always celebrated. Come on, in this sense the video game was much richer and more varied in landscapes than its predecessor.

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It also helped a lot that the game had an extraordinary localization to our language. It is true that the original dialogues were hilarious but the laudable translation work could hardly be faulted, if you find any! He left another phrase for the memory: How many oaks would a rodent gnaw if rodents gnawed oaks?

SCUMM + IMUSE

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge came out on December 1991 and the 8088/8086 that the first chapter required, enjoying the return of Guybrush involved upgrading to an 80286 computer. The graphical improvement was more than evident. The adventure went from showing 16 colors to 256 – although it was possible to be played in an EGA way with more colors – with what that supposed. More detail in characters and settings, a surprisingly varied color palette and everything in general went better through the eyes. Not only that, animations They were also improved and showed more frames than the original, giving a smoother movement. You could even see how the characters articulated the words with their lips or how it showed, without any scruples, how Guybrush prepared the ñapo in the spit competition.

Music was not far behind. The game took advantage of the power of sound cards like the Roland MT-32 and all the soundtrack was richer in notes, instruments and quality. Michael Land with Peter McConnell revolutionized the music video game industry with an interactive music engine called IMUSE that allowed the transitions between the different melodies to flow naturally without missing a beat, everything a milestone at the time and, in fact, continued to be used in subsequent LucasArts video games.

Both together Clint Bajakian, Anthony White and Robin goldstein They created a soundtrack of more than forty tremendously worked and recognizable music tracks to this day. The classic main theme of Monkey Island was reinvented for the occasion and, although quite modified, was still a hallmark of the saga.

The end of LeChuck?

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge broke the myth that the second parts are never good. Although it seemed impossible, shattered his predecessor in each and every one of its characteristics. More ingenious and complicated puzzles, bigger, more humor, better graphics, better sound, better animations, more duration … And all this without losing the magic of the first one! And it could have been better if it had not been for the limitations of the time since they had to eliminate scenes and puzzles from the equation. The PC video game took up five discs, but once at Amiga!


Monkey Island 2
Monkey Island 2’s hilarious copy protection system: LeChuck’s Revenge

The saga is considered as one of the best in history of video games and a fantastic example of how it should be done on which many of today’s graphic adventures are based. In a few weeks they will be fulfilled ten years since the launch of the special edition, a version that updated the second part with graphics according to current times, comments from the development team, new audio tracks or art gallery with designs of both the original and the renewed version.

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Unfortunately the original idea for the franchise ended abruptly here at the hands of its creators; Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer and Dave GrossmanFor this reason, the three subsequent video games were run by other creatives.

To this day, there are still doubts about what the scene prior to the credits meant to us, but Ron Gilbert already assured on his blog that the original idea was tell the story in three chapters and not two. In fact, in 2013, he related his followers how would monkey island 3 in case you had permission to do so. We will have to settle for what we have.

CONCLUSION

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge is not only a worthy continuation, it is a benchmark in the world of video games. Nobody who declares himself a minimally player should miss this wonderful graphic adventure that has captivated the entire planet with its ingenious puzzles or hilarious dialogues. A whole succession of geniuses that start from their particular anti-copy system to the end of the credits. And if you have not played it, savor it, do not use guides, enjoy this product from the 90s and give your speakers a boost. You will thank us.

THE BEST

  • Important audiovisual leap with respect to the first.
  • More and better puzzles, fun dialogues and an amazing adventure.
  • The translation into Spanish.
  • See old acquaintances again.

WORST

  • Should I put something here?
10

Masterpiece

A masterpiece that has mastered its genre to place itself on top of it. A colossus of his generation that will continue to be discussed and remembered in the future. The maximum note does not imply perfection, but is used to point to an absolute referent in which others can and should look at each other.