Welcome to the latest edition of Retro Fri-Dave Fri-Tom!

FarmerDave has had a very busy week gathering crops for the end of harvest celebration, Thanksgiving.  Subsequently, he had very little time to explore the history of gaming this week.  So instead, I will write about one of my favorite games of old.  The game is of a dying genre, point & click adventure: a genre that just recently seems to be having a resurgence.  The classic title is The Secret of Monkey Island.

I have long been a devotee of LucasArts (or Lucasfilm Games as it was known then) games.  That's doesn't mean I love them with a sort of blind allegiance, but I do look forward to them more than I might to other titles.  Lucas has had more than its share of flubs, but they have had some real gems as well.  My love of Lucas can easily be traced back to the early adventure titles.

Loom, Maniac Mansion, The Dig, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Grim Fandango - these are the titles that established Lucas Arts as more than a delivery system for all games Star Wars.

The Secret of Monkey Island is the story of Guybrush Threepwood, and his quest to become a pirate.  After speaking to the "important-looking pirates" on Melee Island, Guybrush learns he must first complete the "Three Trials" to achieve his dream.  The "Trials" and the adventure they take the protagonist on is the storyline of the game.

Monkey Island succeeds because of two factors: its gameplay and its writing.  The genius of the interface is its simplicity.  Everything you can do, or need to do, is presented on the screen in front of you.  Unlike Zork, which FarmerDave wrote about last week, all the commands are known - there is no searching for the correct word.

Monkey Island's writing is superbly funny, and this humor is what really contributes to its appeal.  One liners and lame-puns abound, but you can't help but crack a smile.  Ron Gilbert's creation is nothing short of a masterpiece in gaming, and with his recent collaboration on Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness can only further his legacy as the ultimate in point-click adventure designers.

Although the title probably won't play so well on Windows XP anymore, check out ScummVM, an emulation software designed to work with nearly all classic Lucas Adventure games.

If you can find a copy of The Secret of Monkey Island, on eBay or CraigsList, buy it.  It will provide you with hours of fun that you won't soon forget.

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