I Wonder What Happened In MonkeyThon09: Part One

In December, I embarked on a particularly geeky pirate adventure: playing through Guybrush Threepwood’s adventures. Yes, all of them. This was MonkeyThon09, and while it reminded me why I’m not THAT much of a gamer (seriously, after several hours in a row I’m almost wishing I still have homework I could do instead), it was a delightful experiment.

While I already posted my thoughts during this quest live on Twitter, I have decided to expound upon some of these thoughts for my LiveJournal audience, who no doubt were wondering just how they’d be able to go on without reading this.

Part One: The Secret of Monkey Island
(Insert Michael Land’s Chapter Start music here. Doo doo, doo doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo doo-doo doo-doo doo dooooooooooo…) Continue reading

MonkeyThon 2009!

As if the world needed any MORE evidence of my complete dorkiness…I’m having a MonkeyThon!

Yes, folks, the final chapter of Telltale Games’ “Tales of Monkey Island” is coming out on Tuesday, and in order to prepare, I will spend the weekend replaying through ALL THE MONKEY ISLAND GAMES. (Yes, even “Escape from Monkey Island”. It may be the installment I’m least crazy about, but it’s still an official game, and despite the infuriating interface and plot holes you could fight a cow through, there’s still a lot to enjoy in it.)

So, beginning at 5:30 PM this evening, I will begin playing “The Secret of Monkey Island”. Once I finish, I will move onto “LeChuck’s Revenge”, followed by “Curse”, then “Escape”, and finally, all four currently-released chapters of “Tales”. Obviously, I won’t finish all in one night; I’ll play until I get tired, then in the morning I’ll continue where I left off, etc. I’ll play all weekend if necessary!

Given the option, I’ll be playing the hard version of each game. Furthermore, I will NOT be consulting any online hint guides or walkthroughs. In most cases, I will probably remember the puzzle solutions from my last playthroughs, but if I stumble across a puzzle I’ve forgotten (most likely in “Escape”, which I’ve played least-recently), I’ll just stare at it until I figure it out. Hence the potential taking-all-weekend.

And in case there were any lingering doubts about my insanity (or, for that matter, my inanity), I will naturally be tweeting my thoughts and observations as I play through the games, tagging each tweet #MonkeyThon09, so YOU can read just how frustrated I am when I can’t find a pirate who knows the last insult swordfighting comeback!

I encourage other Monkey Island fans to participate in the MonkeyThon! There are only three requirements:

1. All of the Monkey Island games
2. A Twitter account
3. Absolutely no life to speak of.

The good news is, according to my observations, requirements 2 and 3 often go hand-in-hand! So please, play along, and tell us what YOU love (and hate) about each game as you revisit it!

Even if you don’t own ALL the games, I still encourage you to replay the ones you do have in anticipation for the “Tales” conclusion. How ELSE are we supposed to raise our fanboy expectations to a level where they can never be satisfied?

I hope those of you who are almost as dorky as I am will enjoy joining me for MonkeyThon. I hope this weekend, we can all look toward the future, by playing LucasArts games from the past.

How appropriate. You update like a cow!

I could tell you about how I’m doing in California. I could tell you what it was like to shake Christopher Lloyd’s hand and touch a DeLorean. I could tell you about the very exciting internship I’m almost positive I have secured. I could tell you these things…but instead, I’m telling you about adventure gaming news.

Because, after twelve years (well, nine if you didn’t hate “Escape”), MONKEY ISLAND IS BACK.

LucasArts announced a special edition remake of the original “Secret of Monkey Island”, complete with new hand-painted graphics, voice acting (including Dominic Armato as Guybrush), rerecorded music, and the option to play in “classic” mode.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Telltale Games, protector of all that is good and holy in the universe, announced a new season of sequels entitled “Tales of Monkey Island”. Since so many of Telltale’s staff members were also classic LucasArts staff members, and they definitely did a stellar job reviving Sam and Max, this is the best possible way we could get a sequel. Armato is back for this as well, as is designer Dave Grossman and composer Michael Land. Series creator Ron Gilbert was apparently also involved in the brainstorming.

This news is all extremely exciting. It’s almost enough to make me wish I had a PC. Now, where did I put that rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle…