Episode 300: The Curse of Monkey Island
Added 2020-05-18 07:00:02 +0000 UTCOur LucasArts adventure miniseries continues this week as we explore the developer's first (relatively) high-res adventure: 1997's The Curse of Monkey Island. This late-'90s release had a lot going against it: the series creator had left the company years ago, the two guys responsible for most of the previous games' humor and design were busy with other projects, and this third entry in the trilogy went for an art style far more exaggerated than what had come before. And somehow, they didn't screw it up. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey and Nina Matsumoto (Thimbleweed Park cover artist and designer at Fangamer) for a super-size exploration of this once-long-awaited sequel.
Be sure to pre-order Nina's newest book: Sparks! Double Dog Dare.
Comments
I’m far behind on my podcasts, but congrats on the engagement. I wish you both all the best.
El Pescado
2020-05-30 14:10:49 +0000 UTCBit late to the party, but congrats on the engagement!
Griffin
2020-05-28 10:39:25 +0000 UTCAladdin is too buff and could beat up Guybrush and all the other scrawny-ass male protagonists
nina matsumoto
2020-05-28 07:19:27 +0000 UTCI always thought Guybrush in this game looks like a really dorky Disney`s Aladdin so I think Aladdin is patient zero regarding this character design.
Kurono
2020-05-24 20:50:19 +0000 UTCEscape was my first MI and I still have fond memories of it. Not looking forward to being personally attacked during the upcoming podcast. 笑
2020-05-22 02:36:45 +0000 UTCAs someone who still plays modern adventure games, I can say that the genre has seemed to overcorrect from being too open to not nearly open enough. You only hold onto a few items before they are immediately used. Locations are locked down as you linearly progress through the game, and rarely do you get the opportunity to solve things in an order different than the developers intended. It is much harder to get stuck, but you lose that exploratory magic of the golden age of Lucas Arts point & clicks.
Scott Scallion
2020-05-20 04:15:54 +0000 UTCI find it wild that so many people think CMI is the best in the series, because for me it doesn't even come close to the brilliance of SMI and MI2.
nina matsumoto
2020-05-19 22:23:45 +0000 UTCI'm not a Mario fan so I'd rather have Mortal Kombat cake. https://i.redd.it/x1o2ehc3k0j31.jpg
nina matsumoto
2020-05-19 20:51:10 +0000 UTCJust finished listening to this - really great. I'm with Nina here - Curse is a way lesser game than the first two games. I actually came at these completely backwards, too - Curse first in the early 2000s then 2, then the original as a crappy teen pirate not long afterwards
crystalhearts
2020-05-19 19:52:05 +0000 UTCCongratulations! I'm already imagining the Mario and Peach Odyssey amiibo on top of the wedding cake.
Jeremiah Jones
2020-05-19 06:40:52 +0000 UTCEMI never happening is the glue that holds MI fans together.
nina matsumoto
2020-05-19 03:23:10 +0000 UTCNina and I are fated to never agree. I played the first two games before this, but Curse of Monkey Island is far and away my favorite. For me Tales of Monkey Island is the "not my Monkey Island" game (Escape just never happened).
Ian Easton
2020-05-19 01:35:10 +0000 UTCOh hell I just remembered, when I played Tales my wife (fiance at the time) was asking me "What is that? That voice sounds really familiar" I told her it was Monkey Island and she looked up the cast, and was like "Oh that's Dom I went to high school with that guy!" They both had attended IMSA in Illinois. She's five years older than me and skipped two grades so was in the same class as him. Wanted to meet him at the reunion but we ended up not going due to a conflicting research trip! (don't know if he went either)
Paul
2020-05-18 22:00:49 +0000 UTCI played the demo of this over and over as a kid, never got the actual game until way later
Paul
2020-05-18 19:13:22 +0000 UTCspoiler!!!!
J.P. McD.
2020-05-18 18:45:24 +0000 UTCCongratulations on your engagement, Bob and Nina!
Julian
2020-05-18 17:22:27 +0000 UTCThis has been such a fun ride through these games. Never had the chance to try them and it's great to hear about 'em!
Normallyretro
2020-05-18 14:56:36 +0000 UTCCongratulations guys, and commiserations on the delays.
thatcamjones
2020-05-18 09:24:13 +0000 UTCPlaying Princess Tomato is a serious dedication to catching up on this genre so I salute you, and oh, to play SMI for the first time again. Have fun!
nina matsumoto
2020-05-18 08:24:56 +0000 UTCJust bought and started Monkey Island 1 on PS3 yesterday in order to catch up on the Lucasarts series! (Also finished Princess Tomato last week, Full Throttle a few weeks ago to catch up on those pods.)
J.P. McD.
2020-05-18 08:19:31 +0000 UTCGreat! I love this series. And I can't wait for the Day of the Tentacle one!
Starquake
2020-05-18 07:30:21 +0000 UTCI would go nuts for a King's Quest series, by the way - that is a fascinating and outlandishly cruel series. 1-3 and 8 aren't really worth talking about in detail, but 4, 5, 7, and especially 6 are all really singular, unrepeatable pieces of art
crystalhearts
2020-05-18 07:24:45 +0000 UTCReally looking forward to this, this Lucasarts series has been really great
crystalhearts
2020-05-18 07:21:50 +0000 UTC
