monkey island special edition

superfighter · Post by **superfighter** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:46 pm

went to download it today as its july the 15th, but on the lucasarts site it says coming soon, whats the release date for the UK cant wait to play this in HD

Mataku · Post by **Mataku** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:01 pm

it's already out on XBOX LIVE, and PC version on steam it says will unlock in 2 hours.

Kisdra · Post by **Kisdra** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:45 pm

I've downloaded it today on the 360. Really pleasant to play, with a quite nice interface for the controler. The new graphics are nice, but there's 2 complains i would make about it :
-in some scenes, some elements doesn't looks that much redone (I've even spotted in Mêlée's forest some trees quite as pixelated as in the old version...), producing an unequal render.
-they've impoved graphics, sound, OK, that's nice. But why the hell didn't they touch to the animations ? They kept the old ones, which are still quite good, but it's not as smooth as in the original version sometimes. And it's quite weird, beautiful new pictures and music, with 1990 animations.

Vegan · Post by **Vegan** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:24 am

My biggest complaint so far is that nobody's mouth moves during the closeups when they talk. It's such a little thing that would've made so much difference. I know they tried to obsessively mimic the original but it really looks awkward.

And of course the art style complaint that you've already heard a million times. Now that I'm seeing this in motion fullscreen, this vectorish PNG stuff (check the credits) yields a remake that looks like something a group of fans might have made.

The comedic effect of a character literally having "..." appear over their heads is lost -- an actual pause isn't as funny -- but what can you do?

At the end of the day, it's still Monkey Island.

jg · Post by jg » Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:29 pm

Kisdra wrote:And it's quite weird, beautiful new pictures and music, with 1990 animations.

Vegan wrote:I know they tried to obsessively mimic the original but it really looks awkward.

It's built on top of the old game (did you try pressing F10?). There are only triggers for the old animations, so adding new ones would probably be an ugly hack.

I actually don't think I would have enjoyed extra animations. I rather enjoy the old ones. It makes for a good mix of nostalgia and new technology.

Praetorian · Post by **Praetorian** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:27 pm

It's a very impressive work, this new special edition. I, too, think that the animations look a little awkward and abrupt with the new graphics, but all in all, the final impression is that this is a great "addition" to the series well worth its money.

I've spotted a glitch in the Scumm Bar. The second sleeping pirate down in the left corner, has a "breathing" animation, a frame in which restores some pieces of the old image.

Graxer · Post by **Graxer** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:32 pm

A glitch I noticed is that if you walk up and down in front of and behind Toothrot (talk to him until he laughs instead of telling him to go away) the layering goes wrong at times. This means that Guybrush is layered behind Toothrot when in front of him. (and vice versa)

Otherwise, amazing remake. I can't believe Lucasarts did such an amazing job. This was definately my best purchase on XBLA.

I'm hoping for Monkey Island 2 and Grim Fandango now.

Aractus · Post by **Aractus** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:05 pm

Praetorian wrote:I've spotted a glitch in the Scumm Bar. The second sleeping pirate down in the left corner, has a "breathing" animation, a frame in which restores some pieces of the old image.

Well spotted... it's not the only glitch in the game, and I am a little annoyed that the hotkeys have been changed (and Ctrl-W doesn't seem to do anything!)

Bluddy · Post by **Bluddy** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:26 pm

They did do a great job, especially with the voice work. There's another way to tell some scenes were rushed though: sometimes they added animation to fire (I think in the jail or thereabouts) and sometimes, like in the scumm bar, the fire has no animation and looks old school. Or did they just leave all the pre-existing animations as is? I'm not sure.

I LOVE the 3d effects though, like the water and Lechuck's smoky effect. I think they really add a lot.

Where do they go from here? I hope that MI2 will be redone using original art only. But then what? Lucasarts doesn't have too many games -- particularly good ones that don't have voice. I wouldn't pay for a remake of DOTT unless it was professionally, painstakingly reanimated. Same goes for Atlantis, Sam&Max, and Full Throttle. Grim could be redone with better graphics since it used primitive 3D, but CMI certainly cannot. The only other updates worth doing would be MM, Zak and Indy3, and I don't consider any one of them to be such great games.

Flo · Post by **Flo** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:39 pm

Bluddy wrote:Where do they go from here? I hope that MI2 will be redone using original art only. But then what? Lucasarts doesn't have too many games -- particularly good ones that don't have voice. I wouldn't pay for a remake of DOTT unless it was professionally, painstakingly reanimated. Same goes for Atlantis, Sam&Max, and Full Throttle. Grim could be redone with better graphics since it used primitive 3D, but CMI certainly cannot. The only other updates worth doing would be MM, Zak and Indy3, and I don't consider any one of them to be such great games.

Don't forget that they're also targetting players with these remakes who have never played the originals before, as well as console players (if the Xbox Live Arcade of MI:SE is any indication).

Personally, I wouldn't mind paying $10 for high resolution versions of some of the older adventures, even if I already own the original talkies.

jg · Post by jg » Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:23 pm

I actually don't own most of these games, even though I've played some of them. So I'm definitely buying everything they're putting out in the point-n-click department.

saulob · Post by **saulob** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:52 pm

If they release everything remade with new 3D graphics I would buy them all !!

ALL

Morden · Post by **Morden** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:08 pm

saulob wrote:If they release everything remade with new 3D graphics I would buy them all !!

Seeing how smoothly things went when they were trying to get Sam & Max out the door, I wouldn't count on any 3D remakes. And I'm not even going to mention Full Throttle: Payback. Whoops.

Besides, for most of the people here it's not about the fancy 3D graphics, but about preserving the good old adventure games.

MusicallyInspired · Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:13 pm

Are you talking about Full Throttle: Hell On Wheels?

Mort · Post by **Mort** » Sat Jul 18, 2009 12:49 am

saulob wrote:If they release everything remade with new 3D graphics I would buy them all !!

ALL

Personally if they released EMI as a 2d point and clicker I'd buy it (again). Perhaps even Grim Fandango just to see how it compares.