THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND

 THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND, an animated adventure from Lucasfilm Games, is one
of the best graphic adventure games I've ever played. Instead of feeling
relieved after solving it (as often happens with adventure games), I was
genuinely sorry that the game had to end! Aside from the excellent sights and
sounds, the designer did a truly outstanding job in making the adventure an
extremely enjoyable gaming experience. (This review is based on the IBM-PC
version.)

 The story is about pirates -- not the ones who steal commercial software, but
those who make you walk the plank if you look at them cross-eyed. You are
Guybrush Threepwood (what a name), a young lad on Melee Island (tm) who has
always dreamed of being a fireman, er, make that a pirate. You learn that to
join this prestigious organization, you have to pass three trials, which are
actually three mini-quests. Just when you are ready to finally become a pirate,
the dreaded ghost pirate leader, LeChuck (what a name) from Monkey Island (tm)
drops by for a visit. He kidnapped the governess whom you have met and fallen in
love with (at first sight, no less). Undaunted, you purchase a ship from Stan
(the used-ship salesman), round up a few scums of the earth for a crew, and set
sail to Monkey Island (tm) to find LeChuck and save your beloved damsel in
distress.

 The game employs a parserless interface. Except for certain command keys, no
typing is needed. Joystick and mouse are supported for selecting commands. I
used the mouse exclusively. and game play was smooth as silk. There is an
onscreen list of 12 verbs/commands that control all the actions you need to play
the game. Your inventory is also displayed onscreen at all times. When you move
the cursor onto an object of interest, the name of the object is displayed to
let you know that further interaction is possible. This is similar to FUTURE
WARS and the MANHUNTER series. All the relevant objects in this game are well
illustrated and easily recognized. There is no need to worry about that one
off-color pixel at the corner of the screen. When you talk to someone, you
select from a set of dialogs, as in NEUROMANCER. The dialogs at a given
situation can change, depending on the progress that you make. Choosing the
right dialog is not required to solve the puzzles. Indeed, you will want to try
to select as many different dialogs as possible, to see the many humorous
responses.

 With only 12 commands available and predetermined dialogs, you might think the
game must not be much of a challenge. Well, pardon me here while I slap you
silly. I can think of only one word to describe the puzzles: _delicious_. Let me
elaborate: First of all, you do not _die_ in this game! At least, I could not
find a way to get killed. If not for such mundane activities as as sleeping and
working (I could have given up eating), I'd never have to use any of the nine
save-game slots.

 When you want to go somewhere, just click at the destination and Threepwood
will get there. He is smart enough to navigate around obstacles, and knows
better than to fall over cliffs, ledges, and so on. In fact, you cannot make him
jump off a cliff even if you want to. There is no arcade sequence in the game,
although there are two puzzles that require a fairly rapid click of the mouse.
The design of the game is such that, while there are many locations to visit,
mapping is really not necessary. (Well, you may think it is, at some point in
the game, but trust me on this one.)

 A lot of the puzzles are non-linear; the three trials I mentioned earlier can
be tackled in any order. In fact, you may choose to pursue all three at the same
time. The puzzles themselves are not too complicated, but they are always
logical and never too obvious. The clues (both visual and verbal) are fair,
subtle, and well placed. The puzzles do seem to become a bit easier once you get
to LeChuck's hideout. But by then, you'll feel that you deserve a break.
Overall, I'd rate the game difficulty to be medium, but on the easy side. As a
comparison, I think the puzzles are better than those in FUTURE WARS and
CIRCUIT'S EDGE, two other parserless adventure games.

 I must not neglect to mention the humor in this game. It is everywhere! From
the expected "Star Wars" joke ("You came in that ship? You are braver than you
look!"), to the totally off-the-wall way to defeat the swordmaster, you will be
chuckling to yourself the whole time. And I simply burst out in uncontrollable
laughter when I accidentally and unexpectedly destroyed my ship.

 The current version of SECRET supports VGA (16 colors), EGA, MCGA, CGA, and
Tandy graphics modes. An upgradable 256-color VGA version will be available as
of December, 1990. The graphics are breathtaking. and the character animations
have to be seen to be believed. When I had to deal with Stan (the used-ship
salesman) and his plaid (!) overcoat, fast talking, and arm-waving mannerisms,
it convinced me to hang on to my old car for a few more decades. The realism of
the dancing ghosts (realism? dancing ghosts??) can easily rival the disco scene
in CODENAME: ICEMAN. The game employs horizontal scrolling whenever appropriate,
to provide continuity. The Scumm bar (what a name) where the pirates hang out is
three screens wide, and the graphics scroll as you move further inside the bar.
The scrolling is smoothly done, by and large, but does become jerky
occasionally. Another unusual feature is that characters' sizes vary with
distance. Threepwood becomes smaller as you move him further away, enhancing the
3-D perspective. I definitely want to see the 256-color version when it becomes
available.

 The program supports AdLib and Soundblaster sound cards. (There is also an
option for Gameblaster sounds.) Various theme music pieces accompany you on
almost every occasion. There are very few scenes with complete silence. The
music is wonderful and appropriate, instead of obtrusive and repetitive. Not
once did I want to turn the music off while playing the game. There are also
some sound effects scattered here and there, but it is the music that deserves
your attention.

 SECRET is hard-disk installable, and copy protection is handled via a code
wheel. I found the code wheel a bit difficult to use, but it is necessary only
at the beginning of each boot cycle. The game contains nine save slots. Saving
and restoring a game can be done at any time during play. You'll need 640K of
RAM. The EGA version is available in either 5-1/4" (low density) or 3-1/2"
format. You can exchange for either format for free _if_ you send in your
original set. There is an upgrade coupon that allows you to purchase the VGA
256-color version for $15. Apparently, it will only be available in 5-1/4" high
density or 3-1/2" formats.

 I guess by now you probably have the impression that I really like THE SECRET
OF MONKEY ISLAND. My recommendations are: Buy it, play it, and savor it. I know
you won't regret it.

 THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND is published and distributed by Lucasfilm and
distributed by Electronic Arts.

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