The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

Old? You’d never know it. This screen-for-screen remake of The Secret of Monkey Island, one of the wittiest point-and-click adventure games ever made, brilliantly masks its age thanks to its sharp script, clever puzzle-solving, and upgraded-to-HD art that renders the Caribbean prettier than ever.

Penned by three of the funniest men in gaming, Monkey Island follows Guybrush Threepwood, a bumbling wannabe pirate whose misadventures take him from Melee Island to Monkey Island, solving puzzles that range from the comically logical (gunpowder + magnifying glass + the sun = explosion) to the cerebrally absurd (remember the old saying “monkey see, monkey do”?) in an effort to defeat the evil ghost pirate LeChuck.

You’re likely to get stuck from time to time — it’s the nature of the genre — but this special edition adds a handy new hint system: simply hold X anytime for a clue. Keep pressing for stronger hints and, ultimately, the puzzle’s solution.

While the 2009 hand-painted HD visuals are beautiful (you can press Back whenever you like to switch to the original graphics and sound), the best thing this version offers is spot-on voice-acting. The original never had recorded dialogue, but the entire cast from 1997’s Curse of Monkey Island — the first Monkey that did — has been reunited here, giving Secret a fresh feel even for those who’ve replayed it annually since 1990.

The only barnacle on this ship is the interface. Actions are bound to LB/LT and your inventory is locked to RB/RT, while shortcuts are on the D-pad. Unfortunately, the 360 D-pad is mushy and imprecise, often resulting in unintended actions. Using the triggers is also a bit cumbersome. But you can never really fail in Monkey Island, so no true harm is done. Secret is the foremost example of the genre on Xbox — and arguably anywhere else. Should you buy it? Yarr!