Ron Gilbert has ventured back to the series he created with The Return of Monkey Island. It's the first entry in the series to be headed by him and co-developer David Grossman since Lechuck's Revenge in 1991 and the first graphic adventure to bear the Lucas name in over a decade.
In the late 80s to early 2000s, Lucasfilm Games gained a reputation for their graphic adventure titles which boasted some of the most lovable characters, memorable dialogue, and amazing art-direction to grace the interactive medium. Given the company's return to this genre, many fans may feel nostalgic for some of Lucasfilm Games' classic adventure titles.
10 Maniac Mansion Was The Studio's Debut Adventure
Maniac Mansion marked the company's first tentative steps in the graphic adventure genre. While lacking many quality of life features that would be found in the company's subsequent adventures, the multiple characters and the several possible conclusions gave the game a large amount of replayability.
As one of the titles made before Lucasfilm established their standard design philosophy, Maniac Mansion is less accessible and more difficult than their later games. However, while players can still die or find themselves in an unwinnable state, it's much more forgiving than the majority of Sierra's titles.
9 Aside From Some Bumps, Full Throttle Is A Smooth Ride
TIm Schafer's first solo led title was a heavy metal biker adventure set in the future. In contrast to other entries in the genre, Full Throttle put players in control of a tough as nails outlaw. The production values saw a considerable bump from incorporating more cinematic animation and vocal talent from SAG actors such as Kath Soucie, Maurice Lamarche, and even Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill.
What keeps Full Throttle from reaching classic status is its frustrating combat sections, cryptic puzzles in the third act, and it's short runtime. That said, it's still well-worth a look for fans of Schafer's trademark humor and characterization.
8 The Curse Of Monkey Island Was A Playable Animated Feature
With the third Monkey Island entry, the ship would be helmed by Jonathan Ackley and Larry Ahern. Curse marked the final adventure to be powered by SCUMM and served as the ultimate realization of the company's previous animated efforts. The lavishly hand-drawn visuals and cinema worthy production values made players feel like they were playing a Disney animated feature.
Curse Of Monkey Island was also the first game in the series to feature voice acting from Dominic Armato, Alexandra Boyd, and Earl Boen — elevating the game's razor sharp writing. Finally, it marked the debut of Murray the demonic talking skull whose megalomania and bravado served to make him a beloved reoccurring character.
7 Loom Waved Its Way Into A Cult Following
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Brian Moriarty's adventure deviated heavily from the competing titles of Sierra and Infocom. Loom was the first Lucasfilm game which didn't feature any deaths or unwinnable situations. Additionally, the game eschewed the typical inventory-based puzzles in favor of a system were players could use special spells they acquired throughout the journey.
Loom's major problem is that it ends just as its weaving spell based gameplay starts to really get interesting, leaving players on a cliffhanger that's never followed up on. The multiple difficulties add a bit of replay value to what's otherwise a criminally short adventure.
6 Sam & Max Hit The Road Was The Freelance Police's First Interactive Case
Nailing the anarchic humor and visuals from Steve Purcell's underground comics, Sam & Max Hit the Road put players in control of the freelance police in their nation-wide search for a missing bigfoot. It was the first piece of media where the duo spoke, bolstering the incredibly sharp and fast-paced dialogue.
To avoid spoiling the game's many jokes, Hit the Road brilliantly eschewed the typical dialogue selection text with icons that gave an indication on how Sam would respond. While its planned sequel never came to fruition, several of the game's staff — such as director Michael Stemmle — would later work on the Telltale Sam & Max titles.
5 Day Of The Tentacle Stands The Test Of Time
With the sequel to Ron Gilbert's Maniac Mansion, Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman turned to the cartoons of Chuck Jones for inspiration. Day of the Tentacle was very much an interactive Looney Tunes cartoon with fluid animation, side-splitting visual gags, and a zany cast of characters.
Day of the Tentacle boasted three playable characters and a singular location set in three distinct time periods. The time traveling premise led to some very creative puzzles such as burying wine in a time capsule during the colonial period in order to get vinegar in the future.
4 The Secret Of Monkey Island Is Still A Treasure Worth Plundering
While adventure films boasted a wide variety of settings and sub-genres, fantasy adventure games were overpopulated with samey sword and sorcery affairs. Ron Gilbert looked at the marketplace and noticed the pirate genre was woefully underrepresented in the world of gaming and turned towards the films of Errol Flynn and the novel Stranger Tides as a jumping off point.
Co-written by Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer, The Secret of Monkey Island stood out from other graphic adventure titles with its intuitive interface, its creative and well-designed puzzles, and hilariously written dialogue.
3 Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis Is One Of The Archeologist's Best Adventures
The Fate of Atlantis is widely regarded as the best Indiana Jones film that's not actually a film. Much like the graphic adventure adaption of The Last Crusade, Fate of Atlantis gives players three different ways to tackle the puzzles that stand between Indy and the fabled secrets of a long-lost civilization.
The archeologist could solve these conundrums with his wits, the help of his former colleague Sofia, or even his fists. Depending on which path players took, the story and puzzles would vary — providing lots of replay value.
2 Grim Fandango Was A Funny And Poignant Swan Song
Tim Schafer's final effort at Lucasfilm serves as the perfect swan song to the genre many considered dead. Grim Fandango is a wonderful blend of film noir and Mexican folklore bolstered by Schafer's gift for crafting endlessly funny dialogue and endearing characters. While the mix of polygonal characters and pre-rendered backgrounds are showing their age, the story, soundtrack, and vocal performances have aged like fine wine.Due to its initial commercial failure, nabbing a copy and running it on modern machines proves almost impossible. Thankfully, Double Fine has a high definition re-release with improved visuals and remastered score courtesy of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
1 Monkey Island 2 Lechuck's Revenge Gives Players More Freedom
In contrast to the boyish buccaneer's first adventure, Lechuck's Revenge took on a more non-linear structure with several islands the player could explore, solving mysteries in whatever order they wished. While the writing wasn't quite as sharp as the previous game, the lore was heavily expanded and the trademark humor of Gilbert, Grossman, and Schafer shined.
The game boasted a richer presentation with dynamic music that transitioned seamlessly between areas and scanned hand drawn VGA art from Peter Chan and Steve Purcell. All of this combined to craft what is possibly the company's finest graphic adventure.