Return to Monkey Island: Impressions from the Community – Gallery+

Was it hard for me to endure in 1990, no Indian 3 on the C64, there was now THE reason to switch to the Amiga: The Secret of Monkey Island! 32 years later I am now sitting in front of the Switch and longingly waiting for it to finally happen Return to Monkey Island released to play.

The story begins where part 2 with a strange ending has left fans confused. Ron Gilbert pays tribute to the three successors, but wanted to finish the story the way he, the creator, had conceived it at the time. After a quick tutorial, we’re back on Melee Island with Guybrush, and my heart sinks: it all feels so familiar and it’s such a pleasure to explore what has changed here over the years.

Thanks to direct control, it plays quickly, and I find it practical that selectable items are displayed visually directly and prefer it to mouse control on the switch. The successful story is told with verve, the puzzles can be solved even in difficult mode. The pieces of music from that time were reissued and the new ones also fit perfectly with the Caribbean atmosphere.

Graphically abstract-modern and yet captured the old flair, a pixel look could hardly have represented the many funny animations and cutscenes like this. After ten minutes of getting used to the style, I found it so great that I continued playing on the big TV in dock mode. Everything seems like a current cartoon series and yet there are classic inventory and dialogue puzzles – a real adventure.

For those who loved parts 1 and 2 back then, the game is a straight 10. Newcomers should definitely catch up on the two old parts beforehand, otherwise too much humor will be lost as a big question mark. And that would be a real shame.