Well Then, Thriftweed....

Have you ever been in a situation where you're with a group of friends and they're all talking about a specific, awesome thing, and the only sentence you can contribute to the conversation is along the lines of "I never did that." Well, take out the group of friends and an actual conversation, and you end up with my situation. I feel like I've missed out on something amazing for the last 15 or so years. I never gamed on my family computer when I was young, and man, did I ever miss out. Playing The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition on Xbox 360 is like discovering a lost world where humor was genuine and characters were interesting. The complexity of the world isn't the most important thing; so far, in the first 7% of the game, pretty much everything has been instantly memorable. I can't say that for the first 7% of a lot of more modern games. I wish those very same, graphically intense modern games instilled this sense of awe and curiosity in me. I love you, Tim Shafer (yes, I know other people worked on it as well).

The game starts out with the main character, Guybrush Threepwood, telling some dude that he wants to be a pirate. Fair enough, I figured. I, too, want to be a pirate. So, right off the bat I have something in common with Monkey Island. The mysterious dude tells Guybrush to go to the local tavern in order to converse with the pirates within. Guybrush then sets off, and your adventure with him begins. I haven't really done anything in the game yet, but in the 51 minutes I spent with it so far, my mouth was almost permanently fixed in a full-on grin.

I'd like to acknowledge all the work that went into making this edition of the game. You can press the "back" button at any time during play to instantly switch between the revamped version and the original. The difference is striking - not only visually, but also in the full voice work that accompanied the graphical overhaul. Both aspects are impressive and worthy of all the praise in the world. I can already tell that I'm in for a damn good time, and I have absolutely no idea where this story is going to take me. Like I said, I never got the chance to play games like these when they were brand-spanking new, so right now I'm like a kid in a candy store. I guess for that analogy to work, the candy would have to be 15 years old. And I would also have to enjoy eating rotting food. Forget the analogy and focus on how awesome The Secret of Monkey Island really is:

The opening 10 minutes or so of the game. Epic, really.