THE CURSE OF MONKEY ISLAND

'''The Curse of Monkey Island''' ('''CMI''') is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts, and the third game in the ''Monkey Island'' computer game series. It was released in 1997, and followed the successful games ''The Secret of Monkey Island'' and ''. ''CMI'' is the twelfth and last LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine, which was extensively upgraded for its last outing before being replaced by the GrimE engine for the next game in the series, ''Escape from Monkey Island''. ''CMI'' is the first Monkey Island game to be voiced, and has a graphic style more cartoon-ish than the earlier games.
The game's story centers on Guybrush Threepwood, a wannabe pirate who must lift a curse from his love Elaine Marley. As the story progresses, he must deal with a band of mysterious pirates, a French buccaneer, as well as his old archnemesis LeChuck.
In the opening and closing credits the game is dedicated to Brett Barret, a programmer of the first two games who was killed in a motorcycle accident.^[1]

Contents

Development

Plot

Characters

Story

Preparations

The Voyage

Undoing the Curse

Big Whoop

Reception

Critical response

Awards

References

LucasArts

Pop-culture

References

External links

Development

The original Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert parted ways with the series after ''Monkey Island 2'', and the new project leaders were Jonathan Ackley and Larry Ahern, both of whom had previously worked on ''Full Throttle'' (the interface of the game was adopted almost entirely). Michael Land who provided the music for the first two games once more composed the soundtrack.
During production, examples of major changes include enhancing the role of Murray, the talking skull. Originally intended only to be featured in the first chapter, he proved so popular with test players that he was written to re-appear at several points later in the game. The ending was somewhat cut short, and a storyboard has been circulating the Internet which explains the chain of events between the two final chapters; a scene which did not make it to the finished product due to time constraints.^[2]
Guybrush has a deathly fear of porcelain. Bill Tiller, ''CMI'' lead artist, has revealed that "it is just a joke. It means nothing. Why would anyone be afraid of porcelain?".^[3]
The game was released on CD-ROM in 1997. It was later included on a CD-ROM compilation of ''Monkey Island'' games, bundled with ''The Secret of Monkey Island'' and ''LeChuck's Revenge''. It leaves a gap in the series for Mac users since it was never released for that platform (the free software ScummVM interpreter supports ''CMI'' on the Macintosh, provided that the interested Mac user has the PC software).
After 'CMI' shipped, a ''Monkey Island'' movie was in the works. This was only brought to light when Tony Stacchi, a concept artist for the project, sent his work to The Scumm Bar, a ''Monkey Island'' fansite. The movie was cancelled in the very early stages of development. They published the artwork on their site.^[4] Note that despite the name, this movie was not to be based on 'CMI' but rather on original material that was inspired by the entire ''Monkey Island'' series.

Plot

Characters

★ Guybrush Threepwood - Dominic Armato

★ Elaine Marley / Son Pirate - Alexandra Boyd

★ LeChuck - Earl Boen

★ Murray / Skully / Father Pirate - Denny Delk

★ Wally B. Feed - Neil Ross

★ Haggis McMutton - Alan Young

★ Edward Van Helgen / Ghost Groom - Michael Sorich

★ Cutthroat Bill - Gregg Berger

★ Kenny Falmouth - Gary Coleman

★ Voodoo Lady - Leilani Jones Wilmore

★ Griswold Goodsoup - Kay Kuter

★ Lemonhead - S. Scott Bullock

Story

After the vague and surreal ending of ''Monkey Island 2'', Guybrush Threepwood is inexplicably found on the sea in a floating bumper car. Guybrush is trying to recall in his journal how he ended up in his dire situation, his escape from the Big Whoop where he was trapped for an undisclosed period of time.
Eventually he approaches Plunder Island, which is governed by Elaine Marley and currently under siege by LeChuck himself. After a lengthy exchange where LeChuck is rebuffed in his attempts to woo Elaine, both notice Guybrush and he is quickly recaptured by LeChuck. While seeking a way out, Guybrush causes LeChuck to blast himself to smithereens (though he does return later), finds a diamond ring in LeChuck's treasure hold, and escapes the ship whilst sinking it.
He then reunites with his love, Elaine Marley and officially proposes to her, offering her the diamond ring he found on LeChuck's ship. Unbeknownst to him is the fact that the ring is cursed — Elaine gets turned into a gold statue as soon as she puts it on. Guybrush must then retrieve the statue (which is stolen almost immediately) and return her to human form.

Preparations

The Voodoo Lady tells Guybrush that he must travel to Blood Island to find a certain uncursed diamond ring to break the spell. In doing so, he must get a crew, a ship, the statue of Elaine, and a map as nobody knows where Blood Island is anymore. In his attempts to get a crew, Guybrush hastily informs Captain Rottingham about the gold statue of Elaine, which obviously piques his curiosity. The map also presents a problem as the only known map is tattooed to the back of Palido Domingo, who is tanning on an exclusive beach and does not cooperate in his quest. Guybrush must also find out where the statue of Elaine is hidden.
After various competitions and errands, Guybrush manages to do all of these, as well as gather a crew - consisting of Cutthroat Bill, Haggis McMutton, and Edward Van Helgen to join him on a voyage to Blood Island.

The Voyage

While sailing to Blood Island, the crew is distracted by sightseeing, whilst Captain Rene Rottingham boards the ship and fights Guybrush. Unbeknownst to Guybrush, on the sea, insult swordfighting is fought with rhyming insults and comebacks. Rottingham easily wins and takes the map to Blood Island. By fighting other pirates (in a way similar to the first game in the series), Guybrush learns various insults and defeats Rottingham, reclaiming the map. However, a terrible storm results in Guybrush's ship crashing into Blood Island, the golden statue of Elaine going flying inland, and the crew deciding to mutiny - leaving Guybrush on his own again.

Undoing the Curse

On Blood Island, Guybrush meets Griswold Goodsoup and other locals, including the cannibals from Monkey Island. Guybrush brings Minnie Goodsoup and Charles DeGoulash together, removes the cursed ring from Elaine's finger, gambles with smugglers to acquire an uncursed diamond, and other things. He returns Elaine to normal, and the two share a moment together before LeChuck's skeletal army seizes them.

Big Whoop

After a lengthy conversation with LeChuck, Guybrush is transformed into a child and left to roam the Big Whoop amusement park. Using a hangover cure discovered on Blood Island, he becomes an adult again and gets on the Rollercoaster of Death to confront LeChuck. In an unseen cinematic, Elaine reroutes the tracks, causing Guybrush to go through the same sections of the ride over and over, avoiding the lava. LeChuck chases Guybrush over and over, tormenting him with his fiery powers. Regardless, Guybrush manages to gather up various items to set off an avalanche - burying LeChuck under a mountain of ice.
Some time later, Guybrush and Elaine are seen sailing off on a ship - just married, as various friends he met on his adventures wave to them.

Reception

Like the earlier ''Monkey Island games'', ''CMI'' received nearly uniform positive reviews in the press.

Critical response

GameSpot praised the graphics style for making the game "as much fun to watch as it is to play",^[5] JustAdventure emphasized that the "music is the best I've ever heard in a game; [...] it never stops and it's never annoying; it's always a joy".^[6] RPGFan was pleased that the "additions of detailed graphics and actual spoken dialogue managed to take the already hilarious story to a whole new level".^[7] The Adventure Classic Gaming review addressed plot criticism, saying "some [...] may criticize the numerous farfetched plot twists in this game", while "some may just call it creative writing!",^[8] and Adrenaline Vault likened CMI to the adventure genre as a whole, saying: "The twin vitals of an adventure game are a good plot coupled with strong dialogue. This game has both, in spades."^[9]
On the other hand, AdventureGamers, though citing the graphic style's "refusal to take itself seriously" was adding "immensely to the game's charm", found the secondary characters "criminally underdeveloped" and the ending "an anticlimax, leaving the player thinking he could have done so much more, if only the game’s programmers had let him",^[10] the abrupt ending also a criticism voiced in the favourable reviews of GameSpot and JustAdventure. Also, PC Zone described that due to the introduction of cartoon-ish graphics "for Monkey devotees of the first two titles something tiny and almost intangible has been lost",^[11] while still scoring the game a 92/100 praising the voiceover work and humor of the game.

Awards

★ Adventure Game of the Year, ''Computer Gaming World'' and ''PC Gamer'' magazines

★ Special Achievement in Art Direction, ''Computer Gaming World'' magazine

References

LucasArts

Throughout the game, numerous allusions are made to the LucasArts company and its games. At the beginning of the game, a big CMI logo is displayed; a Deep Note is played accompanied by a cacophony of simian shrieks, and the text "The monkeys are Listening" appears, in a parody of LucasFilm's THX soundsystem logo.
During the cutscene lead-in to the second chapter, Wally B. Feed explains that he survived an explosion which capsized LeChuck's ship as he was thrown clear and that he was lucky he had not been wearing his seat belt. Founder of LucasArts George Lucas was in a near fatal car accident as a teen, and only survived because he was thrown from the vehicle as it rolled over, when his seatbelt snapped.^[12]
Other LucasArts and LucasFilmɟ products make cameo appearances throughout the game:

★ Grim Fandango's main character Manny Calavera can be seen in the second chapter, wearing a badge which says "Ask me about Grim Fandango." This is also a reference to the first Monkey Island game, where a similar character appears with a badge saying "Ask me about Loom."

★ When the player tries to get past the Cabana Boy without a membership card, he has the option of using the line "You don't need to see my identification"; the dialogue then proceeds along the lines of the scene of '' where Obi-Wan Kenobi uses his Force suggestion power to get himself and Luke past a Stormtrooper patrol. Of course, this attempt always fails.

★ When completing the stage lights puzzle in the first chapter in hard mode, a silhouette of Max from Sam and Max appears on stage.

★ In the gravedigger's house on Blood Island, you can see a book named ''Zombies Ate My Neighbors'' in the foreground, named after a LucasArts game released on SNES.

★ When Guybrush tries to win a huge diamond from a band of smugglers, one of his dialogue options are "That Diamond belongs in a museum!". This is a famous line from the George Lucas' film ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', in which Indiana Jones refers to a jewelled cross.

★ If you type "lapostal" while controlling the cannon in Part I, it will display, "Unlimited cannon balls mode ON." If you do it again, it displays, "Unlimited cannon balls mode STILL ON." This is a reference to as "lapostal" is a code for unlimited ammo in that game.

★ If you "use" the water on Blood Island twenty-five times, Guybrush will walk away and reappear in the scene in the original Monkey Island where he drowns.

★ In the Goodsoup crypt on Blood Island, you can crawl into the crack near the entrance to the crypt and your head will appear in the stump (from the stump joke) in the original game.

★ Also in the Goodsoup crypt on Blood Island, when you first "use" the crack by the gravedigger, Guybrush will act as Brink from The Dig when he gets his hand stuck in the crevice.

Pop-culture

★ Crew member and skilled musician Edward Van Helgen is named after the guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

★ The fourth chapter of the game, "The Bartender, The Thieves, His Aunt and her Lover", is a reference to the 1989 British film The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

★ When LeChuck makes Guybrush guess the secret of Monkey Island, Guybrush's guesses are five famous movie spoilers: "That 'Rosebud' is a sled?", "That the guy's girlfriend is really a man?", "That they have to shoot the dog at the end?", "That it's made from people?" and "That the girl is her daughter AND her sister?".^[13]

★ On Completing the "Duelling Banjo" puzzle (A reference to the film Deliverance) by shooting Edward Van Helgen's Banjo, Guybrush claims the shot could have come from the grassy knoll, itself a reference to the shooting of John F. Kennedy. Also visible from the field is a "book depository". When inspected, Guybrush will say, "Triangulation of crossfire...that's the key!"

★ The dog in the graveyard on Blood Island is named after the blind Pew in Treasure Island.

★ The Ferryman taking Guybrush to Skull Island is called The Flying Welshman. This is a parody on The Flying Dutchman.

★ Guybrush and the Ferryman also have a conversation about mist: Guybrush makes the comment that "I like mist, I think it's pretty", to which the Ferryman replies "Well of course mist is pretty, but egad is it dull!", a possible reference to the adventure game ''Myst''.

★ The character Mr. Fossey is the first mate on a ship crewed by monkeys with a gorilla for a captain. His name is a reference to Dian Fossey.

★ The Puerto Pollo hairdressers is called "The Barbery Coast", a pun on the Barbary Coast (the northwest coast of Africa) and presumably a reference to the Barbary pirates.

References

1. Interview by SCUMM Bar
2. [1]
3. [2]
4. [3]
5. The Curse of Monkey Island PC Review Michael E. Ryan
6. The Curse of Monkey Island Peter Rollo
7. The Curse of Monkey Island Slime
8. The Curse of Monkey Island Joonas Linkola
9. The Curse of Monkey Island Jordan Thomas
10. The Curse of Monkey Island review Tamara Schembri
11. MONKEY ISLAND 3: THE CURSE OF MONKEY ISLAND Amaya Lopez
12. [4]
13. [5]

External links

★ Official ''The Curse of Monkey Island'' website at LucasArts

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★ ''The Curse of Monkey Island'' at Game Rankings

★ Walkthrough with hints