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Monkey Island Special Edition iPhone

Format:
iPhone

Genre:
Adventuring

Buy/Support:
Support Andy, click to buy via us...

Monkey Island Special Edition could have been a wonderfully simple reincarnation of the game many of us love and remember. However, the attention to new visuals seems to have obscured the simplicity of the controls so that you now can't point-and-click, and instead are forced to drag an icon around before you can start the laboured process of selecting what to do. It's more of a drag-and-press mechanic that would be well suited to a control pad based console but is simply crazy to be found on the touch sensitive iPhone or iPod Touch.

Inspite of this little slip up though, given a little time to adjust (and this will be less of an issue if you haven't played the original) you can soon get past the slightly tricky mechanic and enjoy the fully voiced version of this superbly written adventure.

If you've not come across this oddly name set of games before, they are based around a click-and-point adventure mechanic where the player has to use visual and verbal clues and items to solve logic problems.

The main interest here is the unfolding humorous story and the way the player gets involved with both the plot and the characters. No where is this better experience than in the first three Monkey Island games.

The slower pace of these games combined with the strong characters makes it quite suitable to play in a family group. Provided players are happy with the zombie pirate bad guys and general sword fighting antics there is plenty for them to contribute to.

Playing through the game again after enjoying the original I was surprised how many things I had forgotten and how good my kids were at suggesting my next move. In fact Monkey Island on the iPhone was single handedly responsible for a pirate themed holiday week in my household.

Despite the crazy controls this is still a superb game. The quality of writing and game play shines through a control system that almost ruins the perfect iPhone game.

Written by Andy Robertson

You can support Andy by buying Monkey Island Special Edition



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Andy Robertson writes the Family Gamer column.

"Videogame reviews for the whole family, not just the kids. I dig out videogame experiences to intrigue and interest grownups and children. This is post-hardcore gaming where accessibility, emotion and storytelling are as important as realism, explosions and bravado."

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