The Secret of Monkey Island

The Secret of Monkey Island
Developer	Lucasfilm Games (DOS floppy) LucasArts
Publisher	Lucasfilm Games (DOS floppy) LucasArts Activision (Monkey Island 3: Archives Series)
Platforms	Amiga, Antstream, Atari ST, DOS, FM Towns, iOS, Mac OS, macOS, PS3, Sega CD, Windows, Xbox 360
Released	Original DOS (16-color floppy) EU/US: October 1990 DOS (256-color floppy) EU/US: December 1990 Amiga Italy: 1990 DOS Brazil: August 1991 Amiga Germany/UK/US: 1991 Atari ST Germany/Italy/UK/US: 1991 DOS (256-color, CD) United States: 1992 FM-Towns Japan: September 1992 Mac OS United States: 1992 Sega CD North America: 1993 Mega CD Japan: September 23, 1993 Antstream EU/North America: May 18, 2021 Special Edition Windows, Xbox 360 Worldwide: July 15, 2009 iOS Worldwide: July 23, 2009 macOS Worldwide: April 19, 2010
Added to Museum	Windows SE/CD-ROM version: March 20, 2015 DOS (Classic Adventures): February 6, 2024

The Secret of Monkey Island was the first adventure game in the Monkey Island series by Lucasfilm Games. It used the SCUMM interpreter.

Plot

A young man named Guybrush Threepwood washes up at Melee Island with hopes of becoming a pirate. Along the way, he meets Governor Elaine Marley, who is the woman that the ghost pirate LeChuck wants to forcibly marry.

Development

The SCUMM upgrades of the updated VGA version were earlier used in Monkey Island 2.

It was also created by three people, although Ron Gilbert was given developer credit. These three developers were Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman. Dave Grossman would later make Tales of Monkey Island at Telltale Games with input during the early brainstorming sessions from Ron Gilbert. Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman would also later make Return to Monkey Island at Ron Gilbert's Terrible Toybox studio.

Versions

The Secret of Monkey Island has four major versions. The EGA version, the VGA version (which had more realistic character close-ups and got rid of the changing sun position over the harbor, plus changed the skeleton's description from an "emancipated Charles Atlas" due to legal concerns), the VGA CD version (which got rid of the infamous "stump joke", had high-quality music on CD tracks, and used the inventory icons for items as in Monkey Island 2).

The Special Edition was released in July 2009. This version updated the graphics completely in high-definition in a more cartoon style, updated the music tracks to use live instruments and added ambiance to scenes that were formerly quiet, added voice acting, plus changed the verb and inventory system to operate in the background so the art takes up the entire screen (although the VGA CD version is playable in its entirety with a click of a button).