The best re-issues of beloved games treat the retro material the way that the Criterion Collection reverently preserves and presents classic cinema.
During a meeting with LucasArts at the E3 Expo last week, I got a glimpse at the new downloadable version of the 1991 classic Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. One of the standout features was the Mystery Science Theater 3000-style commentary track from creators Ron Gilbert, Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer.
Silhouette caricatures of the three game designers appear onscreen when the player opts to listen to their thoughts on the creation of the game.
Monkey Island 2 is a point-and-click adventure first released for personal computers in 1991. It was the last game that Ron Gilbert worked on before parting ways with LucasArts. Grossman and Schafer remained at Lucas to collaborate on Day of the Tentacle, although both have since left the company: Grossman is now at Telltale Games, Schafer at Double Fine.
In addition to the new commentary track, the game will include re-recorded music, direct character control, an enhanced hint system and the ability to hot-swap on the fly between the game’s original sound and graphics and the fancy new visuals.
The new edition of LeChuck’s Revenge will be released July 7 on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Image courtesy LucasArts
See Also:
- Tales of Monkey Island Free on Talk Like A Pirate Day
- Eyes On: Monkey Island Returns, Courtesy Telltale