30 years of “The Secret of Monkey Island” tag questions of Later Levels blog

Today’s celebration of the 30th anniversary of “The Secret of Monkey Island” isn’t over yet, as Later Levels has a few questions for fellow bloggers to answer.

Tales of Monkey Island proved that The Secret of Monkey Island is still a very beloved game after all these years and that it’s difficult for many imitators (like Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town) to reach the same high level of quality in writing and puzzle design.

So what makes the game so special and what are my fondest memories of it? That’s a question Kim of the Later Levels blog asked in this post, and I’ll gladly try to answer it.

1. How did you first come across The Secret of Monkey Island?
   My memories are very fuzzy, but I think a school friend showed it to me on his Amiga. He even wore a button at school which said “Ask me about Loom“. The first time I actually played it on PC was as a full game on CD of the German Bestseller-Games Issue 2. Remember those days when magazines didn’t have various freebies in addition to videos and demos, but people simply bought the mag for ONE game? This also included a walkthrough, which was great, considering that the internet was in its infancy.
2. What’s your happiest memory of the game?
   Listening to the memorable music, which I still do on a regular basis.
3. Who’s your favourite character?
   Difficult to say. It’s a tie between Guybrush and Stan.
4. What’s the best location in the story?
   Exploring Monkey Island where one meets Herman Toothrot and the Cannibals.
5. What’s your favourite puzzle?
   Escaping the bottom of the sea after getting thrown into the water by the sheriff: with so many options out of reach and the most obvious one being the most logical and straightforward solution in the history of adventure games.
6. Which is the most confusing item in your inventory?
   It has to be the rubber chicken.
7. Give us your favourite quote from The Secret of Monkey Island
   You fight like a cow.
8. What’s your favourite soundtrack from the game?
   The main theme.
9. What’s the most memorable moment in the game for you?
   Watching Guybrush steal the Idol in the Governor’s mansion: a lot of funny and weird things are happening and displayed with the SCUMM verb system, but nothing is actually shown.
10. Do you own any Monkey Island merch?
    Not from the original game, but I have some Tales of Monkey Island buttons that I bought from the Telltale Store a long time ago.
11. Has The Secret of Monkey Island shaped your gaming habits in any way?
    Not really, as it wasn’t my first adventure game I played (this honor goes to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure), but it sure proved to me that few developers could do humor and memorable characters like Lucasfilm Games/LucasArts.
12. Create your own swordfighting insult! (and ask people to respond to it in the comments)
    Your IQ matches that of a squished worm!

So hopefully, you’ll share these tag questions on your blogs, have a reply to my swordfighting insult in the comments section or create your own! If you’re interested, you can check out Later Levels’ The Secret of Monkey Island 30th anniversary stream on their Twitch channel this Saturday, October 17, 2020, from 07:00 pm UTC+02 to 00:00 am UTC+02.

If you liked reading this article, make sure to LIKE it or comment on it on EMR’s Facebook page :). Or FOLLOW the blog on EMR’s Twitter page.