The Secret of Monkey Island: SE released for iPhone

by Randy Nelson { Jul 23rd 2009 at 1:45AM }

As was winked and nodded at by LucasArts CEO Darrell Rodriguez just over two weeks ago, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition has sailed onto iPhone and iPod Touch [App Store link]. It'll set you back $7.99 (plus 351MB of space on your device) and sports the same fully voice-acted dialog and ability to swap between ye olde school and SE visuals on the fly as the PC and 360 versions. We're downloading it right now to put it through its paces. Have you grabbed it? If so, post your impressions in comments!

[Thanks, Kevin!]

Tags: app-store, iphone, lucasarts, monkey-island, the-secret-of-monkey-island

Related From Joystiq

Super Monkey Ball 2 goes bananas on iPhone this year
16 days ago
Tales of Monkey Island's Pirate God ascends December 8
18 days ago
Monkey Island: Special Edition team unearths lost dialogue
26 days ago

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Codefinder64 @ Jul 23rd 2009 1:51AM

I think I would definitely rather play it on iPhone than on XBLA. Nothing is more "point and click" then actually pointing then clicking.

danhhoang27 @ Jul 23rd 2009 1:51AM

I was going to get this on XBLA but now I can take it on the go?! I'm pulling this one down.

Jorrel56 @ Jul 23rd 2009 1:55AM

^ Kevin! :) You're welcome Randy hehe

Colin @ Jul 23rd 2009 1:57AM

FUCK. I just bought this for PC. It's a blessing and a curse sometimes having several platforms at your disposal. I would have loved to see how it plays differently on XBLA than the PC (where there's currently a few bugs). But I have been craving a good adventure game for my iphone, and this would have been a sweet deal...

Colin @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:04AM

With regards to downloadable games specifically, wouldnt it be awesome if publishers let you download a game (like this one) for multiple platforms and only pay for it once? Especially if there was a service that synced your saves... I suppose Sony sort of lets you do that with PS1 games that play on both the PS3 and PSP, but I dont know if saves get synced... anyone?

Jorrel56 @ Jul 23rd 2009 1:57AM

Man. Madden 2010 demo today, this announcement, and I get a "brush with fame" on Joystiq article. All on my birthday. It's sad that these things make this gamer nerd enjoy his birthday that much more! Hahaha

cuube @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:07AM

Thats awesome! Have a great day :)

Sly @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:22AM

happy bday bro.

Shmil @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:47AM

I too was so excited about my Bru-bru-bru-brush with fame.

PSN: John-Paul-Jones (Led Zeppelin) @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:14AM

YEAH! Make your (insert age here)th birthday awesome! You only have around 75-80+ birthdays in your lifetime, so make the best out of it! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

ishaan55 @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:00AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

ishaan55 @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:01AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

Jeremy White @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:02AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

klitorisaurus @ Jul 24th 2009 2:53PM

Classic!

Foxtail @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:12AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

Alex @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:13AM

wait, why is it cheaper on iPhone then PC?!

LaughingMan @ Jul 23rd 2009 9:46AM

Because on the PC, you get higher quality audio and higher quality visuals. It scales to full 1080p HD on the PC i think.

D-Whizzle @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:39PM

all games scale... more or less.

edgore @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:15AM

And this is why Apple's stupid policy of not allowing games to be announced until they are actually published is, in fact, stupid. Is there any other platform you can think of where the platform provider has the ability to gag the marketing depts. of developers like this? Had I known a week ago that this was coming out for the iPhone I would not not have bought it on XBLA, and would have downloaded this for my iPhone rather than buying a copy of DragonQuest 5 to entertain me on a business trip next week. (I would still eventually get DQ5, but not this week...)

cuube @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:10AM

I agree - stupid policy is stupid.

But if you want a solution, just buy it for the iphone also. Enjoy your business trip :)

Nick @ Jul 23rd 2009 6:10AM

Rolando 2 was announced well before it came out...

Ben Darlow @ Jul 23rd 2009 6:37AM

Except there is no such policy requiring non-disclosure of games coming out for the platform. If the game being released on the iPhone was being kept under wraps, that was on the part of LucasArts, not Apple.

jsterry @ Jul 23rd 2009 6:44AM

Where does this incorrect information come from? This is the second time this week that someone has commented that iPhone games are not allowed to be announced before release, which is not true. EA announced Need for Speed months before it came out. Same with Sims 3 and Simcity. There are many more examples.

edgore @ Jul 23rd 2009 8:48AM

Huh, I will have to figure out where I picked up this bit of mis-information then, I know I saw several references to it recently, but I cannot remember where, but if you say it's wrong, I'll believe you and blame Lucasarts for not pre-announcing. As far as buying it anyway, I already spent $40 bucks on DQ 5 and $10 on the XBLA version. While I really want to support Lucasarts decision to return to adventure games I have already bought this game twice before in various versions, and I think I am at about the limit. I will be buying the new Telltale adventures also though.

Robert @ Jul 23rd 2009 9:12AM

Yep, it's true - they can't talk about unreleased games, only released games: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/01/apple-drops-iphone-nda-for-released-software/

MystileArmor @ Jul 23rd 2009 12:12PM

Yeah, except that they did sort of announce it! Remember the *wink wink nudge nudge* and the Iphone sized wallpaper?
Everyone knew it was coming.

XLM @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:43PM

"Yep, it's true - they can't talk about unreleased games, only released games: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/01/apple-drops-iphone-nda-for-released-software/"

That was for the actual iPhone SDK, not whatever the dev is making.

Devs can and do talk and promote what they have coming out on the iphone.

Vlad @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:21AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

Omega2k3 @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:23AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

Danny @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:28AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

but yeah the whole cloak and dagger on release dates is silly on apples part especially considering they stood to make a tidy sum on everyone who wanted mobile over home.

dbindley @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:49AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

Autrach @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:04AM

Fuck, I need a iPhone!

Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:56AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

Jono Stars @ Jul 23rd 2009 2:57AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

cuube @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:05AM

Yes, on the go! Game downloaded.

Vandell @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:22AM

Can't decide if I should get this on my computer or on my iPod. @3@;

Vandell @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:22AM

Also, why won't my stupid icon change. CHANGE DAMNIT. D:>

Sly @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:23AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

Metal Beard Solid @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:36AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my codec

relaxeder @ Jul 23rd 2009 3:41AM

Eh I think instant meme is a pretty cool guy, eh kills originality and doesnt afraid of combo breakers.

VaultICEE @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:14AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my ngage

pika2000 @ Jul 23rd 2009 4:48AM

Oh, I almost bought this from Steam. Good thing I read this. I rather play it on my iPod Touch since I can play it anywhere.

Alvin_Rod @ Jul 23rd 2009 5:15AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my ipod

Kyle @ Jul 23rd 2009 6:06AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my minute maid orange tangerine

stevenrpringle @ Jul 23rd 2009 6:31AM

hell ya. i always wanted on my iphone

Ben Darlow @ Jul 23rd 2009 6:35AM

Well, within a few seconds of playing it I was already frustrated enough to not continue. The first big problem is the input mechanism. Obviously having a multi-touch capable touchscreen at your disposal wasn't enough to convince the developers to ditch a mouse/cursor system, and so you have to drag your finger around the screen to make a cursor follow you to items of interest. Worse, the cursor doesn't actually move at the same speed as your finger, so you will find yourself “lift and dragging” the cursor, just the same way you would if you were on a desk and ran out of space for your mouse.

Then there's the whole action system. Back in the early 90s, this kind of UI wasn't considered so arcane, but it really shows its age now. I wasn't entirely certain how to perform a given action, since it appears that I have to tap to bring up a menu first, then tap on the action, then tap on the cursor (and hope that my tap doesn't accidentally make it move)? All of this with a loud slamming sound effect happening for every tap within the menu; I was grating my teeth very quickly.

I'm sure there's a great game to be enjoyed in there (it's Monkey Island, after all!) but this feels like a very lazy and uninspiring port. You've got a richly interactive device to take advantage of, guys! Use it!

johnsweber @ Jul 23rd 2009 9:01AM

Poor ports are pretty commons to the iPhone, but more importantly, so are good updates.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Defenders was a port from mobiles phones, and it was basically a phone emulator, it was horrendous. But the next update they made for it, they redid the whole thing and made it play perfectly for the iPhone, including full screen and touch support.

I would highly recommend you send your feedback/suggestion to the developers. There is a good chance they'll send updates for it.