The Secret of Monkey Island

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SecretOfMonkeyIsland title.png

The Secret of Monkey Island
System(s): Sega Mega-CD
Publisher: JVC (US) Victor Entertainment (JP)
Developer:
Peripherals supported: Sega Mouse
Genre: Adventure

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega-CD
JP
¥8,8008,800 T-60044
Sega Mega-CD
US
$49.9549.95[2] T-60035

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The Secret of Monkey Island, known as Monkey Island: Yuurei Kaizoku Daisoudou! (モンキー・アイランド ユーレイ海賊大騒動!) in Japan, is the first in the Monkey Island series of adventure games, developed by Lucasarts. It was released for the Sega Mega-CD among other platforms, in 1993. The Mega-CD version was not released in Europe.

Gameplay

The Mega-CD version of Monkey Island derives from the 1992 VGA re-release of the game for IBM PC compatibles, which features an updated interface (based on the 1991 sequel Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge) and CD audio soundtrack. However, with only a single speed CD-ROM drive, the Mega-CD conversion has longer load times which affect every transition in the game.

With only 64 on-screen colours at any one time, the Mega-CD version of Monkey Island makes graphical cutbacks over its VGA counterpart, but is still able to display more colours than most versions of the game. The 1990 IBM PC edition, for example was written to accommodate 16-colour EGA, 4-colour CGA and 2-colour Hercules modes, while the Amiga and Atari ST conversions can only produce 32 and 16 on-screen colours, respectively.

As with the PC CD version, the Mega-CD port of Monkey Island removes the infamous "stump joke". In older versions of the game, a tree stump in the forest maze can be examined, with Guybrush claiming it to lead to a series of catacombs. As he attempts to squeeze through, the game asks for "disk 22" (then 36, then 114) to be inserted, after which Guybrush states he'll have to "skip that part of the game". These disks did not exist (the original game shipped on eight 5¼-inch disks), but LucasFilm Games were nevertheless bombarded with phone calls and letters by confused players thinking they could not access part of the game. Newer versions remove the interaction completely.

The Mega-CD version does not support the CD BackUp RAM Cart, meaning a four-digit password system is used to access later parts of the game. The system is limited as does not keep track of the player's location, minor items and decisions that have been made.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as
Language Localised Name English Translation
English (US) The Secret of Monkey Island The Secret of Monkey Island
Japanese モンキー・アイランド ユーレイ海賊大騒動! Monkey Island: Yuurei Kaizoku Daisoudou!

Magazine articles

Main article: The Secret of Monkey Island/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: The Secret of Monkey Island/Promotional material.

Artwork

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
60 №1993-08, p20[3]
73 №, p84[4]
55 №250, [1]
85 №43, p56/57[5]
75 №1993-08, p41
87 №28, p129
91 №6, p30/31/32/33[6]
93 №26
90 №16, p66-69[7]
87 №51, p58/59
61 №28, p74
90 №15, p46/47
Sega Mega-CD
79
Based on
12 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
60
[8]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
60
[9]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
55
[10]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
70
[11]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
85
[5]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
75
[12]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-U
87
[13]
Mega (UK) NTSC-U
91
[6]
Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U
87
[14]
Mega Machines (UK) NTSC-U
79
[15]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U
93
[16]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U
90
[7]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U
87
[17]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U
61
[18]
Sega Zone (UK) NTSC-U
90
[19]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
73
[20]
Video Games (DE) NTSC-U
78
[21]
Sega Mega-CD
78
Based on
17 reviews

The Secret of Monkey Island

Mega-CD, US
SecretofMonkeyIsland MCD US Box Back.JPGSecretofMonkeyIsland MCD US Box Front.JPG
Cover
SecretofMonkeyIsland MCD US Disc.jpg
Disc
Secretofmonkeyisland mcd us manual.pdf
Manual
Mega-CD, JP
SoMI MCD JP Box Back.jpgSoMI MCD JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
TheSecretofMonkeyIsland MCD JP Spinecard.jpg
Spinecard
SoMI MCD JP Disc.jpg
Disc

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega-CD
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
480,233,712 CD (JP) T-60044
Sega Mega-CD
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
474,944,064 CD (US) T-60035

References