So the Monkey Island 2: Special Edition came out yesterday … but NOT FOR THE MAC. WTF, LucasArts? It’s been widely reported online that the game would be on the Mac, but so far nothing, and LucasArts has given no indication whatsoever on when or if the Mac version is coming. I can only describe their behavior on this as ass-clownish in the extreme.
The game is currently available for the iPhone, so I got that. (I half suspect they’re delaying the Mac release to exploit all the Mac users like me who will, out of desperation, buy the iPhone version and then later the Mac version too, and if this is the case then I DO NOT APPRECIATE IT AT ALL.)
Anyway, I’ve been playing the iPhone version. One of the big draws of the Special Edition is the new high definition art — which serves no purpose whatsoever on the iPhone, as the screen is way too small to appreciate the level of detail. Since there’s no mouse, you play the game by touching the screen. This works okay for the most part, but is often INSANELY frustrating. Even though I know exactly what I’m supposed to do, it often takes me upwards of 15 tries to get it to work using the touchscreen. (I played for about half an hour without talking to Wally the cartographer because I just could not get this simple command to work at all.) I can’t imagine anyone wanting to play this game for the first time on the iPhone.
Though it is nice to be able to play Monkey Island at the beach, as I did yesterday. They have an iPad version too, and I can imagine that being pretty cool, though I don’t have an iPad, so who knows?
Yeah, so anyway, playing Monkey Island on the iPhone is basically like listening to someone belch the Star-Spangled Banner. It’s amazing that it works at all, but it’s not like it’s a good rendition or anything.
WHERE IS THE HELL IS THE MAC VERSION?
ETA: Listen to my December 2010 interview with Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert.
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