Journey To Monkey Island

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Secret of Monkey Island, one of the best loved video games of the point-and-click era, was released on the 15th October, 1990, without, it must be said, a great deal of fanfare.

Inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland and the novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, the game was a swashbuckling piratical adventure which – unusually for gaming of the time – put laughs above thrills. Despite its initially mixed reaction, it went on to become a sleeper hit that a generation of gamers took to their hearts.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly investigate why George Lucas wasn't putting his new video games division to work publishing loads of Star Wars games; explain why it was important to Monkey Island's creators that their main character couldn't die; and find out whether the jokes Olly found hilarious as a ten-year-old are still as side-splittingly funny today…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Complete History Of Monkey Island’ (Time Extension, 2022): https://www.timeextension.com/features/the-complete-history-of-monkey-island

• ‘What Is The Secret Of Monkey Island?’ (The Gamer, 2022): https://www.thegamer.com/monkey-island-secret-origins-mystery-answer/

• ‘The Secret of Monkey Island Longplay’ (AL82 Retrogaming Longplays, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgRIXntFhww&t=633s

This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.

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