Review - Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal (WiiWare)

Guybrush Threepwood has returned for more laughs in Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal for the WiiWare. In this pirate adventure, our inept hero fights his archenemy LeChuck, but somehow gets marooned on Flotsam Island. Threepwood must unravel the isle’s secrets; outwit a slightly mad, sexually-ambiguous doctor; and locate a magical, exfoliating sponge that can cure him of his cursed hand. Sounds like a Monkey Island game, alright.

Launch of the Screaming Narwhal is the first entry of five episodic chapters for Tales of Monkey Island, which marks LucasArts’ return into familiar territory. Unlike other episodic games, Tales of Monkey Island has one overarching story that’s divided into five parts.

Tales of Monkey Island plays exactly how a Monkey Island game should be: as Guybrush Threepwood, you collect all manner of items, use said items on a variety of odd objects, combine items to form other more bizarre objects, and meet the strangest characters this side of LucasArts. During the course of your adventures, you’ll run into puns, one-liners, and all manner of jokes that aim to elicit a smile or outright laughter.

Since this is an adventure game, expect a lot of backtracking involved. However, navigation is made much easier because of fast-travel options that let you go directly to specific areas in the island. However, some of the mysterious puzzles require a bit of trial and error when navigating through the jungle’s changing paths, which could result in the occasional frustration.

Fortunately, the Wii controls provide a natural scheme for Tales of Monkey Island. You use the Nunchuk’s analog stick for moving Guybrush around, while the Wiimote is used for interacting with the game’s various points of interest. You may also command Guybrush to walk by holding the A button and moving the Wiimote, but it’s not as precise as the analog controls.

Despite its simple graphics, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal suffers from stuttering framerates in certain parts, particularly when Guybrush attempts to run. There’s also the matter of island characters looking alike, thanks to the grand total of two character types used: a chubby and slim model. To make these characters look “different,” Telltale Games merely changed the skin color and added/removed facial hair. Naturally, the Wii visuals don’t look as clean as the ones for the PC.

Making up for the game’s graphical weakness is its strong voice acting. Telltale has brought in Monkey Island’s original voice actors, so the experience is as authentic as it gets. The dialog is generally funny but seems to lack the oomph that the earlier Monkey Island games had. Aside from Guybrush and Elaine, there are only a couple of noteworthy (i.e. insanely funny) characters—everyone else quickly forgotten.

If you’re one of the Monkey Island faithful who’s waiting since Escape back in 2000, then you shouldn’t waste any time getting this latest installment. Launch of the Screaming Narwhal may not be as hysterically funny as earlier games in the series, but it sure is a great way to start a new Monkey Island adventure. Not bad for a game that went missing for nine years.

7/10

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