Let’s skip the expected pirate quotes and get right to the point: Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge is a remake of the sequel to one of LucasArts’ flagship adventure games, which was itself remade in HD not too long ago. Seeing as the sequel was largely considered to be the best in the series (personally, I think Curse of Monkey Island deserves that title), the only way the remake could ever be considered bad is if they royally screwed everything up. Spoiler alert: They didn’t.

After the success of the first Special Edition remake it’s no surprise that the next game in the series would receive the same treatment. So here we are, with yet another one of Guybrush Threepwood’s misadventures laid before us. Re-imagined with high-definition visuals (that can be instantly swapped for the original graphics, natch), actual voice acting and two new contenders for Most Noteworthy Bullet-Point: enhanced animations (the one real complaint about the first Special Edition) and developer commentary.

So is all of this worth your virtual moolah? Will anyone other than Monkey Island™ junkies like it? Will the junkies care, seeing as they’ve probably already played the original version to death? Yeah, like you honestly don’t know what the answer is. Feel free to hit the jump, then pretend to be surprised.

When we last left our daring… intrepid… dashing… moderately successful hero, LeChuck had been slain and the beautiful governor Elaine Marley rescued from an eternity of sending awkward Christmas cards (i.e. marriage). Now that Guybrush has finally become a pirate, he’s off to seek the legendary treasure of Big Whoop, as well as a new story to spew at anyone who will listen (the LeChuck story is getting old, apparently). Of course, things go wrong very quickly and Threepwood will have to use his wit, sarcasm and knack for causing mischief just to get off of Scab Island and back on the trail of the Caribbean’s most legendary booty.

Before you head off to parts unknown, you’d best make a quick detour to the options menu. The default control scheme (Manual) just doesn’t feel right if you’re used to point-and-click adventures. Of course, even the Point-and-Click controls feel a bit awkward, as the developers decided to replace a simple “Press A” scheme with a slightly more complicated “Hold Right Trigger, Select Action and Release” affair. Both options still work in the technical sense, but neither one feels completely natural or comfortable. And that right there is all of the bad points to Monkey Island 2 Special Edition. Now how about we move on to why this game is freaking sweet and you should buy it, hmm?

First and foremost, the HD graphics. This time around they’re even more HD than the first Special Edition, with more detailed character models all around (especially for Guybrush and LeChuck) that don’t stand out from the backgrounds like they sort of did before. What’s even more noteworthy is that LucasArts listened to the one complaint about their previous remake and totally went above and beyond to address it. Namely, they fancied up the animations for Guybrush and LeChuck as well as several more characters and scenes. Seriously, LeChuck’s unearthly limp is practically hypnotic. Sure, it’s still easy to see that this used to be an “old” game, but it no longer feels like an “old” game with some high-gloss paint slapped on top of it.

Then you have the audio. Once again the classic themes have been remastered with much love and care, and they sound spectacular. The sound effects are also spot-on and manage to dress up the classic beeps and blips while still maintaining their original… heart is probably the most appropriate term here. It also should come as no surprise that the voice acting is every bit as top quality as it has been ever since the series began hogtying talented folk and shoving microphones in their faces (a.k.a. around the third game). All of the main characters sound superb, but even the bit-parters are fantastic to listen to.

Finally, there’s the commentary. This is awesome stuff for any adventure game geek. Mostly because if you love adventure games, there’s no way you haven’t played or are at least very familiar with many of the LucasArts classics. Not content to just get a few random developers to talk at you while you play, the Big Three have been reunited just so they can tell you all about working on various aspects of the original. We’re talking about the godfathers of the adventure game: Tim Schafer, Dave Grossman and Ron Gilbert. All three of them will talk your ear off at the press of a button, complete with a MST3K-style group silhouette. It’s glorious.

If you’ve played the original before, then you’ll know exactly what to expect here. Each and every puzzle is exactly the same, only now it looks all fancy. Just in case you haven’t played it before, and you get stumped, the hint system that was present in the previous Special Edition makes a comeback as well. So if you aren’t sure what you should be doing, just hold the designated button and a hint will pop up, getting more and more specific on subsequent presses. Unfortunately the hint system has a few hiccups: certain tasks never seemed to have specific how-to instructions available and still others would just stop receiving hints altogether, requiring a quick trip to the internet for the impatient. Okay, so the controls weren’t the one and only issue, but this is the last one. For real.

If you have fond memories of any (or several) LucasArts adventure games, then we know that this review won’t do a thing to affect your decision. We all know you’re going to buy it regardless. If you didn’t like the last game, seek professional medical attention. After that, download the demo and see if Monkey Island 2 Special Edition does anything differently that suddenly appeals to you. If you just plain don’t like adventure games, then what the heck are you doing here? We appreciate your time and all, but come on, do you really think a thousand words of (mostly) praise and some screen shots will change your mind?

Aw hell, just buy it anyway. Who cares if you like it, so long as it gives the developers money and increases the chance of more pointing and clicking in the future (*cough*CurseofMonkeyIslandSpecialEdition*cough*)?

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Things We Liked: All of the Ha-Ha is intact and every bit as hilarious as it was years ago. Better visuals. Better animations. Better betterness. Developer commentary that doesn’t suck, is awesome and even manages to be informative. LeChuck’s hypnotizing swagger. Discussing philosophy with a hobo on a beach.

Things We Disliked: Controls just don’t feel quite right. Navigating the massive inventory during one of a handful of time-sensitive moments can be irritating. The hint system needs a bit more work. Still no real answer as to why Guybrush hates porcelain.

Target Audience: If Maniac Mansion, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit the Road, The Secret of Monkey Island or Grim Fandango mean anything to you in the slightest, then this game is for you. Fans of funny pirates, too.

(Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge – Developer: LucasArts. Publisher: LucasArts. Available for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, PC, PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network and Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade — Xbox 360 version reviewed. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. Unfamiliar with CFD!’s review system? Read our newly revised explanation here.)