Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge was the sixth game to use the SCUMM scripting language. I love LeChuck’s Revenge as much as The Secret of Monkey Island, and it is one of my favorite LucasArts adventure games. From the moment the credits started with a darker rendition of the Monkey Island theme music, it was clear that this game was going to be darker than the original game (although I’d have to say I almost like this theme better than the one in the original). Even Guybrush seemed a bit edgier than before (especially the creepy parts in the cemetary), but even with the darker elements none of the game seemed like it would be out of place in the game world that was introduced in The Secret of Monkey Island.
I usually don’t like sequels, as I prefer off-shoots that use the same setting and some of the same characters but are otherwise mostly story-independent (Day of the Tentacle for example). But, here, the advancement of the storyline seemed to work. The original had slight voodoo overtones, with the Voodoo priestess and the Monkey Island cannabals, but in LeChuck’s revenge it was brought to a whole new level. Voodoo is heavily involved in LeChuck’s revenge, and it all makes sense within the Monkey Island game world.
About the only thing that I wish Monkey Island 2 had was a proper sequel. The Curse of Monkey Island was a wonderful game, but I can’t help but feel bummed that the ending of LeChuck’s Revenge was never really resolved in any of the subsequent Monkey Island sequels.
