The Curse of Monkey Island

The Curse of Monkey Island is a 1997 adventure game developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. A sequel to Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991), it is the third game in the Monkey Island series. The story follows protagonist Guybrush Threepwood as he seeks to lift a curse from his love Elaine Marley, while once again being menaced by undead pirate LeChuck. Production was led by a different creative team than the prior games, and took new directions in graphics and gameplay. The art has a cartoon-like cel animation style, and the previous games' verb command and inventory menus are replaced by a pop-up action menu and inventory chest. The Curse of Monkey Island was the twelfth and final LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine, which was extensively upgraded for the game. It was the first game in the series to be released on CD-ROM, allowing for a full musical score, fully animated cutscenes, and the introduction of voice acting for the characters. Dominic Armato, Alexandra Boyd, Earl Boen, Leilani Jones, Neil Ross and Denny Delk respectively voiced Guybrush, Elaine, LeChuck, The Voodoo Lady, Wally. B Feed and Murray, and would reprise these roles in later installments. The game sold well, particularly in Germany; lead background artist Bill Tiller estimated that it sold half a million units worldwide over the next several years. It was nominated for several gaming awards, and was named the best adventure game of the year by several gaming publications. It was followed in 2000 by Escape from Monkey Island, which again took the series' graphics and gameplay in new directions. The game was rereleased in 2018, alongside a version for macOS.