Tales of Monkey Island is the fifth episodic adventure game in the Monkey Island series, also created by Telltale Games partnered with LucasArts. The said chain of interactive games has enjoyed positive criticism throughout its run. Its entirety was remarked to be “humorous and entertaining.” The dialogues as well as its embrace with pop culture earned the critics’ thumbs up. Likewise, succeeding versions benefited from the same reviews, one of which was the mentioned fifth release.

Tales of Monkey Island starts off with the first episode entitled The Screaming Narwhal. Reports proved to be an excellent example in featuring the game’s strengths, drawing players more and more into the game. Aside from the title being the Caribbean pirate ship that played an essential role in the episode, it also includes the same comical characteristics of the entire franchise. More so, clever solutions to the puzzles seem to challenge gamers’ abilities, making it more interesting. The extraordinary characters were also consistent with the ones from the original product, relating it to the other Monkey Island versions. Additional personalities in the game, although sharing a limited set of body types, have distinct personalities, earning optimistic reviews. More so, the brightly coloured set design exemplified the artistic talents of the creators, pleasing many.

The said introductory episode offer a bunch of obstacles in a strange island coupled with the said good-natured humour. The jokes were fresh that even first-time Islander can easily relate. Although they are not laugh-out-loud funny, such guarantee to give one chuckles.

Often, players are surprised to start at the expected ending of the game. It is where the lead character, the mighty pirate Guybrush Threepwood, is already rescuing the love of his life, Governor Elaine Marley, from the hands of the wicked villain, LeChuck. After the battle, exploration of the surrounding areas, solving puzzles and interrogating village people are next.

However, even if the entire first episode of the Tales of Monkey Island displayed excellent performance, it also has its fair share of negativity. First, some variations in the controls pose strange and difficult movement problems. Second, despite the fast-paced running from one place to another, the game could not be considered as smooth-flowing and its visual quality cannot be measured up to perfection because sometimes it is rather distracting.

Although Tales of the Monkey Island: The Screaming Narwhal does not introduce many innovations from the pervious versions of the Monkey Island series, it is definitely a remarkable Wii game. It is interesting and challenging that definitely hooks any gamer who plays it. Despite some artistic imperfections and sluggish frame rate, the Launch of Screaming Narwhal is a goo way to spend 1,000 Wii points ($10).