In celebration of the awesome new Monkey Island, here are 4 more games that need the same treatment...I only did 4 because I don't have a 5th that I really want, so 4 will have to do.

Discworld 1 & 2


Both Discworld 1 and 2 were based off of a series of novels by some guy from England named Terry Pratchett. Truthfully, I have never read any of his books. Based on the games, however, I have to assume that the books are hilarious.

Everything in Discworld is hysterically funny. Both games are, without question, two of the funniest games I’ve ever played – they both kind of have that Monty Python sense of humor. At the same time it’s a very well created world with some great lore behind it.

The puzzles definitely wouldn’t win an award for the most well-constructed. There were many times where even after clicked on a hundred items and finally found the solution that it still didn’t make sense.

Despite that fact, I don’t think I’ve played a game since where I laughed as hard and as often as I did in both Discworld 1 and 2.



Full Throttle



Tim Schafer is a fan favorite now (EVERYONE: Please, buy Brutal Legend and support this genius), but the game that put his name on the map, at least for me, was Full Throttle.

Full Throttle is another game that was absolutely hysterically funny but still managed to tell an engaging story with great characters. At the time, the art and graphics were absolutely sweet. The main character, a rough and tough biker named Ben, is a bad ass. Even Mr. Luke Skywalker himself (a.k.a. Mark Hamill) does the voice for the main bad guy. Oh…and unlike Discworld, most of the puzzles actually made sense. Games don’t get much sweeter.



Myst/Riven



I know…most of you probably hated Myst and/or Riven. A lot of you probably thought it was boring and thought it was nothing more than an overrated graphical slideshow. Allow me to inform you that you are mentally retarded.

I’ll be honest – my tastes in gaming have changed quite I bit from my younger years. I used to be a patient gamer that was a hardcore JRPG and adventure gamer. Now, in my later years, I demand destruction and action. Thus, I no longer have patience, so I may no longer have the patience to play a game like Myst or Riven now. However, in their day, and despite their critics, these games were absolutely spectacular.

Before Myst, puzzle/adventure games incorporated random puzzles into the environment that didn’t make any sense as to why they were there. Myst, however, incorporated the puzzles as part of the environment (e.g. pulling lever A would make object B in a different location move).

Say what you want about Myst and Riven being just a graphical slideshow. Sure, both games consist of a bunch of stagnant pictures. But here’s my argument:

Games like Zeno Clash aren’t the most graphically powerful, but many critics considered Zeno Clash to be one of the most beautiful games around. Why? Because of the superb art direction.

Myst and Riven fall into this same category. They are probably the first games that actually drew me into their world. They had such great art direction and such great stories and mythos that I felt like the worlds were real. Oh, and the two soundtracks are still two of my favorite video game soundtracks today.

Yes, I know that there have been sequels after Riven…but I want a sequel from the two brothers who were the original creators – Robyn and Rand Miller. Alas, I’m sure they’ll never team up to make another game again.



The Grim Fandango



Another Tim Schafer classic and, in my opinion, his best game to date. While not quite as funny as Full Throttle, The Grim Fandango has some of the most memorable characters I have ever seen in a video game. I loved Manny and all of the side characters from the beginning.

The story was original, which focuses on dead people and helping them get to the after-life according to ancient Aztec beliefs and done an in old-school film noir style. Considering that everyone was dead and bone, the character art direction was superb. The puzzles were great and the voice-acting is top-notch even by today’s standard.

A true classic that was greatly underappreciated (like most of Tim Schafer’s work).

I really, really want Tim Schafer to do another puzzle/adventure game. Here’s to hoping…