Somewhere in the last year or two, video games had their 2oth birthday. Now, I’m not referring the anniversary of the creation of Pong’s ancestors or anything quite that Genesistic. It wasn’t until the mid eighties or so that games really started taking off and becoming classic entertainment. And by classic entertainment, I’m of course referring to point-and-click adventure games like the Monkey Island series.

The problem that I’ve run into as a relative newcomer to the gaming scene (I may have mentioned somewhere before that I didn’t get into gaming until after the turn of the century) is that going back and trying to experience those classics can be a bit of a chore. First of all, it’s all but impossible to get many older games to work on modern hardware. Second of all, even if you do get a game to play, it can be extremely difficult to get sucked into entertainment that is archaic by today’s standards. Retro games are hard on the eyes, awkward to control, and require a much higher level of imagination than games today.

Now, nothing against imagination, but personally I’d rather be using my imagination to get myself believing that I’m in the game world and not sitting in a creaky office chair, rather than getting myself to believe that the pile of indecipherable pixels on the screen is supposed to represent a person whom I’m supposed to care about. Admittedly, this is an opinion many will likely disagree with, but there you have it. Without nostalgia to smooth over a game’s rough edges, playing an old game can be a bit like driving your Grandpa’s old clunker truck – an interesting experience, but not something you’d want to take for a long drive.

So when I heard that The Secret of Monkey Island was being given a facelift for re-release, I was excited. When it was released on Steam for the paltry price of 10 bucks, I couldn’t resist.

I’m happy to report that it’s worth every penny, and then some. The artwork is beautiful, giving the feel of playing through a watercolor piece of art. The all-new voice acting is also excellent, giving the game’s legendary humor new punch. While the game’s overall design still retains the slightly clunky feel of a retro title, this really becomes part of the charm as the game goes on.

There’s really not too much more to say. The interwebz are full of praise for the Monkey Island games, so my small voice won’t add much. The game is sharp, funny, beautifully rebooted and well worth the asking price. If you enjoy games, comics, a good story, or even just a chuckle or two, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is for you.

Jerod Jarvis is an independent gaming journalist and founder of Duality Games. He maintains gaming columns for The Washington Times Communities and for The Outpost. When not blogging madly about games, he freelances for the Spokesman-Review in his hometown of Spokane, Washington and attends school at Whitworth University. Check out his presence on Facebook and Twitter to stay up on Duality Games updates and the inside scoop on the gaming news you care about.