Issue #36: The Golden Keys
“Return to Monkey Island” gets boxed five times over. Mojo goes broke.
The Editor Welcomes You
Well, look at that. Only a week after I was saying how keen I am for a Return to Monkey Island physical release, here is LRG delivering the goods.
Of course, I wasn’t joking about being destitute by summer. Thanks to LRG’s antics — involving the questionable move of putting a unique collectible key in each version of the box — I now have to explain to my wife and child why we’re moving to the rough part of town.
Still, one can’t complain. Unlike Adam Jensen, I DID ask for this. And it’s great to see the patch for the Anthology box. It was pretty much outdated the moment it shipped, plus those glaring errors on the box can be smoothed away.
It would just be nice if LRG spaced these LucasArts releases out a bit. Poor Mojo staffer El Tel has had to give up his beloved Flaming Hen to afford this latest set. And don’t even get me started on what Remi’s had to resort to.
-Thrik
The Week in News
It’s simple, really: The news is that we’re all going broke. The impending recession? Just a snowball effect from LRG churning out collector’s editions we divert our mortgages into. What is a banking crisis compared to this release after all?
While these editions get rejiggered a bit, there’s little to complain about as far as Return to Monkey Island goes. That blowfish? I’m totally into it, dumb as it may be. I love the booklet’s classic LucasFilm Games style, and the poster looks fantastic. And an OST? Hopefully, it’ll result in more than one single CD, which could only contain a subset of the suites. Mêlée and LeShip could potentially fill up the whole thing. Still, it’s early goings, so we’ll see what happens.
With its five releases—with five collectible keys—we’re more curious to see who’ll buy all of them. Is it you? Fess up, and we’ll make you a Mojo Diamond Club member!
Curse of Monkey Island Is Still Celebrated
Time Extension put together a Curse retrospective in which they manage to call the game “underrated,” which… is not the word that comes to my mind, but OK. Read it at will, then revisit our clearly superior deep dive.
Remember A Vampyre Story? The game turns fifteen this year, and Bill Tiller is seemingly ramping up for a sequel. The man discusses it and Curse in a brand-spanking new podcast episode.
Finally, in Curse-adjacent news, you probably know that LeChuck himself, Earl Boen, has passed. There’s not much more to be said about that: The man was a legend, and his version of LeChuck will forever stand as one of the gold-standard performances in the LEC universe.
Some YouTube Funsies for You
Many were frustrated they couldn’t free Wally in ReMI. Except…
That’s right. Fully doable. If a bit wonky/easter-egg-y.
-Remi, who also is digging Jared’s new album
Full News Roundup
12 Jan: LucasArts chronicled yet again: This one is a bit more suspect.
12 Jan: Jared Emerson-Johnson now a band, releasing sweet music you should try: Try out the Telltale composer's new music—it's a foot-tapper!
11 Jan: Get almost all of Wadjet Eye's games for peanuts, help charity: Humble Bundle offers Wadjet Eye's games for cheap.
10 Jan: Mojo becomes an LRG-exclusive news source as “Return to Monkey Island” goes LRG: And there goes your kids’ college fund.
06 Jan: The Curse of Monkey Island bestowed one more 25th anniversary piece at last possible second: No cessation of plaudits will be tolerated for the third Monkey Island.
06 Jan: Earl Boen, voice of LeChuck, dies at 81: The veteran actor was also known for the Terminator movies.
06 Jan: Bill Tiller discusses career, offers hope for A Vampyre Story’s future: Hey, the sequel still isn’t taking as long as Beyond Good & Evil 2.
06 Jan: Loom Collector’s Edition to include EGA version: No excuses remain available to you.
06 Jan: A Conversation with Aaron Giles: Is something you need to listen to.
06 Jan: Indy’s tuk-tuk gets a blowout in new Dial of Destiny photo: Nice to see Indy reunited with an old flame: location shooting.
Last Week’s Mojole Results
06 Jan: “Boole” – Dogen Boole: Psychonauts character.
07 Jan: “red##” – Red Edison: Fred Edison's ancestor.
08 Jan: “ed###” – Ed Edison: Fred Edison's son.
09 Jan: “weird” – Weird Ed Edison: Fred Edison's son's more informal name.
10 Jan: “edna#” – Edna Edison: Fred Edison's wife.
11 Jan: “nurse” – Nurse Edna Edison: Fred Edison's wife and her profession.
Play Mojole, the game that sweeps the nation!
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