The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition review

For this Special Edition of LucasArts' classic game, it has redrawn every character and location to make it stylistically closer to the later, cartoon-like games of the series.

The result is a swashbuckling adventure with a delightfully realised cast list.

It opens on Mêlée Island, a hive of scum and villainy, where the protagonist, Guybrush Threepwood, hopes to make his name as a fearsome pirate. Plans go awry when the Governor is spirited away to Monkey Island by ghost pirate LeChuck, leaving Guybrush to take up the hero's mantle.

The soundtrack is updated with voice acting that gives exaggerated vocals to the pirate crew, whose dialogue is laced with wry humour. In this part of the Caribbean, it seems that every day is Talk Like a Pirate Day. The score has been re-recorded with real instruments too, although you can step back in time to its Midi original by swiping with two fingers.

The point-and-click adventure genre is an almost perfect pairing with the iPhone due to the controls (a combination of swiping and tapping) and the fact that you can soak it up in small or large amounts (progress is saved automatically when you quit the game).

Monkey Island tests your mind rather than dexterity, requiring you to pay close attention to what characters saw and scanning scenes for items of interest in order to solve puzzles. Central to this is the pointer, which slides as you drag a finger onscreen, allowing Guybrush to interact with his surroundings. Actions are constructed by tapping the verb list and inventory icons at the bottom of the screen.

Backgrounds that show running water are now painfully static, but the more troublesome aspects lie in the touchscreen controls. There's no pointer speed setting, so moving across the whole screen can be tiresome. You can zoom into a scene to inspect it more closely, but the view doesn't follow the pointer - instead, you have to pan by sliding two fingers.

It's a trademark of LucasArts adventures that you can't die or get stuck in an unwinnable situation. If you're especially observant, it's possible to finish the game in a few hours, but the finely crafted script and updated aesthetics make this a real gem that you shouldn't pass up.