Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge picks up after the first game and expands it in every respect. Guybrush Threepwood, now a boastful hero with a legend of his own, searches for the fabled treasure Big Whoop while the resurrected LeChuck once again crosses his path. The story unfolds across several islands the player sails freely between, split into chapters with an unusually open structure — often several problems are underway at once, and it's entirely up to the player which one to tackle.

The puzzles are noticeably harder than in the first game and rank among the toughest LucasArts ever released; the game therefore also offers a simplified mode with trimmed-down tasks for less patient players. Controls remain built on verbs and an inventory, but there's now a much greater emphasis on combining items across far-flung locations and on dialogue where you can gain — or just as easily miss — a lot of information. The game's ending, which turns the whole story on its head, remains one of the most debated conclusions in the genre's history.

Technically it was a big leap: full 256-color VGA graphics with hand-painted backgrounds that still hold up stylistically, and above all the new iMUSE music system, thanks to which the score transitions smoothly depending on where the player goes and what they do. The transitions between themes are so seamless that you often don't even notice them — and that was exactly the point. At the time the game was received as the studio's high point, and many still consider it the best thing LucasArts ever made. Today it's a game that demands patience but rewards it with atmosphere, humor, and art direction that has few rivals in the rest of the DOS era. It's also worth noting how the game handles space — every island has its own character, from muddy Scabb Island to the posh Booty Island with its costume party — and how the puzzles interweave across all of them. Anyone willing to take notes will find layers in the second game that easily slip past on a casual playthrough.