6. Secret Of Monkey Island
Another Lucas Arts classic. While Maniac Mansion was the first to set out the stall for the Golden Generation of adventure games, Secret of Monkey Island was probably the first one to get almost everything perfect. Taking what had been accomplished in Maniac Mansion, use of the SCUMM engine was streamlined further and modified to put the emphasis on puzzle solving and exploring. While Maniac Mansion was a great game, some of the puzzle solving was admittedly frustrating and the ability to paint yourself into a corner was never a good thing. These few flaws were addressed in Monkey Island, making for a massively more enjoyable experience on the whole. It was one of the first games to feature a dialogue tree for talking choices and was designed so that you never came to a dead end. The setting of the weird and wonderful Monkey Island was a great choice allowing for all kinds of comedy scenarios for the games now famous protagonist Guybrush Threepwood to get into. This sense of humor undoubtedly set it apart but it was also aided by great visuals, brilliant audiovisuals and most importantly fantastic gameplay. It spawned an equally great sequel soon after, and eventually a total of 5 graphical adventure games with now leaders of the genre Telltale Games getting involved for the fifth in the series. A 2009 remake for Xbox 360 and other consoles was well received with even better music, hand drawn graphics, quality voice work and a hint option for those who weren't suited to point and click games. The new graphics in particular made it much easier for current audiences to get used to. Either way, Secret of Monkey Island is easily one of the best point and click games available and well worth a visit if the recent Telltale games have made you a fan of the genre.