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Is Johnny Depp a secret Monkey Island fan? It may well be the case, for a whole decade before he got a career surge from creating silly pirate Jack Sparrow, Secret Of Monkey Island was released - and trust us, pirates have never been sillier. Players took the role of wannabe buccaneer Guybrush Threepwood, who's washed up on the Caribbean island of Melee, looking for treasure, danger and adventure. And Guybrush finds it all, on the way encountering ghost pirates, voodoo magic, a band of cannibals and deliciously witty insults (all of which, incidentally, have turned up in the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy). The setting is ripe for comedy, and LucasArts plunder it for every possible laugh: this game singlehandedly made the studio's name and spawned a slew of equally great sequels.

Memorable for...
The insult duels, of course, which saw swordsmen marry their thrusts and parries with witty verbal barbs. Sample dialogue: "I've spoken with apes more polite than you are"; "I'm glad to hear you attended your family reunion."

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