all games are not created equal

The inclusion of voice acting and some very well done hand-drawn character sprites really made The Curse of Monkey Island (or Monkey Island 3 if you prefer) really make you feel like you're playing a cartoon.

Both games really do great with modern-day humor and 4th wall slapstick.  For example, in CMI, Guybrush fakes his own death, to which a nearby patron says "Strange, I didn't know you could die in these Lucas Arts adventure games".

SMI was instantly a classic and still holds strong in terms of adventure games of old, and it was so clever with it's humor that it stands strong today.  However CMI's similar humor with excellent voice-acting just makes every joke that much funnier.  Insult-sword fighting in SMI was great, but in CMI you get voice acting PLUS the insults have to rhyme.  It's great.

One thing to note is that there's many puzzles in CMI where the solutions don't make since until you just randomnly stumble across it through random clicking.  Then when you finally DO get the solution, you can't help but think "How the heck was I supposed to figure THAT out?"
SMI doesn't have these issues quite as much.

CMI is just incredibly witty and all the characters are just loveable.  Whether it be the barber pirates who'd rather sing than man a ship, or a demonic talking skull, the game is just a joy from beginning to end.

I'm comparing the humor factor between these two games.  I'm also taking into consideration the recently released Special Edition of SoMI.

So I just finished The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (and loved it, btw), so I figured it'd be appropriate to compare this game against what many people claim to be the funniest of the MI series.

So since SE has voice acting, there's no advantage to Curse for audio.  Despite this, I still have to say Curse has the wittier dialogue.

The original didn't have as strong a focus on humor as Curse did.  The first game focused more on the puzzles than Curse, but it still had great humor.  However, it's cast isn't nearly as colorful.  Sure we have the cannibals, but so does Curse.  In fact, the cannibals in Curse return as vegetarians, relying on fruit and tofu.  Hilarious!

Secret also lacks the likes of Murray, who is quite possibly the funniest useless character of a game.  It's very hard to compete with a disembodied motivated evil talking skull, who is not near as menacing as he wishes to be.

This isn't to say that the original isn't worth playing, oh no.  It's fantastic.  But it probably won't make you laugh out loud like Curse can.

(Also, check out Tales of Monkey Island while you're at it.  Jeez I'm a fanboy)

This comparison is based off of the VGA version of Space Quest I, which is slightly different than the original version.

Both of these games are your standard point n' click adventures, with a similar aspect of basing the gameplay around comedy.  However, in many ways, Space Quest trumps Monkey Island.

First of all, the VGA version of Space Quest looks prettier overall than the original version of SoMI.  The environments are detailed and varied, and the characters are drawn and animated well.  Background animations also help flourish the environments, and therefore bring the world to life that much more.

The writing for the game is a bit more for opinion, but Space Quest I always keeps the comedy coming at every turn.  There is rarely ever a statement said or an observation made without some sort of satirical or sarcastic comment.  Monkey Island does get credit for having a more colorful cast of characters, however.

Speaking of which, your star character in Space Quest is a member of the starship Arcada.  The Arcada houses the Star Generator, a man-made device that's capable of terraforming a lifeless planet into one that is capable of hosting life.  It can also drain the life from a planet to make it lifeless as well.  You start off playing as a member of the very important crew of the arcada... as a janitor.  You are starship janitor Roger Wilco.

As much as I love Guybrush Threepwood, I have to say that Roger's backstory is a lot more thought out than "Hi!  I want to be a pirate!"  This is all a matter of opinion of course.

One final thing that Space Quest does that actually annoys me is how easy it is to die, or make yourself stuck.  In space quest, there are many chances where you can miss an item for pickup, but you won't need that item for man scenes later.  By the time you realize you missed something, you can't go back and get it.  Not only this, but just about any wrong action you make can get you killed, which forces saving and saving often.
Monkey Island is more thought out that you can't ever screw yourself over.  Plus, you won't die either.  While that takes some precaution out and may enable people to combine everything with everything, it does take out quite a bit of frustration overall.

So there you go.  Two completely different point n' click series, with two different designers, and two different takes on a great genre.  For me, the graphics and the writing of Space Quest I overtakes SoMI, but which one I will play will always depend on my mood.