Return to Mysterious Island Review

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Return to Mysterious Island does a great job of making Jep the monkey fun and entertaining ,and showing what a smart monkey Jep is. Jep the monkey can do everything in this game from figuring out math problems to operating machinery. He'll even negotiate with other monkeys at one point of this adventure and carry an inventory that would weigh down an elephant. Jep has charisma as he coos like a real monkey and stars in attractive comic book cut scenes that livens up the bland 3D visual presentation of Return to Mysterious Island.

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Return to Mysterious Island includes routine inventory puzzles that weren't much fun to complete and only mildly challenging. Too many of the challenges are just silly and ridiculous in conception. There are a few set pieces and brain twisters to complete involving the usual suspects. You'll have to fix circuit boards and solve basic math problems that Jep is better at.

Return to Mysterious Island also has a few technical glitches that just shouldn't be in this video game. They weren't featured in the original games and why they are appearing in the sequel is questionable.

Predecessors to Return to Mysterious Island included a story that was fun, cute and had old fashioned entertainment cut along the same lines as classic from the golden age of this genre. Return to Mysterious Island has too many cliches and is annoying at times.

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Return to Mysterious Island has a visual presentation with graphical tears and blurs that appear on the screen as you're playing this video game. The top part of the screen will blur like you're looking through a kaleidoscope at times and will distract you, which takes you right out of the action. The problems with the presentation turn this adventure into a great pixel hunt at times that results in a few frustrating moments.

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Return to Mysterious Islands suffers from developers trying to put too much and do too much with this title. The result is a jumbled mess of gameplay elements that just don't work together as their predecessors did. The storyline with this adventure is poor and doesn't always make sense as you are progressing through the adventure. This time instead of trying to get off the island, you're actually trying to save it, which leads to a few interesting choices in the storyline throughout the game.

You need to collect all the resources you can find, and anything not nailed down should be collected. You'll pick up snake skins, sticks, coconuts, steel cables, chalk, fish, gasoline cans, and use them all. Unfortunately, all of this point and click action feels like you're going through the motions and not doing something that's logical and rational.

Return to Mysterious Island also contains advertisements that will suddenly appear in front of you as you're playing this video game. The ads have the best production values of all the screens, which is annoying and hardly a surprise. One moment you're moving through the lush jungle intend on finding an item, the next you're staring at an iPhone that has suddenly appeared in front of you.

Return to Mysterious Island is a very disappointing production for a series that was starting to build some momentum a nice following. Unfortunately, this video game is a step back in history and entertainment value for the series and developers and not a video game I would recommend for any gamer to play.