Long had it been, that I would wake from troubled sleep, cursing the name of George Lucas. Not because of his failure in making a watchable new Star Wars trilogy, but because his company, Lucasarts has been sitting for the last decade on a wonderful library of classic adventure games, from Monkey Island, and Day of the Tentacle to the adventurous PC ruminations of Indiana Jones.

Yet, until recently they have felt content to pump out their lackluster Star Wars perversions in a shameless attempt to bleed every last penny from the once gloried franchise.

Now however, the good winds of change are blowing, once again ready to return life to the sullen sails of the adventure genre, a genre once whole-heartedly embraced by Lucas’s game company. Lucasarts seems to have finally found cause to open the company vaults, and share their treasure trove of past titles with the current generation of gamers.

Earlier this month the company re-released several of their older adventure games including: Loom, The Dig, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis as well as a Special Edition update to The Secret of Monkey Island.

In addition, Telltale Games, the same people behind the recent, and reasonably successful, reanimation of another original Lucasarts Intellectual Property, Sam & Max have created a brand new episodic adventure, Tales of Monkey Island.

While genre mainstays like Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert have moved on, and expanded their creative visions, the re-releasing of these classic titles could reinvigorate the public’s interest in the genre, and inspire new developers to follow Telltale’s example by picking up the discarded mantle of a genre that helped birth the industry.

It’s easy to forget that when videogames first emerged from the primordial ooze of early arcades, and arrived gasping for breath within the modern living room, the terms “game” and “adventure” were virtually synonymous, like conjoined twins bound at the hip.

While existing in a space far from the limelight, and hardly household names, games traversing the world of Zork and protagonists like Guybrush Threepwood were held in high esteem, by their loyal fans.

With the exception of Telltale’s Sam & Max rehash, Gilbert’s own recent machination, On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness, based on the popular web comic Penny Arcade was the closest fans of the genre could get to an adventure game experience before Lucasarts decided on its recent about-face.

While the game certainly drew from Gilbert’s adventure game pedigree, and should be lauded for its deftness in combining several genres into a cohesive experience, the game represented more of a tip of the hat to the genre than an actual continuation.

Through Lucasart’s official Twitter feed the company has stated that their continuing pursuit of the genre will depend on the success of the company’s recent releases. Support this wondrous relic of gaming history, and take a chance on The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, even if you’ve bought the game in the past.

The new release is full of wonderful new updates, which truly bring the experience into the new century, and provides an accessibility hereto unfound in the original. From the Lucasarts official press release:

“The development team at LucasArts has brought the game into the modern era with all-new HD graphics, a re-mastered musical score, full voiceover, and an in-depth hint system has been added to help players through the game's side-splitting puzzles. Purists will also delight in the ability to seamlessly switch between the updated HD graphics and the original's classic look.”

What causes an entire genre to fade from public memory, or to drift from common appeal? Whatever the reason it would be a shame to let it happen again, especially for a genre of videogame that has so much entertainment to offer. When choices are narrowed and options are limited it reduces creativity, and restricts the scope of a medium’s potential.

That alone should supply enough motivation to support any game that offers a unique take on the interactive experience, but if it’s not, simply look to all the extras Legend of Monkey Island: Special Edition has to offer and give it a try, whether it’s a title you first played in 1990 or you’ve never heard of it until now.