One of the areas in which graphic adventure games have most other games beat is that they’re actually funny. Reliant on plot, character, and writing in general, graphic adventure games have provided some of the most solid laughs in video game history. These moments have stuck with me through the years, and are as funny and enjoyable as any oft-quoted line from any famously comedic movie or teevee show.
5. Inspector Hector Wakes Up Pantsless
Hector Badge of Carnage Episode 1: We Negotiate with Terrorists
Humour is very subjective, and while fat foul-mouthed Inspector Hector might not be everyone’s cuppa, i found him hilarious. Here, Hector intercepts a shady deal in the park, and tries to claim the cash with no idea what he’s supposed to be exchanging. The fun begins at 4:40 (remember to cue it up):
4. Ben Gets Some Answers
Full Throttle
After a decade of playing Mr. Nice Guy in adventure games and finding non-violent solutions to problems wherever possible, along comes tough biker Ben. After kicking down the door, Ben shows the bartender who’s boss in no uncertain terms (gag ends at 0:15):
the first two interactions in Full Throttle definitely put a smile on your face.
3. The Freelance Police Save the Day … Sort Of
Sam and Max Hit the Road
The original outing of the freelance police strikes a tone that the subsequent teevee series and later 3D Telltale installments failed to regain. Half of it is in Bill Farmer’s sarcastic, lackadaisical Bogart voice for Sam (the character has been voiced by two different actors since, and neither of them quite nail it), and the other half is in the writing. The Telltale games boast Sam and Max-esque writing, but they never quite reach the bar that the comic’s creator Steve Purcell sets with the original.
Max: Mind if i drive?
Sam: Not if you don’t mind me clawing at the dash and shrieking like a cheerleader.
This intro cutscene sets up the utterly original cheerily psychotic pair of thugs, letting us know for damn sure that we’re not in Daventry any more.
2. Larry Wins a Cruise
Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)
Larry Laffer bluffs his way into a teevee studio with a forged lottery ticket, and accidentally winds up on the set of The Dating Connection. And his luck doesn’t stop there. (the gag ends at 4:08)
1. Guybrush gets a Job
The Secret of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge
After being mugged for all his riches, mighty (and now bearded) pirate Guybrush Threepwood needs money to charter a ship. The only paying job in town is already held by a talented sous-chef who shows no sign of quitting. After some crafty inventory work with the local vermin, Guybrush arranges a staffing change. The whole puzzle culminates in one of those hilarious off-screen conversations that LucasArts games are famous for, and ends in a killer punchline delivered by the restaurant owner. (the gag ends at 2:30)
My favourite funniest moment in a graphic adventure game has to be the beauty competition in Day of the Tentacle. I’ve never done anything more bizarre and hilarious in a videogame.
Good one! i was trying to think of a specific moment from that game, but i came up short. It’s just generally funny throughout.
El Pollo Diablo was pretty good (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E28WrhpTzQA) from Curse of Monkey Island although that short moment doesn’t do the whole build up to it justice. Banjo duel from the same is also great (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_PqZofBPWg), cut to about 2:00 if you want to cut to the chase.
i remember el pollo diablo quite well, because of the way they’d dramatically translate “the DEVIL CHICKEN” every single time they said it. The banjo duel completely slipped my mind. It recalls a famous scene from an Indiana Jones movie. i thought Murray the skull was amusing, but not laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Murray! I totally forgot about Murray. Definitely agree more amusing than really hilarious.