A complete overhaul of the original classic ensures this remains as good as it ever was.
To begin with, Guybrush merely wants to become a pirate. He must learn the arts of swordsmanship, treasure hunting, and quick-wittedness. To do so, you must perform a variety of actions to interact with the environment, picking up and using objects, talking to NPCs, using maps (a generous term) to navigate forests and find buried treasure, engage in duels to pick up retorts and insults because a quick wit is better than a quick hit, and so on.
Once done, Guybrush must assemble a crew to find and rescue Elaine from the clutches of LeChuck, which takes him to new locations where he encounters even stranger characters, including a cannibalistic tribe and a zombified, disembodied head.
What makes The Secret of Monkey Island so enjoyable and enduring is the attention it gives to its characters, who are by turns funny and unusual. However, this version has been given a complete visual and aural overhaul. The game looks fresh and the characters well-animated, and all of the voice actors from the later games have returned to dub their lines, so the jokes are funnier, and the conversations more realistic.
The puzzles can take some trial and error to solve and the game can occasionally be frustrating in that respect because you feel like you're not getting anywhere, but this encourages you to think outside the box. For example, two characters require you to obtain a helmet before you can be their human cannonball, so have to use a cooking pot for the job. It's this kind of oddity that sets the game apart from logical puzzle games and this is a good thing.
If you've never played any of the series or you're an original fan who yearns to go through it again, this is definitely worth owning. Granted it can be completed in a couple of hours once you've played it a couple of times, but this is the only real drawback. As colourful and enjoyable as it ever was.