What was the hardest part for you in MI2???

[Conundrum]

One word. Ash-2-Life. That bloody thing set me back for weeks. I nearly wen't crazy trying to find whata heck I was missing. I never bothered to investigate all the jars on the shelfs, since I thought their value was merely decorative (like the Cat Knuckles joke on MI1). Finally a friend of mine told me what I had to do, because he read the solution on a magazine. I still find this one of the most cheap frustrating puzzles ever present in an adventure game. MI2 is still my favourite in the series and one of my all-time favourite adventure games, but the Ash-2-Life thing still goes in my list for one of the worst puzzles I've ever encountered for it's lack of acessibility, being almost exclusively dependant random search.

Similarly to that one, was the laundry claim ticket on the back of Largo's room door. It also took me a while to find out that one, and it was almost by accident I found it. But despite being difficult to figure out aswell I found it to be a quite witty solution, so I actually consider it a good puzzle.

[Fearless Flying Monkey]

a) The player gets a slight clue that the cottage off the coast of Phatt, may belong to Mister Rogers.
b) There is no clue that you have to stop the waterfall (I thought that I had to cross it).
c) There is no clue about what the Pump does (Guybrush says, "What's this doing in a Pirate game) - Thanks Guybrush. He could have said "It seems to control the flow of the Waterfall" maybe.
d) There is no clue about what to use with the pump.
e) There is no clue about putting a Banana on the metronome.
f) There is no clue about picking up the hypnotized monkey.
g) There is no clue about it serving as a 'monkey wrench'.
h) The pump can be tricky to find in the first place.

Well I think the pump thing is assumed that you'll just stumble across it. The solution is practically impossible to anyone not from the USA though. Nobody in the UK calls a spanner a monkey wrench.

[CaptainNiamhy]

a) The player gets a slight clue that the cottage off the coast of Phatt, may belong to Mister Rogers.
b) There is no clue that you have to stop the waterfall (I thought that I had to cross it).
c) There is no clue about what the Pump does (Guybrush says, "What's this doing in a Pirate game) - Thanks Guybrush. He could have said "It seems to control the flow of the Waterfall" maybe.
d) There is no clue about what to use with the pump.
e) There is no clue about putting a Banana on the metronome.
f) There is no clue about picking up the hypnotized monkey.
g) There is no clue about it serving as a 'monkey wrench'.
h) The pump can be tricky to find in the first place.

Well I think the pump thing is assumed that you'll just stumble across it. The solution is practically impossible to anyone not from the USA though. Nobody in the UK calls a spanner a monkey wrench.

Confused me for years!

[McPirate]

What actually stumped me for the longest time was the wanted poster.
Even though there are enough hints towards it, it stumped me because Guybrush gave no proper response when I tried to mess with the pamphlet. Also the solution to that hand gesture thing has been a recurring problem, since I always seem to forget how easy that puzzle really is.
As for the ending, the commentary in the special edition of MI2 gives a big hint towards it.
One could see it as a joke towards never ending plot twists at endings. The 'I'm your brother' seems to be a big hint towards that.
I guess it depends on how much you want the Monkey Island 2 ending to be a part of the 'true' Monkey Island storyline.
In any case Bill Tiller once said that the beginning to CMI was based on the idea that the ending of Monkey Island 2 was a curse or a dream, which is why you see Guybrush floating in a bumper car. Another hint towards it being a curse would of course be how LeChuck transforms Guybrush yet again into a child at the ending of CMI.

[Fearless Flying Monkey]

Another hint towards it being a curse would of course be

The name of the game dear. It's called Curse of Monkey Island for a reason. I think it's a shame for a series that should only have ever been two games (it did it's best to tie itself into pieces so the plot couldn't be carried forward) that such a weak story was chosen to progress ah well. CMI is still a good game.

[McPirate]

The name of the game dear. It's called Curse of Monkey Island for a reason. I think it's a shame for a series that should only have ever been two games (it did it's best to tie itself into pieces so the plot couldn't be carried forward) that such a weak story was chosen to progress ah well. CMI is still a good game.

Since the engagement ring is the curse that runs through the whole game, I always felt that that was the purpose of the title.
As for it being a shame that the game never went on... Well, it seems they always wanted to continue with the series, and we have gotten some good entertainment out of the sequels. In a way the ending to Monkey Island 2 would have been great in this day and age I feel. Especially after the crazy plot twists of Lost, Prison Break, and numerous of films. It is truly an amusing take on unforeseen happenings, and in that style it is perfectly fitting to carry on the series. I enjoy the thought of it being a curse more than it just being a feverish dream. Then again, I strongly dislike stories that ties up saying it was a dream all along. That is one of the reasons why I disliked the ending of Simon the Sorceress, it just feels like a bit cheap.