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Along with their usual gaggle of Star Wars games, LucasArts made a pleasant surprise announcement at E3 this year when they revealed that they were bringing back the comedic pirate-themed Monkey Island series — a classic franchise from when the company made adventure games in the ’90s — with not one but two games.

First up is The Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition, a remake of the first game in the series, which was made by Ron Gilbert (who recently collaborated on the Monkey Island-esque adventure game Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness), Tim Schafer (who’s currently finishing up graphic and adventurous Brütal Legend), and Dave Grossman (who did the episodic Sam & Max: Season One and Season Two games, another veteran series from LucasArts’ past that was recently revived). But rather than just copy the old code and slap it on a disc, LucasArts is giving the game a nice makeover.

For starters, the game is getting a graphics upgrade, though one that’s keeping the original’s cartoony style. In fact, at any time during the game, you’ll actually be able to switch back and forth between the new look and the original graphics. The game also boasts a newly re-recorded score, full voiceovers, a new hint system, and a new interface. All of which will be on display when the game is released on PC and the Xbox Live Arcade this Summer.

Also slated for this Summer (July 7th, to be exact), is “Launch Of The Screaming Narwhal,” the first installment of Tales Of Monkey Island, which is set after the events of 2000’s Escape From Monkey Island. The first of five planned chapters, the game will also be released via digital download on PC and XBLA (though release dates for the other four haven’t been announced).

Best of all, it will, like its predecessors, be a graphic adventure in the classic tradition. In fact the game is being developed by Telltale Games, a company formed by ex-LucasArts staffers, including Grossman, while Gilbert is also consulting on the project. They’ve even got composer Michael Land, who did the music for the earlier games, to return to the series as well. And while Schafer is noticeably absent from the project, he kind of has an excuse (lord knows handling Jack Black is a full-time job).

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But perhaps the best thing about these two releases — if I may wax philosophic for a moment (and beef up my word count, natch) — is that both the remake and the new installment illustrate one of the most encouraging things about this generation of gaming: no matter what kind of game you like to play, you can find it. Be it text adventures, big-budget shooters, or even old-school graphic adventures, there’s a game for every gamer. Even those who thought a genre they loved was gone forever.