He’s the most ancient and powerful opponent they’ve ever faced, a hairy, bloated, pagan God – Santa Claus! With Christmas presents on the attack and carols of gunshots drowning out the bells, Sam & Max must storm the North Pole to bring down a less-than-jolly foe. Can the Freelance Police make sense of this Christmas conundrum in time to save the world’s children from a holiday tainted by tears, turmoil, and Torture-Me-Elmer?

After already playing Sam and Max Save The World (Season One) on Wii, Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space (Season 2 on PC) and Sam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouse (Season 3) on PS3, I find myself asking… myself: how fun is the Season Two release on PS3? Let’s find out, one episode at a time!

Things are off to a good start. Right outside of the Freelance Police office, the Maimtron 9000 is breaking all hell loose (figuratively speaking, as hell doesn’t play a part until much later). He’ll try to tear everything apart but never loose style points thanks to the awesome, awesome lyrics he presents to us. Gotta love the Maimtron 9000.

Now, let’s take a small break to remind you about how you’re supposed to control the dynamic duo:

You move with the analog stick. Use the X button you must to interact. L1 and R1 to cycle between items or spots you can interact with for some examination tactics. Square is for inventory, don’t you forget! Now that you know, let’s join in the fun. Let’s waltz in the air. Let’s possum for life.

After you’ve defeated the Maimtron 9000, you find out that Santa has gone crazy! He has sheltered himself at his office and just keeps shooting at anyone that comes near him. If this keeps on, there won’t be a Christmas this year! Sam and Max MUST save Christmas at all cost… will they suceed?

That’s all the story details I can give you without making this a spoiler extravaganza.

What I CAN tell you about are the two minigames you’ll run into in Episode 1:

There’s a boxing minigame at one point and Telltale Games pays tribute to a Nintendo franchise (ok, it pays tribute to Punch- Out!, a game about boxing) by referencing said franchise with a small egg (can you spot it?). It’s not an easter egg because easter isn’t here yet.

The other minigame involves driving… and if you’re a trophy hunter you’ll absolutely HATE this mini game. The regular challenge you need to pass to carry on with the story is easy enough, but the requirements for the trophy are crazy. You’re supposed to hit random objects that randomly show up from the random netherworld. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the problem is that the random objects… are too random. They don’t show up as much as we’d like, and you can spend one or two hours driving withou ever finding the whole set. Hope you have a lot of patience!

Sam and Max Episode 1: Space Station Santa is a fun ride into the stars with our favorite Freelance Police pals. You’ll ride a rocket to the moon. You’ll smile, you’ll cry. You’ll… what? Its actually ICE Station Santa? Ah, yeah, that makes more sense. Didn’t see any rockets or stars in this episode so I was wondering why it was a bit crazier than usual. Anyway, game is fun-fun. Buy the whole season right now!

[review pros=”Season 2 is finally available on PSN
The revolution will be televised!” cons=”Some frame rate issues here and there.
The driving trophy..” score=83]

Published by Telltale Games

Cost – $19.99 (Full Season)

Disclaimer

Total amount of time played: 3 hours

Love me some Sam and Max. Own all 3 seasons, the Anniversary DVD Boxset AND the limited edition Hardcover signed by Steve Purcell.

This review is based on a copy of Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space provided by Telltale Games.