Sam & Max Save The World and Beyond Time and Space by Skunkape Games are the remastered versions of the original episodic adventure games from 2006-2008. Learn more in our Sam & Max Remastered Bundle review!

 

Sam & Max Save The World and Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space by Skunkape Games are the remastered versions of the original episodic adventure games from 2006-2008. The first game, Save the World, starts with Sam and Max in their office, waiting to get a call for a case. After dealing with the rat that lives in the office’s walls – who had stolen their phone – with some cheese, they’re able to grab a call to investigate some issues at a store near their office. What they find is a former child star, one of the Soda Poppers, bringing some videotapes in to give to people for free. Their investigation will lead them to learn that those videos hypnotize people watching them. Without spoiling each of the six episodes of the game, the other episodes will see Sam and Max tackle some other cases.

In Beyond Time and Space, the first episode kicks off with a giant robot attacking Sam and Max at their office. As they remove its wind-up key, they’re able to learn about who commanded this robot to attack them. This leads them to the North Pole, as it seems that there is an issue with Santa himself. As they get there, they are greeted in front of his house by the Soda Poppers, who want to return their presents. From there, the episodes will take them on a series of adventures through Easter Island and a zombie epidemic, and much more.

 

The games are played from a fixed camera perspective through the different locations that Sam and Max will visit. You move Sam around with the left analog stick to explore the location and interact with different things in the environment. Points of interest will not be identified, so you have to press the right analog stick to switch between things you can interact with in close space around Sam. If you feel you are stuck, you can hold the L1 button to show small dots over all points of interest in the area. The Square button opens up your inventory, containing things you’ll gather while investigating. The L2 button can be used to run, while the R2 button is to shoot your gun. On some occasions, you’ll be interrogating people, where you can select between a few dialogue options and switch between Sam and Max with the Triangle button. While Sam has more nice dialogue options, Max leans towards slightly more violent options when interrogating.

The games are branded as remasters since they upgrade the look of each game when compared to their original releases. They were both previously launched on the Nintendo Switch, and we’re now getting them on PlayStation 4. Visuals are obviously better than the original games, but it’s not something that can be considered spectacular with all the visually fantastic games that have been released in 2022. In terms of dialogues and humor, fans of the originals will certainly enjoy the style of these games, but the jokes are not as great as they were 15 years ago.

 

I vaguely remember having played the original games back when they were released, so it was interesting to dive back into the earlier titles from Telltale Games that came before all the greatness of the games they produced during their later years. Unfortunately, and that applies to both games in the bundle, what I found was an experience that aged a bit and isn’t as smooth as other point and click adventure games out there. Moving around with Sam felt a bit clunky, and I found the controls with the right analog stick to select points of interest to be annoying.

As for the trophies, the road to both platinum trophies is relatively easy. Both lists consist of a trophy for completing each episode and another trophy for a specific thing you have to do in each of them. Those trophies provide some relatively clear descriptions, so, with careful planning, it shouldn’t be required to replay any episode to get them unless you go in for a blind playthrough if it’s your first time playing this series.

 

The Sam & Max Remasters offered in this bundle are a good deal that will please fans of the original games, but the bar for point-and-click adventures has been raised so high over the years, so this one might feel outdated if you see them through a 2022 lens. You can get each game separately at a $19.99 asking price, or you can get the bundle with both for a reduced price of only $29.99.

Disclaimer
This Sam and Max Bundle review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Skunkape Games.