Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space is the remastered version of Telltale Games second season of classic adventure games based on the Sam & Max comics by Steve Purcell, that was originally released in 2007. If you’re unfamiliar with the original games, they were released episodically across a period of about a year in multiple linking parts. Season two was a five-episode collection of linked cases and this remaster packages them all into one tightly nit package for you to experience again, with a brand-new coat of paint!
Now if you’re interested in finding out more about the season one remaster “Sam and Max Save the World” check out my review video below before reading the rest of this review:
Sam (a six foot suit wearing dog) and Max (a hyperkinetic rabbit) are the Freelance Police who starred in the award winning comic from Steve Purcell (Starting all the way back in 1987). They are a crime-fighting comedy duo that have traversed print, tv and video games for over 30 years. In Beyond Time and Space you will join them on a bizarre adventure from the North Pole (featuring a gun slinging, paranoia driven Santa Claus) to the Fountain of Youth. You will even head to outer space and to hell! How many other games can claim to do all that?
The remaster is brought to us by Skunkape Games. They are made up of a selection of former Telltale Games employees and members of the original Sam and Max development team. They picked up the rights to the Sam and Max games after the original Telltale sadly closed its doors in 2018 and have been working on remastering all three seasons so new and old fans can enjoy these classic games on modern systems!
The core gameplay is your classic point and click adventure game. You traverse a selection of environments, interacting with a variety of items and zany characters whilst using your detective skills figure out how to use these items and where. While this is the main focus of the gameplay throughout the five cases there are also a selection of mini game sections that break up the flow including being a DJ at a zombie disco (yes you read that correctly).
The humour of the game is on point. The characters dialogue are written perfectly and the interaction with the NPC characters always leads to hilarious responses no matter what dialogue choice you choose. You can also switch between Sam and Max to suit a specific situation and progress the conversation in the required way. Sometimes you end up looping around in a conversation if you’re not entirely sure what you’re looking for, but the writing and voice acting is that good it never becomes an issue.
Let’s get into the upgrades! Not only does the game now support a 16:9 aspect ration and a much higher resolution than the original release, but it also has improved lip sync, dynamic lighting, remastered audio. It also features more noticeable changes such as improved character models (that have been tweaked based on comic writer Steve Purcell’s input), improved camera angles, 8 new music tracks and more easter eggs just to name a few. These upgrades make the game feel fresh and modern despite basically still being the same game that was released in 2007. The developers have clearly been doing some crazy witchcraft in the back room as this game looks fantastic.
Each episode will take you around two to three hours to complete, however if you have played the originals and still remember what you need to do it may take you less time. I found I spent longer on some of the episodes as I was interacting with everything and running through all the dialogue options I could with every character as I was having such a good time. When I played the remaster of the first game I had some memory of the original Season, however with this remaster of season two I was going in blind as I had never played it originally. I found I enjoyed it more by experiencing it all for the first time and I had no idea what was going to happen next!
Sam and Max Beyond Time and Space Remastered is an absolute joy to play. You can tell the game has been lovingly improved by a team of developers who have a deep passion for the IP and original games. If you have never experienced the game before this is the definitive way to play them by far, and if you did play the original releases then there are more than enough improvements to warrant another playthrough. Here’s looking forward to the release of the season three remaster – The Devil’s Playhouse!
TOTAL SCORE: 9/10
Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space is available right now on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility. The game costs £16.74 and can be grabbed HERE. The game is also available on Nintendo Switch, Steam and GOG.
I played the game on Xbox Series X for this review. A copy of the game was provided so big thanks for that!
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