It has been quite a while since
I played this with my sons - so this a tag team Mom/ son review of this
great great classic Lucas Arts game.
First requirements. Very low as this was originally DOS. However my
original play was on a Mac CD which played perfectly of course on a power
Mac. I have since gotten a PC CD and it loaded well on my Win 95. Haven't
tried it on the newer Win98 but have tried Full Throttle, DOTT and Fate of
Atlantis and they all played well.
Lucas Arts games are notorious for not being buggy. I have never had a
problem with any - including my $20 download of MI1 and 2.
Sam and Max is high camp cartoon pre-rendered graphics. It had the
standard mouse driven interface. It also has the traditional LucasArts
interaction list. You click on the icon to your left to determine what you
do. If you want to look at something - click the eye, grab something -
pick the grab hand... When you talk you get a menu list as in MI or IJ
games.
Now for the characters. Sam and Max are two of my favorite game guy duos
of all times. Think Fred and Barney, Abbott and Costello then add Sam and
Max. Max is the best. He is a sarcastic, jaded little bunny who always has
something to say. The best part of this game IMHO is getting every last
living little wise crack out of his toothy rabbit mouth. This isn't the
Easter bunny here folks. Sam is a hard boiled detective/ retired cop with
a job to do and the will to use any means to do it.
On to the story. This game takes you to some of the most bizarre and
homespun locations you'll find in a game. Hey always wanted to see the
largest ball of twine - now's your chance. Never highway surfed - lets go.
How bout a round of gator golf. Yep the water's fun - just watch those
teeth. You will learn to be a yeti, see what the cat coughed up and gather
clues where ever and I mean wherever you can. The one great thing about
this game is that if you are stuck in one place you can travel other
locations to complete other parts of the puzzle or take in a diverting
side game. These are fun and are not your typical arcade side shows.
Highway surfing is the best.
Now I won't say the puzzles are logical. Nope this is inventory collecting
and combining at it's most whimsical. But the trip is always fun - because
of the zaniness of the characters, the great dialogue and craziest side
characters on this gaming planet. This is also by no means a short game,
as the numerous locations and characters to interact with keep you going,
in addition to the occasional side trips into the road games.
I found a classic archive collection available at LucasArts for 29.99.
This is a great deal that includes Sam and Max, IJ and the Hunt for
Atlantis (I think the best IJ game ever made) and DOTT. You can check it
out here:
Sam and Max plus
It does state that it's not recommended for WIN98 - but I got DOTT to run
no problem. Probably ask Jenny or some other of our more technically savvy
GB's here - what the deal on this is.
Anyway - I highly applaud this game. It is definitely a gaming classic and
one everyone should have on their game play list.
Review Grade: A
Laura and Michael
copyright © 2004
GameBoomers
