Release Date: December 2nd
Platforms: Switch, Steam, GOG
Price: $19.99 (50% off if you own the original Season One on Steam, GOG, or Telltale until December 31st)
Developer/Publisher: Skunkape Games
Genre: Point and Click Adventure
Everyone's favorite dog and rabbity-thing are back in Sam & Max Save the World Remastered, a new version of their first season of episodic games that has been lovingly updated by a small group of the original developers with the blessing of Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell.
With enhanced graphics, new widescreen and gamepad support, five new musical tracks, and the same brain-tickling puzzles and offbeat humor that won it Adventure Game of the Year awards from IGN, GameSpy, and PC Gamer, Sam & Max Save the World is a modern classic that you'll love to play—or play again.
It's just another day at the office for the self-proclaimed Freelance Police when the Commissioner calls in with a disturbing report: former child stars are running amok in the street! What starts as an open-and-shut case of idiotic vandalism balloons into an all-out conspiracy as Sam and Max encounter one miscreant after another who have been mysteriously hypnotized. (You can tell from the "spinny thing" they do with their eyes.)
Who's the source of this malfeasance, and what is their dastardly plan? Cracking this case will require Sam's nose for detective work, Max's lack of conscience, an assortment of inventory items, and a little help from neighbors Sybil Pandemik, Bosco, and Jimmy Two-Teeth. From Sam & Max's street to the White House lawn, inside the internet, and all the way to the moon, this baffling mystery gets weirder and funnier as it unfolds.
FAQ (from the Skunkape Games website)
We know you've got questions. Well whaddaya know, we've got answers! Read on for everything you ever wanted to know about Sam & Max Save the World but were afraid to ask.
Who are Sam & Max?
Individually they are a six-foot dog in a suit (Sam) and a hyperkinetic rabbity-thing (Max) with sharp wit, big guns (don't ask where Max keeps his), and their own unique way of fighting crime. Collectively they are the Freelance Police, stars of award-winning comics by Steve Purcell, a 1990s LucasArts adventure game, a short-lived Canadian TV show, and three seasons of episodic games released by Telltale Games between 2006 and 2010.
How can a remaster of Sam & Max Save the World exist? I thought Telltale Games went out of business!
After Telltale closed its doors in 2018, four members of the Sam & Max development team acquired the rights to the studio's Sam & Max games. With help from several other former Telltale employees, they've remastered the first season of Sam & Max episodic games, so old fans and new players can enjoy this classic series once again—starting on December 2 on Nintendo Switch and PC.
So is this game affiliated with Telltale?
No. Many of Telltale's other games and the Telltale name itself were acquired by LCG Entertainment. That company isn't involved with Sam & Max Save the World Remastered. (But they have helped us out with a few logistical issues, and we appreciate it!)
Why remaster Sam & Max Save the World?
When this game came out episodically in 2006 and 2007, it was one of the first games Telltale ever made. Telltale went on to create The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Batman, and more—and they learned a lot in the process! In the twelve years between Telltale's first Sam & Max episode and the studio's closure, the game engine became more sophisticated, the choreography and cinematography evolved, and the team learned a ton about how to tell stories interactively.
Initially we only planned to patch Sam & Max Season One on PC, so it would work better on today's computers. But as we got into it, we realized there was a lot more we wanted to do—some things we can do now thanks to better tech, and others we didn't do back then because we didn't know how. Plus, there were some things we wanted to fix that we just couldn't. (Well, not without rolling back to a thirteen-year-old version of Telltale's development tools that no longer exists!) The project grew to the point that it was much more than a patch, and Sam & Max Save the World Remastered was born.
Why do you keep calling it Sam & Max Save the World? What about Sam & Max Season One?
They're the same thing. This six-part game originally released in monthly downloadable episodes as Sam & Max Season One. When Telltale packaged the episodes together for retail and console releases, they renamed the season Sam & Max Save the World, and we've kept that name for the remastered version.
What have you changed in the remaster?
Where do we start?! The most obvious changes are technical: Sam & Max Save the World now supports a 16:9 aspect ratio and the highest resolution your hardware allows. (The original was 4:3 with a maximum resolution of 1024x768!) The remaster has dynamic lighting and improved lip sync. You can play with the original point & click mouse controls, or a keyboard, or a gamepad—whatever floats your boat. All of the game's original audio, which was compressed like crazy to keep download sizes small, has been remastered and re-encoded from the original source files, with modern high-quality audio codecs. This remaster looks, sounds, and plays like a game made in 2020, not one made in 2006.
But some of our favorite changes are brand new additions that bring the game closer than ever to the aesthetic and tone of Steve Purcell's comics. All of the character models have been tweaked, including Sam and Max with Steve's input. A new user interface and opening credits sequence make the game feel like one cohesive whole rather than six separate episodes. Some key scenes have been punched up with new acting and camerawork, and we created a couple of new exterior locations for establishing shots. Composer Jared Emerson-Johnson even wrote five new jazz tracks performed by some of the original musicians.
Oh, and we almost forgot the biggest update: we made a Nintendo Switch version!
Wow, that's a lot. What didn't you change?
The gameplay, the story, the puzzles, the jokes—they're all as you remember them. (Maybe even better than you remember!) While our team members worked on Sam & Max at Telltale, so did a lot of other people, and we were careful not to tread on their work or change too much stuff just because we felt like it. We've tried to strike a balance between making the game better and preserving what made us so proud of it in the first place.
I want it! How can I get it?
Sam & Max Save the World is up for preorder on the Nintendo eShop, Steam, and GOG. It will be released for Nintendo Switch and PC on December 2.
I own the original Sam & Max Season One. Can I get a discount?
You bet! If you bought the original downloadable version on Steam, GOG, or the Telltale Store, you can get 50% off the remaster through December 31. Go to Steam or GOG if you own the game there—you'll need to be logged in to your account to see the discount. If you bought the game directly from Telltale, go to our upgrade page to claim a Steam or GOG key for the original game. This will make you eligible for the 50% discount on the new version.
What languages does Sam & Max Save the World Remastered include?
The game has English voice and subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, and Russian.
Can I stream this game? Can I make money off those streams?
Yes, you can, and thanks for asking. (But please note, we reserve the right to revoke that permission on a case by case basis.) You can also keep the music on during your stream—we won't hit you with a DMCA notice!
I want to buy the old version of the game, but I can't find it anywhere! Is it gone for good?
For now, we've removed the old version from stores. But don't fret! We don't have specifics to discuss just yet, but we'll make sure people can still access and play the old episodes (including people who didn't buy them before the remaster). We don't intend to shove them in a vault. Only a maniac would make a special edition and destroy the originals!
Who's on the Sam & Max Save the World Remastered team?
The core team is Dan Connors (Telltale Games co-founder and former CEO), Randy Tudor (former lead programmer), Jon Sgro (former director of production technologies), and Jake Rodkin (former creative director). Telltale alumni Eric Parsons, Brett Rogstad, Tim Ingram, Emily Morganti, Shaun Finney, and Doug Tabacco are also involved, along with composer Jared Emerson-Johnson and sound designer Julian Kwasneski of Bay Area Sound. The only non-Telltaler on the team is Emma Cooper, our art intern.
If you want to read more about the remaster, there's a great article from Patrick Klepek over at Vice
Owners of the Telltale Store version can get the discount here
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