Sam & Max Hit The Road released back in 1993 is rumored by many to be one of the finest point-and-click adventure game released by LucasArts when it was more than just a studio for Star Wars games. Now they’re back in episodic games spanning 6 episodes created by Tell Tale Games. Sam (a dog thing) and Max (a bunny thing) are private freelance police and they take on cases that regular police - or sane persons - may find unbelievable and ludicrous.

Episode 1 - Culture Shock
When 3 child stars from the ’70s (called Soda Poppers) end up terrorizing the neighborhood with free videos of Eye-Bo by Brady Culture, Sam & Max are called into action to find out what exactly is Eye-Bo and why everyone is worshipping Brady Culture, a once-has-been byproduct of a failed television show.
Episode 2 - Situation Comedy
With the situation of Brady Culture resolved, Sam & Max turn their attention to Myra Stump, a very Oprah-like figure, who refuses to stop taping her show and is holding audience hostage for 3 days. Our favorite animal detectives must navigate through a talent competition, a cooking show, a sitcom and even a gaming show in order to find out what caused Myra to go ballistic.
Episode 3 - The Mole, The Mob and The Meatball
Sam & Max are sent to the local casino to find out what happened to the undercover agent who infiltrated Ted E. Bear’s casino and finally put an end to those adorable, yet hypnotizing teddy bears by any means necessary, cheating at card games, playing one-armed bandit slots and recovering the lost meatball sandwich.
Episode 4 - Abe Lincoln Must Die
It looks like Toy Mafia wasn’t the criminal mastermind behind the entire enterprise. Sam & Max must fight the conspiracy at the highest levels of government and make sure the Dakotas (South, North and West) go to war over the control of Mount Rushmore. Oh, and Max must figure out a way to beat gigantic robotic Abe Lincoln statue in order to become president of the United States.
Episode 5 - Reality 2.0
When Internet no longer works (and planes fall out of the skies) and people are being hypnotized by VR goggles, President Max and his assistant Sam must visit the virtual cyberspace in order to figure out who is behind everything and why people need to be controlled even if it’s the end of all those porns.
Episode 6 - Bright Side Of The Moon
For the last episode of this season, Sam & Max travel to the Moon to the exclusive resort for high-level members of Prismatology in order to battle the evil mastermind, score a date for giant Abe Lincoln’s head, and figure out a way to sell the entire country to the Queen of Canada.
Gameplay is extremely simple as it’s just point-and-click: click on where you want to move, click on items you wish to collect and click to interact with the environment. You even click to drive cars! Simplistic gameplay doesn’t deter from the true asset of an adventure game: storyline. Sam & Max Season 1’s storyline takes many, many, many outlandish turns and twists, and it’s simply a great fun to follow. You’ll definitely be impressed by the sharp dialogs and virtually perfect delivery of those lines. Apart from Sam & Max, there are other recurring characters such as Bosco, owner of Bosco’s Inconvenience, and Sybil who is a professional career switcher.
The game is far from perfect: many locations and characters are recycled, limited inventory makes puzzling solving fairly easy and all the backtracking can get tedious. However game’s dialog and style will make you forget about those shortcomings.
In the end, this is a great game for all adventure fans, and even if you’re not, you’ll enjoy the game for its deadly wit, penchant for mindless violence and comedic one-liners. Just make sure to pick up the entire first season (and save quiet a bit of money). Here’s to season 2 and beyond!
Rating: 


(4 out of 5)
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