Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space
| Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Telltale Games |
| Publisher(s) | Telltale Games |
| Designer(s) |
Brendan Q. Ferguson Dave Grossman Heather Logas Chuck Jordan Ian Dallas Jeff Lester Steve Purcell |
| Composer(s) | Jared Emerson-Johnson |
| Series | Sam & Max |
| Engine | Telltale Tool |
| Platform(s) |
Microsoft Windows Xbox 360 Wii OS X PlayStation 3 iOS |
| Release date(s) |
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Complete pack
|
| Genre(s) | Graphic adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, originally released as Sam & Max: Season Two, is an episodic graphic adventure by Telltale Games based around the characters of the Sam & Max comic series created by Steve Purcell and follows from Sam & Max Save the World.
Season Two builds on Season One with more dynamic NPCs, an updated engine, a hint system, support for widescreen monitors, more realistic animations, and more mini-games within each episode. Season Two features a calibration assistant when first run, which allows the player to set their graphics and difficulty settings before playing.
Unlike Save the World, where GameTap users were able to access each episode two weeks before it was available through Telltale's website, Beyond Time and Space reduced this period down to one day.[2] The first episode, "Ice Station Santa", was released on November 8 on GameTap, followed by a worldwide release on November 9. However, the second episode was delayed until January 11, 2008. New episodes were thereafter released on the second Thursday and Friday of each month.[3]
As with Save the World in 2007, Beyond Time and Space was released on Steam on May 16, 2008.
On December 2, 2008. a press event in London, Atari announced a new partnership with Telltale to bring Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space to retail worldwide in 2009. It will be for both Microsoft Windows and Wii. There will also be fully localized releases in French and German, as well as Italian and Spanish subtitles for the foreign language versions of Beyond Time and Space.[4]
On February 26, 2009, Telltale officially announced Sam & Max Season One and Two for Xbox Live Arcade.[5] Telltale also officially named Season Two Beyond Time and Space.[6]
On April 18, 2009, Telltale's official Twitter page tweeted out gift codes for the downloadable version of Sam & Max Season 2.
Recurring characters
In addition to the characters already introduced through Sam & Max Season One, Season Two introduces some additional recurring characters.
- Flint Paper: Flint runs his own gumshoe detective business in the office next to Sam & Max; however, what exactly his business or cases are remains a mystery. As in the comics, his days consist of beating up bad guys and wooing attractive female clients. In season two, he is on a case to track down the man who trashed Mama Bosco's store in the 60s. In Sam and Max Hit the Road, Flint and the door to his office were featured in the second location of the game, where he threw someone out of a window and shot a smiley face into the wall with a tommy gun. Curiously, when asked where he'd been, his adventures sound near-identical to Sam & Max's.
- Mister Spatula: Max's pet goldfish who lives in the office water cooler. In Season One he was made Vice President of the United States under Max's administration, but he soon developed a lust for power that turned him "pure evil" according to Sam. He becomes the High Priest of Easter Island before Max takes over in "Moai Better Blues".
- The Maimtron 9000: A giant robot (first briefly seen through a window at the beginning of Season One's Episode 5) that demolishes half on the neighborhood in episode 1, "Ice Station Santa", thought to have been sent by Mister Spatula to assassinate Max. He says his only function is to kill and destroy, but in conversation he will frequently respond to questions by singing pop songs of the 80's and 90's. After being deactivated by Sam, his collapsed body is converted into a casino for rats by Jimmy Two-Teeth. The Maimtron 9000 is reactivated in the season finale by Sam and Max using the portable A.I. acquired in the previous title.
- Santa: Is the main character of episode 1, "Ice Station Santa". He is seen hiding in his room standing on top of a safe containing the spirits of Christmas. After the battle with the Shambling Corporate Presence, Santa accidentally eats the jello that SCP turned into, causing him to be possessed. After Sam & Max fight Santa again, Santa is sent to hell. In episode 5, he is imprisoned in his personal hell. He must constantly recall toys for various safety issues, while constantly being harassed by demon babies, saying that he hates kids, and took the one job in the world where he'd only ever have to be around children once a year.
- Jurgen: A German Goth styled vampire, he is the main villain of episode 3, "Night of the Raving Dead", and had a brief appearance in episode 4. He reappears in Episode 5 as a receptionist in Hell and is still angry at both Sam & Max for landing him in his predicament.
- Pedro: A Mariachi singer who suddenly appears and sings a birthday song whenever a character mentions a personal birthday. He has made brief appearances in episodes 1 through 3, and was given a larger role in episode 4, "Chariots of the Dogs" as well as having a small role in the season finale. Pedro was first named in episode 4.
- Shambling Corporate Presence: A gelatinous demon from Hell and the main villain of episode 1, "Ice Station Santa". Re-appears as an employee of Hell, LLC in episode 5. Was a minor character in "Reality 1.5", the game-within-a-game in the Season 1 episode, "Reality 2.0".
- Stinky: A young lady who owns "Stinky's Diner" across the street from Bosco's store. She claims to have inherited the diner, and her name, from old Stinky, her supposed grandfather. The claims (and old Stinky's fate) are questionable, as Stinky is also a constant liar, claiming that she is a very famous actress, inventor of artifacts, and studied beliefs, like "voodoo queen". This causes Sam and Max to have increasing suspicions that Stinky has murdered grandpa Stinky to take over the diner. Sam and Max meet the original "Grandpa" Stinky in episode 4, "Chariots of the Dogs", after traveling through time to the early 1980s version of Stinky's Diner. The older Stinky has a strong dislike for the U.S. government, and has a tendency to exaggerate his exploits, much like the younger Stinky from 2008, though the old Stinky claims to never having had any children. In episode 5, Old Stinky revealed that he had really died in a mountain climbing accident, and girl Stinky is actually his protege. In actuality, girl Stinky is a golem, "The Cake of the Damned," an unholy concoction created by old Stinky from an entree (Fish sticks), a side dish (Tar Cake), and a dessert (Coffee Ice Cream), and brought to life in human form by adding a spare rib into the mix.
- Timmy Two-Teeth: Jimmy Two-Teeth's son was introduced in episode 1, along with Jimmy's ex-wife and Timmy's mother, Mary Two-Teeth. Timmy is a young rat diagnosed with terminal Tourette syndrome; as a consequence, a large part of his speech is censored (although in a sense of irony, he doesn't really swear, but says stuff like 'Heck yeah' or 'Have a flippin' day). Despite this, he maintains a positive outlook on life. He dies in episode 5 and his soul goes to hell due to both Sam & Max's intervention (unlike his father, Timmy has lived a sin-free life, but his personal record was switched with Jimmy's at the moment of his death), but later his soul is released and Timmy comes back to life. He is also a great fan of the Soda Poppers (recurring characters from Season 1) and knows everything about them.
Episodes
| Episode | Release date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GameTap release | General release | |||
| "Ice Station Santa" | November 8, 2007 | November 9, 2007 | ||
Notes:
| ||||
| "Moai Better Blues" | January 10, 2008 | January 11, 2008 | ||
Notes:
| ||||
| "Night of the Raving Dead" | February 12, 2008 | February 13, 2008 | ||
Notes:
| ||||
| "Chariots of the Dogs" | March 13, 2008 | March 14, 2008 | ||
Notes:
| ||||
| "What's New, Beelzebub?" | April 10, 2008 | April 11, 2008 | ||
Notes:
| ||||
Reception
| Game | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Episode 1: Ice Station Santa | 82%[7] | 82[8] |
| Episode 2: Maoi Better Blues | 81%[9] | 80[10] |
| Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead | 80%[11] | 79[12] |
| Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs | 85%[13] | 85[14] |
| Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? | 85%[15] | 85[16] |
Episode 1: Ice Station Santa
Episode 1: Ice Station Santa received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 82% on GameRankings based on 32 reviews[7] and 82/100 on Metacritic based on 32 reviews.[8]
Episode 2: Maoi Better Blues
Episode 2: Maoi Better Blues received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 81% on GameRankings based on 32 reviews[9] and 80/100 on Metacritic based on 30 reviews.[10]
Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead
Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 80% on GameRankings based on 28 reviews[11] and 79/100 on Metacritic based on 26 reviews.[12]
Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs
Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 85% on GameRankings based on 27 reviews[13] and 85/100 on Metacritic based on 23 reviews.[14]
Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub?
Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 85% on GameRankings based on 22 reviews[15] and 85/100 on Metacritic based on 20 reviews.[16]
References
- ↑ "Sam & Max: Season 2 On Steam Now". Retrieved May 16, 2008.
- ↑ Faylor, Chris (July 25, 2007). "Sam & Max Return To GameTap For Season Two". Shacknews. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
- ↑ "Season Two premiere release date and title revealed!". Telltale Games. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
- ↑ "Sam & Max Season Two coming to retail, Wii". Telltale Games. December 2, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
- ↑ "Sam & Max Confirmed for XboxLIVE! Arcade". February 26, 2008.
- ↑ "Sam & Max Hit The Xbox Live Arcade". February 26, 2009.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 1: Ice Station Santa Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 1: Ice Station Santa Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 2: Maoi Better Blues Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 2: Maoi Better Blues Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.