Sam & Max are a pair of walking, talking, Dog and Bunny private detectives who are here to save the world- and they’re not above breaking the law along the way. My love of Anti-Heroes aside (I love you, Deadpool) this game is as hilarious as it is beautifully designed. Keep reading to find out why this odd-couple are my newest favourite crime-fighting team!

“Sam & Max Save the World” is a point-and-click graphic adventure game based on Steve Purcell’s comic book series “Sam & Max”. You play as a 6-foot tall detective Dog named Sam who, along with his 3 foot tall, Bunny Rabbit (with giant oddly pointy teeth) sidekick Max, goes around solving crimes in what one can only call a unique style ripped straight out of the ’60s. Their interactions with each other and the people they interview are strange, yet hilarious, and the phrases they use are a blessing to the English language. I was hooked the moment I heard the sentence “The benevolent brotherhood of rodents”.

The original episodes of Sam & Max were originally released by Telltale Games however, after their closure, co-founder Dan Connors and a handful of former Telltale employees banded together to create Skunkape Games and purchase the rights to Sam & Max. It’s these geniuses that we have to thank for this new masterpiece, as the original team re-created these stories to bring us “Sam & Max Save the World”.

We start off with Sam and Max relaxing in their office. Immediately, I’m hit with how good the graphics are. This game does not look like something from the early 2000s, so the developers and designers have clearly put in the time and effort to polish it up. The phone rings with a job from the Commissioner- former child stars are going crazy in the streets and spraying graffiti everywhere. Seems like kids being kids, but we soon discover there’s a hypnotic twist, and we are on the case.

As with most point-and-click games, you need to remember to click on everything, no matter how insignificant it may seem. This MAY lead you to collect something you need later, but it will DEFINITELY lead to you hearing some brilliant pieces of information.

Controls are pretty basic, with the exception of the L button. In a stroke of pure brilliance, the L button displays all the clickable surfaces! This saved me a lot of time in the early game when I was still meandering around clueless. I think it’s an addition that all point-and-click games could use, especially as it balances out the lack of general instructions.

I’ve already mentioned that I love the graphics, but the music is the perfect foil. To go along with Max’s suit, tie, and hat combo, the music is straight out of a ‘60s private eye flashback. A lovely little touch to really pull the player into a reality out of time.

The only thing that drags this game down is the repetitive nature of accidentally clicking the wrong option. There’s no way to skip or cancel a speech selection, so if you click the wrong thing be prepared to listen to it again. And again. And again. This could be my own fault, maybe my fat fingers should slow down, but it was noticeably annoying.

Overall, I loved this game. Mostly for the effort that went into the storyline and the interactions between characters. Seriously the best dialogue I think I’ve heard in a game, from a breadth of words used standpoint, and it’s just a really good laugh. I would highly recommend this game if you are looking for a fun comic book style story you can sink a few hours into- especially since it appears that this is just part 1. Looks like we can expect at least two more from our friends at Skunkape. Keep ‘em coming, team!

Written by: HadesTheHobo