Skunkape Games, a small indie developer made up of former Telltale Games employees, will release a remastered version of Telltale’s first episodic series, Sam & Max Save the World, for Nintendo Switch and PC on December 2. The game can be preordered starting today.
Originally released in 2006 and 2007 as Sam & Max Season One, this six-part adventure was widely considered the first successful episodic game. Skunkape acquired the rights after Telltale closed down in 2018.
Created by comic artist Steve Purcell, Sam and Max are a six-foot canine detective and a hyperkinetic rabbity-thing who dole out their own brand of comedic justice as the Freelance Police.
In Sam & Max Save the World, the duo investigate a hypnosis plot that spins to global proportions to involve washed-up child stars, the media, the mafia, the US government, the internet, and the bright side of the moon. A wacky story, brain-tickling puzzles, eccentric characters, and oddball humor provide a casual gameplay experience that was billed as “gaming’s first sitcom” upon its original release.
While the episodes were highly reviewed and won several awards, the series was a product of its time — a 3D game made with an early version of Telltale’s engine, that was created for download before high speed internet and platforms like Steam were commonplace. Compressed graphics and sound and the technical limitations of the day made for a game that shows its age in 2020.
Sam & Max Save the World Remastered addresses these issues and more with overhauled graphics, gamepad support, restored audio, and numerous additions and tweaks made possible by the evolution of the development tools and the team’s subsequent experience.
The game has English voice and subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, and Russian.