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Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space

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Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space
Developer(s)Telltale Games[a]
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Dave Grossman
Programmer(s)Randy Tudor
Artist(s)David Bogan
Writer(s)
Composer(s)Jared Emerson-Johnson
SeriesSam & Max
EngineTelltale Tool
Platform(s)
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
2007 – 2008
  • Episodes
  • November 8, 2007
    – April 10, 2008
  • Season Two
  • May 16, 2008
  • Remastered
  • December 8, 2021
  • Xbox 360
  • October 14, 2009
  • Wii
    • NA: March 16, 2010
    • EU: September 30, 2010
    • AU: December 1, 2010
    OS X
  • May 18, 2010
  • PlayStation 3
  • October 18, 2011
  • iOS
  • January 26, 2012
    – April 19, 2012
  • Switch, Xbox One
  • December 8, 2021
  • PlayStation 4
  • September 29, 2022
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 video game by Telltale Games based on the Sam & Max comic book series created by Steve Purcell. It is a sequel to Telltale's previous Sam & Max game, Sam & Max Save the World, and was originally released as five episodes for Microsoft Windows over the course of late 2007 and early 2008, before being ported to other platforms in the following years. A remaster of the game by Skunkape Games was released in December 2021 for Windows, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One, and in September 2022 for PlayStation 4.

Gameplay

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Beyond Time and Space builds on Save the World with more dynamic NPCs, an updated engine, a hint system, support for widescreen monitors, more realistic animations, and more mini-games within each episode. Beyond Time and Space features a calibration assistant when first run, which allows the player to set their graphics and difficulty settings before playing.

Synopsis

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A year after the events of the previous game, Freelance Police Sam and Max discover their pet goldfish Mr. Spatula has turned evil, but he is killed by a giant robot sent by Santa Claus. The two head to the North Pole and find Santa firing upon the elves with a machine gun. Suspecting Santa is possessed, Sam and Max conduct an exorcism, but discover the demon is possessing an elf instead. With help from the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, the demon is reduced to a plate of Jell-O, which Santa inadvertently eats and becomes possessed. Sam and Max knock Santa out, learning the demon was meant for Satan but sent to Santa due to a typo. They send Santa to Hell and deliver all the Christmas presents in his place.

A month later, Sybil and Abe get sucked into a Bermuda Triangle portal. Sam and Max follow and arrive on Easter Island, populated by missing people turned to babies by the Fountain of Youth, and are told by the local Moai that a prophecy states that a volcano will erupt and destroy them. In a nearby cave, they discover a group of aquatic Ocean Chimps who worship the Moai's giant stone feet, and the ghost of Mr. Spatula has established himself as their High Priest, planning to use a machine to trigger an eruption. Sam convinces the Ocean Chimps that Max is the true High Priest, but Mr. Spatula sets off the eruption, only for Sam and Max to use a giant Bermuda Triangle to divert the lava. The two swim back to shore with Abe, who has broken up with Sybil, while the Moai are suddenly abducted.

Sometime later, the city is attacked by zombies from the Zombie Factory, a nightclub in Stuttgart run by the vampire Jurgen. Using traditional vampire weaknesses to lower Jurgen's popularity and make him vulnerable, Sam and Max pursue Jurgen but get caught in a death-trap and killed. The two reawaken as zombies and find Jurgen sleeping in his coffin and their souls trapped waiting to be shipped off to Hell. They retrieve a Soul Mater device from Sybil, inadvertently convincing her to get back together with Abe, but accidentally end up in each other's bodies. The two force Jurgen into his own deathtrap, and his soul is abducted. As Sam and Max return to their bodies, their neighbor and fellow detective Flint Paper arrives to announce Bosco has gone missing.

The three break into Bosco's store to look for clues, but Sam and Max inadvertently signal a UFO, which abducts them. They find Bosco, who has turned into a cow after stumbling into a time-traveling elevator and inadvertently altering the events of his birth. Sam and Max use the elevator to travel through time and restore Bosco, and they discover the UFO is piloted by past, present and future versions of a mariachi named Pedro, who travel through time in order to perform at everyone's birthday and collect souls for Hell to pay for their spaceship. Bosco is overwhelmed and dies of a heart attack, and the mariachis decide to use his soul to fill their quota. Sam and Max trick the mariachis into leaving so they can rescue Bosco's soul, but they accidentally send it to Hell and trigger the ship's self-destruct sequence. The two follow Bosco's soul through the portal, while the spaceship explodes just as it reaches the beginning of time, causing the Big Bang.

Sam and Max emerge in a subway station to Hell below their office. After gaining access to the train, they discover Hell to be an office environment employing their deceased enemies from past episodes. Satan ignores the two, but they interfere by freeing all their deceased friends' souls from their personal Hells. Sam demands that all these souls be released, and Satan agrees, but tricks Sam into taking their place. Max frees Sam, only to discover Satan is no longer in charge of Hell, which has been taken over by the Soda Poppers. The trio fire Satan and initiate a series of new evil plots, but Sam and Max thwart each of these and convince Satan to join them in retaking Hell. The Soda Poppers assume demonic forms and attempt to kill Sam & Max, but are tricked into using their own banishing ritual against themselves, trapping them in a fiery pit and allowing Satan to take back control. Everyone then leaves to attend Abe and Sybil's wedding. In a post-credits scene, the Soda Poppers swear revenge, only to be killed by the diverted lava flow from Easter Island.

Episodes

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Episode Release date
GameTap release General release
"Ice Station Santa" November 8, 2007 November 9, 2007
  • An ancient and bloated pagan god sends a bloodthirsty war robot to destroy Sam & Max.
"Moai Better Blues" January 10, 2008 January 11, 2008
  • Sam & Max travel to the tropics where they try to stop a volcanic eruption.
"Night of the Raving Dead" February 12, 2008 February 13, 2008
  • Sam & Max crash an emo European vampire's nightclub to stop a zombie apocalypse.
"Chariots of the Dogs" March 13, 2008 March 14, 2008
  • Sam & Max team up with Flint Paper to discover what happened to a missing Bosco.
"What's New, Beelzebub?" April 10, 2008 April 11, 2008
  • Sam & Max travel to hell to confront Satan and retrieve Bosco's lost soul.

Release

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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.[1] The first episode, "Ice Station Santa", was released on November 8 on GameTap, followed by a worldwide release on November 9. The second episode was delayed until January 11, 2008. New episodes were thereafter released on the second Thursday and Friday of each month.[2]

As with Save the World in 2007, Beyond Time and Space was released on Steam on May 16, 2008.

Atari published Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space worldwide for both Microsoft Windows (in 2009) and Wii (in 2010). The game also received fully localized releases in French and German, as well as Italian and Spanish subtitles for the foreign language versions of Beyond Time and Space.[3]

Sam & Max Season One and Two were released for Xbox Live Arcade in February 2009.[4] Telltale also officially named Season Two Beyond Time and Space.[5]

A remaster by Skunkape Games was released in December 2021 for Windows, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One, and in September 2022 for PlayStation 4. Like the Save the World remaster, it features new cinematics and music, improved character models and lighting, and some re-recorded dialogue.[6][7]

Reception

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Aggregate review scores
Game GameRankings Metacritic
Episode 1: Ice Station Santa 82%[8] 82[9]
Episode 2: Moai Better Blues 81%[10] 80[11]
Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead 80%[12] 79[13]
Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs 85%[14] 85[15]
Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? 85%[16] 85[17]

Episode 1: Ice Station Santa

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Episode 1: Ice Station Santa received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 82% on GameRankings based on 32 reviews[8] and 82/100 on Metacritic based on 32 reviews.[9]

Episode 2: Moai Better Blues

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Episode 2: Moai Better Blues received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 81% on GameRankings based on 32 reviews[10] and 80/100 on Metacritic based on 30 reviews.[11]

Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead

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Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 80% on GameRankings based on 28 reviews[12] and 79/100 on Metacritic based on 26 reviews.[13]

Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs

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Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 85% on GameRankings based on 27 reviews[14] and 85/100 on Metacritic based on 23 reviews.[15]

Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub?

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Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 85% on GameRankings based on 22 reviews[16] and 85/100 on Metacritic based on 20 reviews.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Faylor, Chris (July 25, 2007). "Sam & Max Return To GameTap For Season Two". Shacknews. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  2. ^ jake (September 25, 2007). "Season Two premiere release date and title revealed!". The Telltale Blog. Telltale Games. Archived from the original on November 24, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  3. ^ emily (December 2, 2008). "Sam & Max Season Two coming to retail, Wii". The Telltale Blog. Telltale Games. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  4. ^ J., Kev (February 26, 2008). "Sam & Max Confirmed for XboxLIVE! Arcade". Electronic Theatre. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
  5. ^ Fahey, Mike (February 26, 2009). "Sam & Max Hit The Xbox Live Arcade". Kotaku.
  6. ^ Davis, Wes (December 4, 2020). "Skunkape Games Already Working on Remastering Seasons 2, 3 of Sam and Max". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  7. ^ "Announcing Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Remastered!". Steam News. November 17, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 1: Ice Station Santa Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 1: Ice Station Santa Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 2: Moai Better Blues Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 2: Moai Better Blues Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  14. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
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Notes

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  1. ^ Remastered version developed by Skunkape Games.
  2. ^ Windows and Wii physical versions published by Atari. Remastered version published by Skunkape Games.
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