Note: This game is also known as "Sam & Max Season Two" and the names will be used interchangeably in this review. Unlike the PC distribution, you do not have an option to buy the XBLA episodes separately. You get all five at 1600 Microsoft Points/$20, and that’s your only Xbox possibility. On the other hand, that’s a fantastic deal compared to the PC season’s cost of $35, so there’s not much point complaining.

Telltale Games has been almost singlehandedly leading the charge to get the adventure game genre off life support, and they’re doing a good job despite the occasional mis-step. Thankfully, Sam & Max Season Two is not one of those mistakes; far from it, it’s one of their better products and the new Xbox Live Arcade port of it asks only that you forgive some minor trade-offs from the PC version in return for a huge discount.

Like most games in this genre, this season of Sam & Max gives you various areas to explore, people to talk with, and items to gather. You advance the plot by doing all these things, and using what you learn to solve various logic puzzles. Or in the case of this zany crimefighting duo, ’illogic’ puzzles may be a more apt description; what else can you call a situation where you might turn a cake back into a human being by sticking a rib in it?

And like most other adventures, this sort of game mechanic is really just a means of telling a story. Sam & Max tell a mostly silly tale, poking fun at modern life, random humor, and even the occasionally amusing yet accurate social commentary. Rather than killing your characters for exploring or getting a puzzle wrong, this game wants you to eventually win and be entertained the whole way; even when you’re on the wrong track you’ll usually find something funny so you don’t feel like you wasted your time.

Like the previous season, this one is divided into several ’mini-games’, or ’episodes.’ You can play them independently of one another, but it’s best to start with the first one and work your way up, since they tell stories that eventually connect in the final episode. Each episode lasts anywhere from three to five hours on a normal run through it, and many of them have some kind of mini-game you can play to add a little variety for a few minutes. This means that at the minimum you can probably expect around fifteen hours of play, and that’s pretty good considering the product is just twenty dollars.

That said, this is an Xbox port of a PC game that was meant to be played with a mouse, and you will have to put up with a few problems. First, the gamepad is only so-so as a replacement for a mouse. I was able to handle most segments just fine with the analog stick as the stand-in for a mouse, but I admit there will be a few puzzles that are a little harder due to this change in control. Also, there are the occasional minor frame-rate stutters and even a few sound bugs, but neither of these seriously detract from the product.

These modest flaws don’t stop Sam & Max Season Two from being an excellent game, and if you’re willing to put up with them you will be rewarded with a significant discount. The PC version is admittedly superior, but this is still very good and costs only $20 compared to the PC’s $35. This makes the Xbox version a serious bargain, and well worth your time. The only people I wouldn’t recommend it to are those who hate the genre (this won’t change your mind), or already have the PC version, or haven’t played Season One ("Sam & Max Save the World") yet. If you’re in the first two groups, there’s nothing this port will do for you. If you’re in the third group, pick up Season One first, then come back to this; you’ll be glad you followed the story in proper order.

Random post-review thoughts: While there is a Gamerpic set you can buy for a few dollars, the game includes a couple pictures for free, unlocked once you pick an episode. That’s a nice gesture on Telltale’s part. Also, hilariously enough this game offers online leaderboards, rating things such as "lines of dialogue heard." I assume this is just a clever commentary on how potentially pointless leaderboards can be in many games that nonetheless include them.