{tag [Retro]} {tag [Review]} {tag [PC]}

After posting an article recently on the new Sam & Max game, I began to reminisce. I began having visions of Star Raiders, Out of this World, and Doom...visions of Hunt the Wumpus, Loom, and Mario Paint. And that's when it hit me: the Retro Game Review.

I know, some of you are asking, why...why would you write a review of a game long past? Because there is still life in them...still value to their existence, and most of all, because they are still great games! So, without further ado, I give you the first Old School Review: Sam & Max: Hit the Road.

Sam & Max, follows the adventures of Sam, a "6-foot anthropomorphic dog in detective's clothing", and Max, a "hyperkinetic rabbity thing". The game was released by LucasArts in 1993 for DOS & Mac, so playing the game now, would normally prove difficult, if it weren't for the guys at ScummVM. According to the website, "ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the game, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed!" It works beautifully!

So, Sam & Max is your basic LucasArts point and click adventure from their heyday. It has all the essential elements: simple interface; bright, colorful graphics; combination puzzles; and of course, the LucasArts patented humor. And, as was the case with many early 1990s LucasArts adventure games, Steve Purcell was along for the creative ride.

So the storyline is simple: Sam & Max, the Freelance Police, have been hired by the Cushman brothers (Siamese twins) to find their carnival's main attraction Bruno, "a genuine, authenticate, real-life, Bigfoot....on ice" and their second main attraction, Trixie, the giraffe-neck girl from Scranton. You know, your average mystery.

To solve the mystery, Sam and Max must "traipse" all over the country, visiting exciting locales, and famous landmarks: The Worlds Largest Ball of Twine, World of Fish, Frog Rock, Bumpusville, and many more.

Sam and Max isn't a difficult game. In fact, you will be able to play through in a few short hours, but it is certainly worth it. The gameplay is fun, but the dialogue is what really makes this game. Watching a bipedal dog and rabbit interact with the world, in a sharp, witty manner just plain makes me smile, and it will make you smile, too. So, if you don't have an old copy of this game in a box somewhere, I suggest you get on eBay and pick up a copy and go download ScummVM and get traipsing already!