Sam & Max Save the World Remastered (PC) Review

It is odd that it seems that new content for Sam and Max only manages to come out as the old media is starting to fall into obscurity.  Although this time around everything came out as a remaster instead of some kind of new format that they seemed so keen on in the past, even though that possibility might not be far off.  The main issue then becomes, has this game aged as well as some of the older genre defining titles out there or are there things that make it slightly off?

Minutes into the adventure and it is hard not to notice that things seem… just slightly left of center for anyone who has played the game before.  The first thing is that some of the pacing of the jokes feel different, but it has been a decade since the game came out so things could have changed.  Then all of a sudden all interactions with Bosco suddenly feel empty.  A quick search online would confirm some of the issues.

Some, very minor, jokes had been changed for both pacing and “updating.”  The next issue was that Bosco’s voice actor was changed.  The previous performance felt paranoid and angry.  It always felt like Sam and Max were being accused of something, even if they were making a purchase.  For the character it felt pitch perfect, and it seemed tied to who Bosco was.  The new person is perfectly fine, but it is similar to going into season 3 of an established show knowing a cast member has been replaced with someone worse.

Aside from the noticeable issues, the game plays like a standard point and click adventure game. Basically the character are generalized garbage hoarders that take everything that is not nailed down in hopes that it will solve some kind of issue later on.  Anyone who had a PC in the 90s will remember this kind of adventure fondly as it was the main source of humor on that platform, and despite the changes to this title, this one still maintains almost all of the laughs.

While Sam & Max Save The World Remastered isn’t nearly as good as it was back when it first came out over a decade ago, it is still a great game.  There are still some quality of life improvements that could have been added, like how the old LucasArts games used to have Max complain about doing something if the player was stuck for long enough as a hint system, but there is enough there to make the game an easy suggestion.  For everyone else, pick it up on a sale–or for their VR adventure.

Also available on Nintendo Switch.