When the Nintendo Wii was announced to have a mouse-like controller/remote several years ago, my initial reaction was hope for the return of point-and-click adventures. Out of all game genres, this comedy-filled play-at-your-own pace style of gameplay suits me best. These games are simply fun. There’s no dying or game over screen. You simply navigate through endlessly-detailed locales, talking to zany characters via amusing conversation trees, and even occasionally use your brain to solve puzzles using inventory items in inventive ways.

The best point-and-click adventures came from LucasArts. Classic titles like Sam & Max Hit the Road, The Secret of Monkey Island™, Day of the Tentacle, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis really embodied everything that the genre is all about. Unfortunately, likely do the increasing popularity of gaming consoles, the genre faded away toward the end of the ’90s.

But now, point-and-click adventures are finally making a comeback, not only on the Nintendo Wii, which allows for traditional point-and-click interaction using its Wiimote, but also on the XBox 360. One-by-one, classic characters are finding new life off of the computer and onto televisions everywhere.

In a series of posts over the next few days, I will explore this return of the point-and-click adventure beginning with…

Sam & Max

Sam & Max Hit the Road was a hilariously bizarre point-and-click adventure computer game from LucasArts that followed an anthropomorphic dog and rabbity-thing through various capers in a film noir meets Saturday morning cartoon kind of way. Screenshot:

Now, Telltale Games has released two volumes of new “episodes” featuring the duo, rendered in 3-D that still holds mostly true to the 2-D style of the original. The first volume (Sam & Max Save the World) is available on PC, Nintendo Wii, and XBox 360 (via XBox Live Arcade). The second volume (Sam & Max Beyond Time & Space) is currently only available on PC but is coming to the other two platforms “soon.” Screenshot:

I believe Telltale Games can be credited for the resurrection of point-and-click adventures. Prior to the release of Sam & Max Save the World, gamers were completely without any interesting or worthwhile additions to the genre.

I’ve played through the entire first volume of this new Sam & Max series and found it to be about 95% accurate to what the original LucasArts games were all about. It was full of inane comedy that often makes no sense, crazy characters, and a bizarre array of inventory items that ultimately come in handy.

My only major gripe is that the dialogue trees don’t quite work how they’re supposed to. In past LucasArts games, players select the phrase that they want their character to say and the character says it. In Telltale’s version of this interaction, players select a phrase and then the character says something similar that has more or less the same meaning, but isn’t exactly the same phrase. While this can sometimes lead to added comedy from the surprise of not knowing what your character is going to say, it is often a letdown when what you selected isn’t actually said. It’s not a huge issue, but one worth noting.

The episodic format of the new Sam & Max games takes some getting used to. While there is somewhat of an ongoing plot between each episode, it is in the background behind the episode-specific plot that takes priority. It’s kind of like playing five short games instead of one long one.

And if you’re really a huge Sam & Max fan, you owe it to yourself to visit the Telltale Store where you’ll find a ton of Sam & Max goodies available for purchase, including the soundtracks to the new games, t-shirts, the original animated series on DVD (yes, there was one and yes, it’s funny), and more.

Aside from that, the new Sam & Max series is a welcome addition to the world of point-and-click adventures and a must-play for any fans of the old LucasArts games.

Have you played any of the Sam & Max games, new or old? Comment!

Next up in tomorrow’s post… Monkey Island™!

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