RETROSPECTIVE: Sam & Max Hit the Road

Thu, Mar 20, 2008

In the late 80's and early 90's, LucasArts was a bastion of creative gaming thought amid an ocean of mediocrity. Perhaps I'm overstating the point given that plenty of wonderful games were produced other studios during those years, but a certain amount of idealization of LucasArts of that era is well-deserved. At its inception, LucasArts did not even tap into Star Wars, the greatest franchise at its disposal. Instead, the company created entirely new characters and games primarily in the adventure game genre. Although Sierra certainly did its part with the Kings Quest series, LucasArts lent its own particular flair to the genre from the outset with Maniac Mansion.

The point-and-click adventure game has largely fallen by the wayside as a major game genre, but in the early 90's it was pure gaming gold. With the creation of Maniac Mansion and the SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) language, adventure gaming entered a golden age. As the primary game designer for Maniac Mansion, Ron Gilbert pushed adventure games to have a more rigid interface with user interaction in the game governed by set verbs rather than the previous text-based system which inevitably led to the player being eaten by a grue. Armed with SCUMM, games like Secret of Monkey Island and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure poured out of LucasArts, and all of them are fantastic games worth any gamers time, but I'm going to focus on one of my favorites: Sam & Max Hit the Road (1993).

In the product cycle of LucasArts, Sam & Max emerged as a new intellectual property after the company had produced two Monkey Island games and had just refreshed Maniac Mansion with Day of the Tentacle. The characters were based on the comics of Steve Purcell, a LucasArts employee. The set-up, as with many great games, is rather straightforward: you control a dog detective with a homicidal lagomorph companion as you investigate the disappearance of a big foot from a circus freak show.

As alien as I may make that sound, one compelling aspect of the game is that its humor arises not simply from wacky hijinx but also from a knowledge of detective noir in both film and literature. In order to properly satirize the genre, one cannot simply impart a sense of ironic distance to the protagonists because such distance is intrinsic to the genre. When the viewer watches Humphrey Bogart tracking down leads in The Big Sleep, he is completely in command of every situation with a sarcastic or flip remark in his arsenal to turn each conversation to his advantage.

You find that same wry grin and winking eye in every single novel by Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammet, so Steve Purcell had to go to extreme lengths to establish an effective parody. Humanoids are out, so our protagonists are mammals of unknown origin. The other characters in the game take the existence of these creatures for granted, and Sam and Max are frequently presented as being on a level above all of those around them. Well, Sam is, at least. That characteristic of detectives is still in place.

As for ironic distance, Sam and Max are not only aware of the detective genre, they are aware of the medium:

Max: He's not a real guy, Sam! Can I keep his head for a souvenir? Why do you suppose its ticking?
Sam: That's no head, Max! It's one damned ugly timebomb! Let's leave this criminal cesspool pronto!
Max: Good idea, Sam. Maybe we can ditch the head somewhere while the credits are running. Mind if I drive?
Sam: Not if you don't mind me clawing at the dash and shrieking like a cheerleader.
Max: Sam, is "pronto" a real word?

They know that they are characters in a video game even though they only acknowledge it intermittently, and they use that awareness to humorous effect. With his slouching posture, fedora, and trench coat is the very image of a dog shamus, but he subverts the stereotypes of noir. He is a dog, after all.

This is a game where it really isn't about the goal. Certainly all of the adventure puzzle elements are there, but solving each puzzle is a lesson in hare-brained humor. The player keeps clicking to hear more from these incredibly hilarious characters. As I played through the game, I rarely tried to solve the given puzzle of an area until I had tried to See/Touch/Take/Talk to everything in the room. As an example, one of the set pieces involves Sam and Max visiting the world's largest ball of twine, and upon arrival, Sam and Max exchange witticisms:

Sam: The words "big" and "large" only begin to describe this thing.
Max: I think "stupid" and "inane" would be useful additions.
Sam: Not to mention "grotesque."

And that's fantastic, but what's great is that many players will insist on Look(ing) at the ball of twine that they have already been introduced to, which elicits a throwaway line:

Sam: I haven't seen that much twine since that night in Tokyo in '68.

Every bizarre environment is filled with these nuggets, and it's a testament to the greatness of this game that players seek out each piece of dialogue for more mad-capped wit. Much of the humor is violent (in a cartoonish way), but it really runs the gamut. Look at this wonderful play on words:

Sam: I don't have anyone to call.
Max: Call me, call me!
Sam: You'd have to get cellular.
Max: I'm pixular! It's better than cellular!
Sam: That was bad, Max. Really bad.
Max: Hey, who cares? I'M CUTE!

In all their violent glory, Sam and Max are cute. They're adorable and friendly. In short, they're exactly the sort of characters to build a franchise on.

Unfortunately, for over a decade after the release of this wonderful game, there were many attempts at a sequel, but no success. On the plus side, for all of us Sam and Max fans, Telltale Games is now releasing Sam & Max games in an episodic format. The success of the first "season" of the game has lead to season two. I haven't yet played the games, seeing as how I was on a Mac for a long time, but now that I've upgraded to an Intel Mac, I think it's time to test these games out with a fresh Windows installation.

I can't yet vouch for the new installations in the Sam & Max oeuvre, but I can say that any fan of adventure games, detective movies, or zany hijinx absolutely must give Sam & Max Hit the Road a try.