The Freelance Police are back on the case once again in a remastered version of Sam & Max Save The World, which you may remember as Sam & Max Season One from back when Telltale Games released it in 2006. Some former Telltalers got back together to shine up their old work, which you can now get your mitts on in today’s release.
If you’re not already familiar with Telltale Games or with the Freelance Police, here’s the lowdown. Those two up there are the dog and rabbity thing known as Sam and Max, the Freelance Police who solve silly crime hijinx in a comic series created by Steve Purcell. Save The World is a puzzle-y point and click ’em up in the vein of a classic adventure game with the episodic format that Telltale were known for before being shut down in 2018. This remaster has been put together by some former Telltale developers who’ve reorganized under the new studio Skunkape Games.
When they first announced the remaster last month, Skunkape explained that they hadn’t originally planned to do an entire remastered version. “Initially we only planned to patch Sam & Max Season One on PC, so it would work better on today’s computers,” they said. “But as we got into it, we realized there was a lot more we wanted to do—some things we can do now thanks to better tech, and others we didn’t do back then because we didn’t know how.”
They’ve added dynamic lighting and also remastered all the audio by using the source files from the original release. They’ve also tweaked character models in the game based on feedback from Purcell. The game also now supports 16:9 displays instead of ye olde 4:3 from the original.
“A new user interface and opening credits sequence make the game feel like one cohesive whole rather than six separate episodes,” Skunkape say. “Some key scenes have been punched up with new acting and camerawork, and we created a couple of new exterior locations for establishing shots. Composer Jared Emerson-Johnson even wrote five new jazz tracks performed by some of the original musicians.”
You can find Sam & Max Save The World over on Steam and GOG for £15.49/€16.79/$19.99. You can also upgrade to the remastered version for 50% off if you already own Sam & Max Season One on GOG, Steam, or the Telltale Store, which Skunkape explain how to redeem on their site. There’s a Nintendo Switch version as well for you console-havers.