Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Review: Another Comedic Triumph (PS4)

Ever since my Xbox 360 days, I’ve been curious about the crimestopping duo of Sam & Max. My interest in them increased with their roles in the Poker Night games but unfortunately, I never did take the initiative to give them a go. Now it’s 2024 and the final game in the Telltale trilogy is getting a remaster, making it the perfect time to give these Telltale legends a shot. We’re now onto the second part of Sam & Max’s adventures, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space.

Like the first game, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space is a point-and-click adventure game originally developed by Telltale in 2007 – 2008 and then remastered by Skunkape Games in 2021. This time only consisting of five episodic adventures, Sam & Max go on a journey through you guessed it, time and space. There are new and old faces that you’ll interact with through different cases involving a trip to the North Pole, a tropical island, and preventing a zombie uprising. Like before, this will be my first playthrough into this series, will this game be any good or was it a waste to remaster? Find out down below in our review for Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space. 

Interested in the other reviews in the trilogy? Have a gander down below:

Sam & Max Save the World Review: A Hypnotic Good Time (PS4)

Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space is available on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One for $19.99. 

Story – A Season Full of Sci-Fi & Supernatural Shenanigans 

Welcome back to the zany world of Sam & Max where almost anything can happen. This time around the freelance police will be delving into new ventures across time and space. Set a year after the events of Save The World, a new string of events occurs, plunging the freelance police into a new adventure. This five-episode season involves the duo travelling to the North Pole to save Santa, preventing an island-destroying prophecy, and travelling through time after getting abducted by aliens. 

I quite enjoyed the different setups for each episode alongside how unique each one was. Unlike Save The World, each episode didn’t feel repetitive and kept me on the edge of my seat. Though there were some downsides, certain twists felt too out of nowhere with no set-up. The overall villain twist felt similar with no proper build-up, unlike the first game’s villain where it felt more like a twist the player could figure out. Luckily, it doesn’t distract you from all the wacky hijinks that ensue across each episode. Beyond Time and Space feels like a step up, continuing stories like Sybil and Lincoln’s romance and Bosco’s conspiracy obsessions. It’s all fun and games and I love every second of it. 

Characters & Dialogue – Quirkier Than Ever 

The second season introduces a new cast of characters for players to meet, each with their own flavour of zany comedy. Like in the first game, each episode contains unique characters solely for that episode with a few getting multiple appearances. Unlike the first game, a lot of the new characters don’t hit as hard but that doesn’t mean they’re bad. Standout characters were Flint Paper, a private eye next door, Timmy Two-Teeth, a rat with Tourette syndrome, and the giant singing robot The Maimtron 9000. Sadly the other new characters weren’t up to par with these three, providing the only humorous moments in the game. 

Luckily almost all the returning characters were a smash hit with more fantastic dialogue. We had the return of Bosco, Jimmy Two Teeth, Superball, Sybil, Lincoln, and more. I was very happy to see the return of Superball who has become my favourite side character. He’s as protective as usual with his constant changing of allegiance to whose door he’ll be guarding. I found it interesting that both Bosco and Sybil had somewhat smaller parts than their time in the first game. Luckily Bosco was still entertaining me with his wild conspiracies that definitely don’t have any connection to the main plot. Sadly Sybil did feel a bit toned down with her only appearing to discuss her relationship with Lincoln. 

Now regarding the dynamic duo themselves, they’re no different to how they were in the first game. Now saying that doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing since their personalities are the driving force of the narrative. If they suddenly started acting differently then the whole thing will fall apart. That said, we do gain new lore about the duo in the form of their younger and older selves. We see how the duo’s dynamic grew from young children and how they’ll possibly be in the distant future. Regardless, their dialogue is still top notch and thankfully this time it didn’t feel as gimmicky as in the first game. 

Gameplay – Continuing the Same Formula

Like I said in the Save The World review if you’ve played any Telltale game then you’ll know it’s mainly a point-and-click adventure. Beyond Time and Space is no different, having you take control of Sam and guide him through each area looking for clues. You’ll pick up items that will have some use to solve a puzzle or unlock unique dialogue. Each episode will take place within three or four areas, offering characters to talk to and lots of things to click on. One aspect of the gameplay that does shift is when there’s a minigame available. Most involved driving the Desoto (Sam & Max’s car) in virtual reality games made by the C.O.P.S. gang. Others were unique one-off games that would assist in gaining items for puzzles. 

Speaking of puzzles, Sam & Max games seem to like making me feel brain-dead. Unlike the first game where I was able to get through most episode’s puzzles, Beyond Time and Space really stepped up the level of difficulty at times. Luckily, the developers learnt that most people were having trouble and have implemented a setting that chooses how often Max gives you hints. This came in handy since there were numerous occasions where I’d leave an area and Max would then comment saying I should go back. This mechanic helped me and probably everyone else who got stuck with some of the more unthinkable puzzle solutions. 

Graphics & Audio – Exploring A Living Cartoon

Discussing the look of Beyond Time and Space is pretty much similar to what I said regarding Save The World. Both games look similar with the only difference being what areas you’ll be exploring. It truly does feel like each episode is unique with each area offering a different overall atmosphere. The remaster upgrades most parts of the game, with enhanced visuals, re-recorded music and dialogue and quality-of-life improvements. 

Regarding audio, everyone sounds great and the themes we get match the cartoony wackiness of each episode. We also got the return of the random musical number in Episode Four which I do wish was as good as Save The World’s number but it’s still an amusing tune. One thing I really liked was the new intro that would play in each episode. It’s stylised similarly to old movie intros alongside the usual black and orange colour palette. Though it gets better, it’s an interactive intro where you can shoot at Sam & Max. I honestly don’t recall any other games I’ve played with such a feature so this was a really cool discovery when I got to the second episode. 

Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space was reviewed on PS4 with a review code from Skunkapegames.