| Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Telltale Games[a] |
| Publishers |
|
| Designer | Dave Grossman |
| Programmer | Randy Tudor |
| Artist | David Bogan |
| Writers |
|
| Composer | Jared Emerson-Johnson |
| Series | Sam & Max |
| Engine | Telltale Tool |
| Platforms | |
| Release | Microsoft Windows 2007 – 2008
|
| Genre | Graphic adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, originally released asSam & Max: Season Two, is anepisodicgraphic adventure video game byTelltale Games based on theSam & Max comic book series created bySteve Purcell. It is a sequel to Telltale's previousSam & Max game,Sam & Max Save the World, and was originally released as five episodes forMicrosoft Windows over the course of late 2007 and early 2008, before being ported to other platforms in the following years. Aremaster of the game by Skunkape Games was released in December 2021 for Windows,Nintendo Switch andXbox One, and in September 2022 forPlayStation 4.
Beyond Time and Space builds onSave the World with more dynamicNPCs, an updatedengine, a hint system, support forwidescreen monitors, more realistic animations, and more mini-games within each episode.Beyond Time and Space features a calibration assistant when first run, which allows the player to set their graphics and difficulty settings before playing.
A year after the events of the previous game, Freelance Police Sam and Max discover their pet goldfish Mr. Spatula has turned evil, but he is killed by a giant robot sent bySanta Claus. The two head to the North Pole and find Santa firing upon the elves with a machine gun. Suspecting Santa is possessed, Sam and Max conduct an exorcism, but discover the demon is possessing an elf instead. With help from the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, the demon is reduced to a plate ofJell-O, which Santa inadvertently eats and becomes possessed. Sam and Max knock Santa out, learning the demon was meant forSatan but sent to Santa due to a typo. They send Santa toHell and deliver all the Christmas presents in his place.
A month later, Sybil and Abe get sucked into a Bermuda Triangle portal. Sam and Max follow and arrive onEaster Island, populated by missing people turned to babies by theFountain of Youth, and are told by the localMoai that a prophecy states that a volcano will erupt and destroy them. In a nearby cave, they discover a group of aquaticOcean Chimps who worship the Moai's giant stone feet, and the ghost of Mr. Spatula has established himself as their High Priest, planning to use a machine to trigger an eruption. Sam convinces the Ocean Chimps that Max is the true High Priest, but Mr. Spatula sets off the eruption, only for Sam and Max to use a giant Bermuda Triangle to divert the lava. The two swim back to shore with Abe, who has broken up with Sybil, while the Moai are suddenly abducted.
Sometime later, the city is attacked byzombies from the Zombie Factory, a nightclub inStuttgart run by thevampire Jurgen. Using traditional vampire weaknesses to lower Jurgen's popularity and make him vulnerable, Sam and Max pursue Jurgen but get caught in a death-trap and killed. The two reawaken as zombies and find Jurgen sleeping in his coffin and their souls trapped waiting to be shipped off to Hell. They retrieve a Soul Mater device from Sybil, inadvertently convincing her to get back together with Abe, but accidentally end up in each other's bodies. The two force Jurgen into his own deathtrap, and his soul is abducted. As Sam and Max return to their bodies, their neighbor and fellow detective Flint Paper arrives to announce Bosco has gone missing.
The three break into Bosco's store to look for clues, but Sam and Max inadvertently signal aUFO, which abducts them. They find Bosco, who has turned into a cow after stumbling into a time-traveling elevator and inadvertently altering the events of his birth. Sam and Max use the elevator to travel through time and restore Bosco, and they discover the UFO is piloted by past, present and future versions of amariachi named Pedro, who travel through time in order to perform at everyone's birthday and collect souls for Hell to pay for their spaceship. Bosco is overwhelmed and dies of a heart attack, and the mariachis decide to use his soul to fill their quota. Sam and Max trick the mariachis into leaving so they can rescue Bosco's soul, but they accidentally send it to Hell and trigger the ship's self-destruct sequence. The two follow Bosco's soul through the portal, while the spaceship explodes just as it reaches the beginning of time, causing theBig Bang.
Sam and Max emerge in a subway station to Hell below their office. After gaining access to the train, they discover Hell to be an office environment employing their deceased enemies from past episodes. Satan ignores the two, but they interfere by freeing all their deceased friends' souls from their personal Hells. Sam demands that all these souls be released, and Satan agrees, but tricks Sam into taking their place. Max frees Sam, only to discover Satan is no longer in charge of Hell, which has been taken over by the Soda Poppers. The trio fire Satan and initiate a series of new evil plots, but Sam and Max thwart each of these and convince Satan to join them in retaking Hell. The Soda Poppers assume demonic forms and attempt to kill Sam & Max, but are tricked into using their own banishing ritual against themselves, trapping them in a fiery pit and allowing Satan to take back control. Everyone then leaves to attend Abe and Sybil's wedding. In apost-credits scene, the Soda Poppers swear revenge, only to be killed by the diverted lava flow from Easter Island.
| Episode | Release date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GameTap release | General release | |||
| "Ice Station Santa" | November 8, 2007 | November 9, 2007 | ||
| ||||
| "Moai Better Blues" | January 10, 2008 | January 11, 2008 | ||
| ||||
| "Night of the Raving Dead" | February 12, 2008 | February 13, 2008 | ||
| ||||
| "Chariots of the Dogs" | March 13, 2008 | March 14, 2008 | ||
| ||||
| "What's New, Beelzebub?" | April 10, 2008 | April 11, 2008 | ||
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UnlikeSave the World, whereGameTap users were able to access each episode two weeks before it was available through Telltale's website,Beyond Time and Space reduced this period down to one day.[1] The first episode, "Ice Station Santa", was released on November 8 on GameTap, followed by a worldwide release on November 9. The second episode was delayed until January 11, 2008. New episodes were thereafter released on the second Thursday and Friday of each month.[2]
As withSave the World in 2007,Beyond Time and Space was released onSteam on May 16, 2008.
Atari publishedSam & Max Beyond Time and Space worldwide for both Microsoft Windows (in 2009) and Wii (in 2010). The game also received fully localized releases in French and German, as well as Italian and Spanish subtitles for the foreign language versions ofBeyond Time and Space.[3]
Sam & Max Season One and Two were released forXbox Live Arcade in February 2009.[4] Telltale also officially named Season TwoBeyond Time and Space.[5]
Aremaster by Skunkape Games was released in December 2021 for Windows,Nintendo Switch, andXbox One, and in September 2022 forPlayStation 4. Like theSave the World remaster, it features new cinematics and music, improved character models and lighting, and some re-recorded dialogue.[6][7]
| Game | GameRankings | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Episode 1: Ice Station Santa | 82%[8] | 82[9] |
| Episode 2: Moai Better Blues | 81%[10] | 80[11] |
| Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead | 80%[12] | 79[13] |
| Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs | 85%[14] | 85[15] |
| Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? | 85%[16] | 85[17] |
Episode 1: Ice Station Santa received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 82% onGameRankings based on 32 reviews[8] and 82/100 onMetacritic based on 32 reviews.[9]
Episode 2: Moai Better Blues received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 81% onGameRankings based on 32 reviews[10] and 80/100 onMetacritic based on 30 reviews.[11]
Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 80% onGameRankings based on 28 reviews[12] and 79/100 onMetacritic based on 26 reviews.[13]
Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 85% onGameRankings based on 27 reviews[14] and 85/100 onMetacritic based on 23 reviews.[15]
Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? received positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 85% onGameRankings based on 22 reviews[16] and 85/100 onMetacritic based on 20 reviews.[17]