Genre: Graphic adventure
Year: 1993
Developed by: LucasArts
Published by: LucasArts
Platforms: PC, Mac
#170
Feeling Like: Shuv it, Shuv-ool
This might be a tricky one to recommend, or justify. You can’t just zip your brain to mid 90s, where comedy in games was still an emerging idea in an industry that was still emerging. Voice acting required a CD-Drive, which many PCs still didn’t come with. So much hinged on the writing and atmosphere that the gameplay is basically an afterthought.
Much like The Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle, I was entranced by the bizarre antics the engaging characters got up to. Each screen seemed to be drowning in amusing details, or worthwhile conversations with the surly, surprised, salacious, or seedy. Since Sam and Max are game for anything and react to even the most insane circumstances with dry witticisms, they never feel out of place. The mix of debauchery and cute looking animals is a wonderful mix – weirdness and adventure around every corner.
Certain names and locations stand out more than others. Until recapping on Youtube, I didn’t even remember the main villain (Conroy Bumpus) or the ending where giant trees completely crush the majority of civilization in America. I recall Bruno, frozen sasquatch, but not his love interest (Trixie) or the reasoning behind his disappearance.
I can’t even tell you why this is higher than Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle , I just know I enjoyed it a little bit more. I think it was the puzzles; naturally some were very obtuse, but I played the game so much that once I memorized every solution, I was perfectly content to speed run the entire thing just to hear Sam’s dragnet-esque, monotone comments or see Max’s psychotic, violent solutions to obstacles. It was like re-watching a movie I loved, over and over.
But overall, the jokes work. Seemingly every character has a banger of a line, and their visual designs are as unique as the game itself. Bungee jumping out of the president’s noses at Mount Rushmore so they look like giant boogers is pretty clever too, loved that bit. The carnival is a perfect first zone. Hitting golf balls to get Gators to make a path was one of my favorite puzzles. As I paraded through each tourist trap, my enjoyment grew.
Still, it’s hard to say just why Sam and Max Hit the Road is this high on the 500. It could be this was one of the first games I could actually run properly on our home PC, and certainly one of the first games I played with a CD. Voice acting completely blew my mind, it really did feel like a paradigm shift. There’s something to be said for doing your own voices with your cousin, but it can’t beat the real thing.
Some of the item interactions completely stumped me, and the Mystery Vortex is on par with the Water Temple from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as one of my least favorite areas in gaming. But here it is – this weird, funny relic from a time when LucasArts could do no wrong in the point and click adventure game. Seemingly every year, we’d get something from them starring Indiana Jones, or a pirate named Guybrush, or featuring Tentacles, or another Star wars game. When it came to early to mid 90s PC game, when I saw this logo, I knew I was going to enjoy it.
The 500 