Sam & Max Hit the Wii, Wii Files Restraining Order

Sweet Mary on a skateboard bound for the Land of the Giants, Sam & Max are on the Nintendo Wii! This was a pleasant surprise, especially since the last time I saw Sam & Max was in the late 20th century. Although I was aware of their recent escapades, I never took the opportunity to follow their latest adventures on the PC (mostly because my PC sucks). But thanks to Nintendo, I’ve got justice’s deviant duo of destruction back in my life, via Sam & Max: Season One. I just wish the game had fewer quirks.

"Not the nunchuck I was expecting, but I can work with this."

If you’ve ever experienced Sam & Max, you know what to expect; but if you haven’t, then prepare for hilarious, nonsensical humor that borders on the nihilistic and demented. The series features Sam, best described as Scruff McGruff fused with Humphrey Bogart and minus a few hundred IQ points, and his sidekick Max, a psychotic little white bunny with an appetite for mayhem, destruction, and violence. These two, along with several supporting characters (including a giant Abraham Lincoln, creepy teddy bear-headed mafioso, and the internet), provide gut-busting lines, physical comedy, and an all around entertaining experience.

Unfortunately, the good points stop there. Being basically a point-and-click adventure, there is no real “gameplay” so much as there is wacky puzzle solving that is sometimes frustrating and back-and-forth. While the Wiimote seems an ideal substitute for a computer mouse, I found it more difficult to work with. Frankly, the mouse would have been easier.

The game, or at least my copy, also suffers from abrupt cut-offs during dialogue and the occasional bad camera angles. I found myself looking more at the back of Max’s head during the snappy dialogue between him and Sam as the punchline cut off. But this was nothing compared to the frozen screen and hum of confusion my Wii experienced a few times while I was playing the game.

At a little over $30, roughly $5 per story/case, it’s hilarious entertainment at a pretty good price. Sadly, the replay value on a game like this is very low. But it is Sam & Max, and thus well worth playing, if you don’t have access to the PC version.

4 out of 5 Gs

Buy it if you want to, rent it if you can; either way I highly recommend this game if you haven’t already played it on the PC and you have a Wii. Also, check out Telltale Games’ Sam & Max online comic strip.