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Punch your time cards and hop into the nearest elevator, because it's time to travel back to 2007 (or maybe 2008) and play some old video games!
Here’s our long-overdue post announcing that the original Sam & Max Season Two episodes are now available as free DLC!
After you download the DLC, the next time you start Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space you’ll see a launcher like this:
From here, you can play the remaster, jump to any of the original episodes, or press the tantalizing Bonus Features button. The bonus features are video extras that accompanied the episodes’ original launch and were included on the Sam & Max Season Two DVD that Telltale offered back in 2008. (For now the button just leads to a YouTube page, but an entire website is being built very slowly.)
And remember, if you already own the originals on Steam you can still access them from your Steam Library, even though the episodes have been removed from individual sale. These have been updated with full Steam Library art assets, so the next time you take a look at your old favorites, they should look a lot more complete.
What about tech support? A main reason we created the new version of Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space, rather than just updating the original episodes, is that more than a decade of technological evolution made patching those old versions nigh impossible. At this point, the 2007/2008 originals are relics from that specific period of time and we can’t update them or provide technical support. If you need help getting the original episodes to run, check out the troubleshooting guide.
Original Sam & Max Season Two vs. Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Remastered: Can you spot the differences?
If this post were a
Highlights magazine, we would show you two pictures and ask you to pick out everything that’s changed.
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Instead, we’re going to list it all out for you… well, most of it.
Though the game's been out quite a while at this point, and most of you have probably figured out what's been updated since the original (or got the broad strokes in our very first post about Beyond Time and Space Remastered), we promised you we'd write way too much about it anyway, so here we are! Working on this game was a labor of love for everyone involved, and we're more than happy to just keep talking about it forever; we don't mind!
The following list doesn’t account for every little thing that’s been updated, in some cases because the updates aren’t that exciting and in others because we can’t remember it all. But we’ve tried to collect the biggest and most interesting differences between the two game versions here, and also to pull back the curtain to give a glimpse into why we did what we did. That said, if you have a question about a little detail you’ve noticed and are wondering why we did it, let us know and we’ll do our best to answer. You may have even spotted a bug, in which case we’ll be grateful to hear about it!
Also, Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space has all the same quality of life improvements as our first remaster, Sam & Max Save the World… stuff like reprogramming the game in a new engine based on the latest version of the Telltale Tool, collecting all five episodes into one game with a unified menu, and adding controller support. We’re not going to rehash all of those global changes here, but you can check out this Sam & Max Save the World post to learn more.
Now, without further ado…
The Big Stuff
Sam & Max Season Two, as Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space was originally named, was made in 2007–2008 to run on 2007–2008 technology. For context: Windows computers were still using Vista, widescreen displays were just coming into fashion, and about 25% of Americans were still using dial-up internet.
Not surprisingly, our primary goal in remastering Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space was to make it look and feel right at home on today's technology, and the biggest updates are in service of that goal:
- We re-lit the game from the ground up. The remaster has beautiful dynamic lighting, shadows, and ambiance that pull a fourteen-year-old game into the future.
- Every environment and every character are higher resolution, allowing for added detail and smoother animation. The episode breakdowns talk more about this for specific episodes, but Flint Paper is one example. In his case, we followed Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell’s guidance to make him look more like he does in the comics.
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- The audio quality is improved across the board, and there’s a ton of new music. The original Sam & Max episodes were compressed like crazy to keep download sizes small for dial-up users. That’s no longer necessary, so we went back to the original source files to remaster all of the audio. We rerecorded Bosco with voice actor Ogie Banks for reasons that are explained here, but no lines were rewritten. You’ll also find eight new tracks in Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space, as well as embellishments made to existing tracks. The episode breakdowns have more details.
- We added new accessibility options. The driving, boxing, and surfing mini-games can now be skipped, thanks to a toggle in the brand new accessibility menu. Flashing lights and other photosensitive effects can also be turned off here.
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- DeSoto decals are easier to collect. Speaking of driving, another big update is the ability to go back to previous episodes and get the car decals you missed. These will carry forward into future episodes without having to replay. Check out the decal poster next to the DeSoto to see which decals you still need to get.
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What’s changed in individual episodes?
This is a slightly more detailed breakdown of what’s been changed in each episode. If you don’t want to be spoiled, tread lightly!
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Episode 1: Ice Station Santa
- The hole in the back wall of Sam & Max’s office is much, much larger. While it would be fun to just claim we wanted everything to be bigger and bolder in the remaster, including the size of holes in walls, there's a reason behind this. (Actually, there are two!)
One, we wanted to better highlight Flint Paper. Flint becomes a major character over the course of the season, but in the original release of Ice Station Santa, there was really only room in the budget to show Flint through a tiny hole in the wall, with no other detail. In the remaster, you can get a look at his whole office (based on its appearance in the comics), along with the goons he’s been pummeling.
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And two, now that the hole is huge, we can shoot Sam and Max’s office through it. This gives Beyond Time and Space’s version of the office its own unique look.
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- The Maimtron attack has new music. In the original release, when the Maimtron attacked, it was scored with an edit of the opening credits theme. We worked with series composer Jared Emerson-Johnson to create a new track just for this scene. Called “Maintron 9000’s Pancake Breakfast” on the Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space soundtrack, it plays whenever the Maimtron is smashing the building. (If you miss the old track, don’t worry! The game transitions to it whenever the Maimtron is pondering one of life’s great questions.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9ERC0kNFcU
- The street looks and sounds a bit different. We added more rubble and the tunnel from Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse, and the time of day has shifted to kick off the season at sunrise (it was midday in the original). Once the robot's done beating everything up, the Street gets a brand new piece of music, called "City Streets Saunter" on the soundtrack. We figured six episodes of the original Street track was enough, and Season Two could use a tune of its own. This way each season has its own take on the Street theme!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9ERC0kNFcU
(Note: This track is great and guaranteed to put you in a very Sam & Max mood, and we recommend you leave it playing while reading the rest of the update.)
- The North Pole is much moodier. Watch out for the barbed wire, the working searchlight from the candy cane watchtower, and the new short opening cutscene that shows Sam and Max’s nighttime drive through the snow to get there. Yes, you heard that right: it’s snowing at the North Pole! In the original 2007 release, the game’s engine had no particle system, so effects like snow were very difficult to do convincingly. Now we have particles, and as a result we have lots and lots of fluffy snow falling from the sky. The passage of time in the episode is marked by the moon rising over Santa’s Workshop in the second act.
- We heavily reworked the inside of Santa’s Workshop. The original version of the workshop was built quickly by an outsourcing studio, and never delivered on the intended vibe of “cozy… but a little creepy, actually,” and we’ve gone in and added a lot of new art to try and get it there. The room was also built far huger than it needed to be, and we filled the empty space with a decorative second floor loft filled with abandoned elf workstations, and a huge window to let moonlight in for the final showdown. A new cutscene that plays when Sam & Max enter the workshop for the first time shows off some of the new decor. Keep an eye out for the Bop Buddy, who was a staple of the early Telltale office until someone punched him too hard (RIP), and the plate of waffles, because everything is better with waffles.
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- Boxing is more stylish (and less annoying). We added a new intro cutscene when Boxing Betty enters the ring and spruced up the rats watching from the stands. More importantly, we updated the UI and controls so the controls are better aligned between keyboard and gamepad, and the UI is more out of the way. This mini-game can now be skipped if you toggle that option on in the accessibility menu.
- Stinky’s got a facelift. We added the center tables from Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse, upgraded the jukebox, and reworked the trivia board so it actually shows the trivia questions, even when you’re just walking around the scene. (There’s also a second trivia board, which be seen from the scene’s new camera angle.) Additionally, you can now see the street through the window, including the DeSoto and whatever upgrades and decals you might have found.
- Christmas Past has new music. Attentive players will notice a holiday-infused version of the Leonard interrogation music from episode 3 of the Sam & Max Save the World remaster. The new track is called “Jingle Mama” on the soundtrack. Christmas Past has a longer opening cutscene now, too, so keep an eye out for that.
- Christmas Future looks more like Hell. When Ice Station Santa was made, we knew Christmas Future would be a scene out of the finale. Hell hadn’t yet been designed or modeled, though, so the Christmas Future we came up with at the time was a lot less detailed than the sequence that eventually played out in What’s New, Beelzebub? We’ve rectified this in the remaster, including swapping future Sam and Max’s positions to be consistent with the later scene.
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- A bunch of character models have been updated. The elves' heads have been remodeled, and their outfits updated to look more like the Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse elves. The Shambling Corporate Presence now has twice as many arms. The Soda Poppers have subtle changes to their long underwear. And the Maimtron was updated to match its appearance in The Devil’s Playhouse. Not exactly a model update, but along the same lines, the Christmas spirits and the rest of the ghosts and wandering souls across the season are now translucent, and cast light into the world as they move around.
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Episode 2: Moai Better Blues
- The Bermuda Triangle has new music and effects. Like the Maimtron attack in Ice Station Santa, the opening Bermuda Triangle chase scene was originally scored with a reuse of the opening credits track. Now it’s got music all its own, including a keyboard solo emitting from the Triangle itself. Look for “Bermuda Boogie” on the soundtrack to hear it yourself. The Bermuda Triangle now also emits a bright triangular light, bringing it in line with the real Bermuda Triangle.
- The street is gloomy. We’re always looking for ways to change up the locations that appear again and again, and in this episode we did so by making the street gray and overcast. This provides a good contrast to the lush, tropical Easter Island environment.
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- Easter Island is a little more kitschy. The biggest change is a new piece of music, “Easter Exotica,” that adds a little cheesy flair to the place. (The original music for this scene isn’t gone though—it can still be heard when you converse with characters in the scene, and during the finale.) The Secret Hidden Underground Cave sign has been redone to look more like the sort of tourist trap advertising found in Sam & Max’s other adventures. Other Easter Island updates include grass, sand, water effects, and an exit sign to make leaving the Tiki Bar area easier.
- Kid Sam & Max are cuter. Steve Purcell gave feedback on their character models, which we followed to make them look closer to the comics. We also updated one of Kid Sam’s shirts (not the one shown below) to use a drawing by Steve Purcell. By the way, if you’re thinking, “Wait, what do they mean *one* of Kid Sam’s shirts?!” then there’s an Easter egg you haven’t noticed yet! This is not new, but we made it easier to find in the remaster.
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- The gong in Stinky’s Diner is no longer gold by default. This caused a lot of confusion in one of the game’s late puzzles, where the color of gongs and triangles is important. The puzzle solution itself hasn’t changed, but we did tweak the hints around this puzzle, again because it often confused the heck out of people.
- Baby Lindbergh has hair. He had hair built for his original character model, but for some reason we can’t remember, it never shipped. We have returned it to him, to give him something gloat about around the other babies. This is a crucial update we know many fans have been waiting for, and we’re happy to have delivered on it.
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- The chimps come in more colors now. Before they were all exactly the same. Now they’re each a little bit different. Thank you to the thousands who wrote in and signed petitions over the last decade demanding this change.
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Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead
- Jurgen is marginally cooler. His character model has been updated to include the long nails and the nipple ring car keys that Steve Purcell drew in the original concept art back in 2008, and actual smoke comes out of his garlic clove cigarettes. Also, check out his lair for a Devil’s Playhouse Easter egg.
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- Sam & Max’s street is littered with more zombies than ever before, and has music to match. A new zombified version of “City Streets Saunter,” called “Fright & Harrow,” plays on the street during the zombie attack and ratchets up in intensity when Sam and Max become zombies themselves.
- It’s raining in Stuttgart. Actually, that was always the case, but we did update the ground to make it look wet. Also, the trash can outside the Zombie Factory is now easier to identify as a trash can, thanks to a newly added sign. You're welcome.
- The Zombie Factory is a totally happening place! The disco ball, smoke machine, and strobe lights add to the ravey-feel (but if you’re sensitive to these types of effects, you can turn them off in the accessibility menu). The upgraded DJ booth can play five unique remixes of the club theme, four of them brand new to this remaster, versus in the original game where only the underlying drum loop changed from mix to mix. These changes seem to have paid off, because while Jurgen’s “army” continues to be pathetic and the club is by no means full, if you look around the edges you’ll see more zombies passed out on the couches or trying to enjoy a drink in peace at one of the outer tables.
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- The camera angles in the shootout with Jesse James’ hand have been updated. Players have been long-confused by the way Jesse James’ hand moves, which is unfortunate since the movement of his hand is critical to the puzzle. We’ve tweaked the camera angles to make it more clear how his hand changes position during the shootout.
- Sybil’s and the TV studio received cosmetic tweaks. Sybil’s window shades are open, she’s received more presents and flowers from her suitors, and the Dating Game cards have been spruced up. The TV studio was updated in line with updates we made to it in Sam & Max Save the World.
- Two Walking Dead Easter eggs are hidden in the game. You know, that other zombie game Telltale made? The Skunkape team worked on that too, and we would have been fools to remaster an episode about zombies without giving it a nod.
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Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs
- Boscow looks better. The most notable update is the addition of a nose ring, but the way his head connects to the cow torso was updated as well. Moo.
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- There’s new music to be found… in the past! In the original game, when you traveled to Stinky’s in the 1980s or Sam & Max’s office in the far future you were treated to new music appropriate for that era, but traveling to Bosco’s or the Oval Office in the 1960s gave you warmed-over tracks reused from the first season. Not anymore! Now Sam & Max’s visit to the Kennedy White House features a swingin’ sixties version of the Oval Office theme (“Camelot a Go-Go”), and retro Bosco’s has a low-key Motown tune with just a hint of the classic Bosco’s melody laced in (“Mama B’s”).
- The Oval Office has blue sky outside the windows. Less pollution in the sixties, y’know. (This probably isn’t true, but we aren’t scientists.)
- When you stop time, it really stops! Sam can stick his fingers into the literal inner workings of time and make everything freeze for a few seconds. In the original release, this played a sound effect and that was it. Now, just because we can, the music will slow down and stop from wherever it was playing, as if Sam slowly pressed down on a record player in the middle of a song (ask your parents). The time-stopping finale also has a brand new piece of music, to add a little more tension and underscore that the clock is ticking. Look for “Secuencia de Autodestruccion” on the soundtrack.
- We’ve hidden Easter eggs galore. Bosco’s bunker (both past and present) and the far future office are full of them. Happy hunting.
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Episode 5: What’s New, Beelzebub?
- Hell, LLC now looks more like the Telltale Games office. Haha, we’re kidding… or are we? Either way, you can now walk around the whole Hell office, so take a productivity break and judge for yourself. (But don’t let Satan catch you. You’re on the clock!)
- Visual and continuity tweaks were made to various Hell dioramas. Peepers is no longer referred to as Max. The Toy Mafia is no longer associated with this version of the factory. The addition of toxic smoke to the action figure package makes that puzzle a little more intuitive. The cooking show background, camera, and chairs have been spruced up. And there are no waffles in Santa’s Workshop… because this is Hell.
- Satan, Momma Bosco, and the subway station now look like their Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse counterparts. In a sense, these assets were remastered for The Devil’s Playhouse, so we used the refinements already made as a jumping off point for their appearance in Beyond Time and Space. Also, since Momma Bosco and the subway station are prominent in the first episode of The Devil’s Playhouse, their consistency across games will now provide continuity between the two seasons.
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- You can catch Harry Moleman—sorry, we mean Death—doing some filing. Jimmy Two-Teeth’s file was easily missed, so we added a cutscene to help call attention to it. We also added logos to the files that are lying near Timmy at Pimp Le Car, so his folder is more clearly meant for the afterlife and not an unrelated prop.
- When Hell freezes over, it snows! Adding snow to the North Pole in Ice Station Santa gave us the excuse to reuse it here, making the closing scene a lot more exciting.
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- Jurgen was uninvited to Sybil and Abe’s wedding. A lot of debate went into this one. The fact is, he’s a vampire, and he wouldn’t be out in the sunlight. Sure, everyone loves a wedding, but Jurgen’s not the type of guy who would risk his reanimated booty to dance the Electric Slide.
- Peepers’ eyes fall out and float away in a river of hot lava. Oh, actually this has always been in the game, for some reason. Okay then.
That’s it, you made it to the bottom!
Thanks for reading all of this. Now you know way more than anyone has ever wanted to know about what’s changed in a remaster of a fourteen-year-old point & click adventure game about two animal detectives.
If you really, really like reading lists of changes to video games, we refuse to kink shame and will actually go so far as to further enable your weird-ass behavior. Since the game’s initial release in December, we’ve put out a few updates to Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space, and they have patch notes! If you want to see the things we’ve fixed since the game first shipped, take a look at the Beyond Time and Space patch notes page.
