Sam and Max Beyond Time and Space XBLA Review

This is the second season of Telltales episodic adventure game series starring Sam & Max. I've already reviewed the first here so if you're looking for a more in depth background to the series and my thoughts on adventure games I'd recommend you take a look at it. I'm not going to cover much of the basics in here as I have done so already, and while more polished the second is pretty much just more of the first.

Overview
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space picks up after Save the World finished. While the main gameplay remains the same Telltale have added some entertaining mini games on the side. Sam & Max are no different than before and still approach everything with mischief, malaise or flat out violence. The story is a lot more interesting this time around I found, with the cases increasing in their wacky nature along with the environments you visit while also incorporating time travel throughout the episodes that pays off nicely in the end.

Rational
The main gameplay may be the same but Telltale have spiced up the presentation, where in the first game it felt like they were purposely limiting the new areas in the story due to some time or budget constraint, this time it feels like they had the opportunity to increase production of these assets in each episode. Plenty of new areas combined with what felt like less returning to areas you've seen before resulted in less boredom creeping over me and more of a drive to play through and finish this game in nearly one sitting.

The diner is open for business

All your favourite characters return and feel like they're used properly. A couple of new characters are thrown into the mix and everyone feels at home. This time there's a bunch of mostly optional car "upgrades" that do nothing, but require you to complete a mostly entertaining driving mini game to be rewarded with stickers and other goodies for your Freelance Police vehicle. These come with you across episodes and by the end if you've done everything your car is nicely pimped. It doesn't really add much to the game but it's a welcome distraction and the driving mini game changes every time.

The last thing I would like to touch on is the story, while the first seasons stories all came together it never felt like a plot twist or like it was leading up to a big reveal, each episode was self contained and never referenced any other. It seemed like they just grabbed characters and smooshed them together in the last episode without much pre-thought or planning. This time it felt Telltale had pre-planned the whole season, the story felt like it was leading somewhere every time and the pay off at the end felt like they had worked towards it the whole season. It was earned instead of manufactured last minute as it felt in Save the World.

Summary
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space is a better game than the Save the World, however to get the most out of it I think you should play the Save the World first. Save the World is referenced throughout Beyond Time and Space, but if you're only going to play one Sam & Max game it isn't required. Time and Space is an obvious iteration on the previous game, but it has been improved in every way and remains an enjoyable point and click adventure game.

You'll spend more time with your car this time around