Sam & Max Hit the Road

Sam & Max Hit the Road is a two-dimensional adventure game in which a player controls a third-person character. Under the control of the player is an anthropomorphic dog named Sam, who must explore the playing space, select and use objects, solve puzzles, talk with characters. For control, the point-and-click method is used, and characters move through pre-drawn " cartoon " environments ^[1] . Game puzzles have logical solutions, but some of them are unnatural due to the cartoon setting . The player can change the operating mode of the game cursor to a specific one, to choose how Sam will interact with the environment - he can walk around the area, talk with other characters, look at objects, take or try to use them ^[2] . The appearance of the cursor changes when you hover over the active zone with which Sam can interact. During a conversation with other characters, the player can select topics for conversation from the by clicking on the icons at the bottom of the screen. In addition to specific topics related to the plot of the game, Sam can insert unrelated exclamations and questions into the conversation ^[2] .

The game has inventory for storing items. Items are collected by Sam during the passage of the game, and they can be used on other objects and characters in locations. Items can also be combined, from which new ones are obtained, with which you can solve any puzzle. In addition, the game element is also the Max rabbit, the "hyper-mobile rabbit-like monster" who walks around the game zones of his own free will. Sam can use it by switching the cursor to Max's head, and using it in the core. This is usually done in cases where the solution to the problem is violence ^[1] . Sam and Max travel to different places of the game on their 1960s black and white , when clicked, a map of the United States appears with all the places available. As the plot of the game advances, the number of places available on the map increases ^[1] . In addition to the main storyline, the game also contains several mini-games . At the same time, some of them - for example, - are mandatory for passing, and for victory they are given things that are needed for the plot of the game ^[2] . Like other LucasArts adventure games, Sam & Max Hit the Road is designed so that game characters cannot die or get stuck. ^[3]

Free cops Sam and Max play the role of private detectives and vigilantes , are comic book characters and created by artist Steve Purcell . The game is about an investigation into a case that forced the couple to leave their office in New York City across the United States. The game begins in the same way as comics, when Sam and Max receive a call from an unnamed Commissioner, who sends them to the nearest traveling circus ^{[G 1]} . At the circus, they learn from its owners that their main exhibit, a snowman frozen in a block of ice named Bruno, was released and fled, taking with him a girl named Trixi-Giraffe Neck ^{[G 2] [4]} . Sam and Max set off in search of Bruno and Trixie. When the duo explores the circus for evidence, they find out that Bruno and Trixie are in love and that Trixie freed Bruno ^[4] . Free police leave the circus and go in pursuit, which leads them to various in the United States.

The couple learns that Bruno has freed two other Bigfoot, which were also used as tourist attractions in other parts of the country. It also becomes known that Bruno himself was captured by Conroy Bumpus, the " Elvis-shaped " country singer from Liverpool, who wants him for his collection ^[4] . Sam and Max leave for Bampus' house and rescue Bruno and Trixie, however they then leave for a meeting of snowmen in a hotel in Nevada ^{[G 3]} . The duo follows them, and changes into bigfoot in order to get to the party. However, Conroy Bumpus and his servant Lee Harvey invade the party, who hope to catch the snow people. Sam manages to fool Bumpus and Harvey, persuade them to put on a disguise as a bigfoot, and Max closes them in the kitchen freezer ^{[G 4]} .

Chef Vanuatu, the head of the snow people, in gratitude makes free policemen honorary members of his tribe and tells those about the spell that can make the world safe for snow people and prevent them from being caught. However, the chef does not know what the four ingredients in the recipe mean, and asks for help from Sam and Max. They determine that the ingredients are a vegetable similar to John Muir , a tonic for hair growth, a dinosaur tooth, and a storm enclosed in a snowball . Combined with a sacrifice replaced with frozen Bampus and Harvey, the ingredients release a spell that causes dense forests to cover the entire western United States. Deciding that their work is completed ^{[G 5]} , Sam and Max return to the traveling circus, and take with them a block of ice with frozen Bampus and Harvey. Having decided that Bruno was returned to them, the owners of the circus pay with free police tickets for attractions, and they eventually spend time shooting targets at the carnival with real weapons ^{[G 6]} .

Sam & Max Hit the Road was developed by a small team within LucasArts, and its members had experience in developing adventure games. The team included Sean Clark, Michael Stemml , creator of the comics Sam & Max Steve Purcell and his future wife Colette Michaud ^{[5] [2]} . Before starting work on LucasArts, Purcell created the characters of Sam and Max, and around 1987 began to publish stories about them. They caught the attention of some LucasArts developers. Artistic Director Gary Winnick, at the suggestion of LucasArts artist Ken Macklin, put Purcell on the team. Purcell helped draw the cover of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders , and then helped draw an animation of the characters in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis ^[6] . Sam and Max first appeared as characters in a pilot project on the SCUMM engine . Steve Purcell created animated versions of the characters and the office background, and engine programmers used them for practice. Shortly afterwards, Steve Purcell's comics were published in the LucasArts quarterly newsletter. After a positive reaction from the fans to the comics, as well as the desire to use new characters and settings after the success of the Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion series, in 1992 it was decided to create a new game using the characters of Sam and Max ^{[1] [2] [5]} .

The game was based on the On The Road comic of the Sam & Max series, which was released in 1989 and talked about the couple’s journey through the United States ^[5] . Some of the game were based on real places visited by developers. Steve Purcell recalled his visit to the “Frog Rock” - one of the locations that were reproduced in the game - and noted that his impression was “Is that all?” It doesn’t even look like a frog! ” ^[7] . Snuckey's roadside chain store featured in the game was a tribute to chain of stores, in which Purcell and his family often stopped during road trips. ^[8]

A short period of eight months was allotted for the development of Sam & Max , and the team decided to use the storyboard to design the game, which was done for the first time in LucasArts ^[6] . Sam & Max was one of the first games with full scoring and music ^[2] , which for Purcell was a “great opportunity” to hear his creations say. Purcell described Bill Farmer 's casting record on the role of Sam that she “was very dry, he did not try to“ sell “phrases” ^[2] . The role of Max was taken by actor Nick Jameson. The game’s jazz soundtrack was written by LucasArts composers Clint Badzhakyan, Michael Land and Peter McConnell, and added to the game using the iMUSE music engine, which allowed you to synchronize sound and picture. High-quality versions of four tracks have been added to the game's disk edition. The game was released simultaneously on floppy disks and CDs, however, only the disk version contained full dubbing and music ^[2] .

Since the comics were intended for an adult audience, Purcell expected LucasArts to remove the “harsh” material from the game. However, he later expressed satisfaction with the fact that the company allowed him to adhere to his original vision ^[2] . Various mini-games were added to the game in order to allow players to escape from solving the main story puzzles for something “short and stupid” ^[2] . In addition, Sam & Max Hit the Road marked a major change in the development of games on the SCUMM engine - the user interface that developed with Maniac Mansion was completely redesigned and rewritten ^[2] . In previous games, the action was selected from the list at the bottom of the screen, and then applied by clicking the cursor on the game object. In Sam & Max Hit the Road , the actions were all placed in the cursor, and displayed as its corresponding icon, which cycle through when using the right mouse button. The inventory was removed from the main screen and moved to an additional one, accessed by clicking on the icon. Steve Purcell noted that this allowed him to expand the screen space for “excellent backgrounds, and made game interaction faster and less time consuming than in previous LucasArts games” ^[2] . also been changed - at the suggestion of Michael Stemml, the text menu was replaced with icons that meant topics for discussion, with the rationale that “nothing kills a joke better than reading it before you hear it.” Many of these innovations went into future LucasArts games ^[2] .

Sam & Max Hit the Road garnered positive reviews from gaming critics, receiving an average rating of 84% on the GameRankings rating aggregator ^[9] . Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World liked the game “comparatively less” than Day of the Tentacle . He compared Tentacle to the Looney Tunes cartoons , and Sam & Max to the , noting that the humor “can be funny, but only until some point ... the main characters are, in fact, scum”, and that the story is uninteresting “even for them. " Ardai pointed out that fully optional and stand-alone mini-games "accompany the feeling that Sam & Max is essentially a computerized puzzle ... rather than a general, solid piece." He praised the graphics and the simplified user interface, but concluded that “the total turned out to be somehow less than the sum of its parts ... Sam & Max gives a couple of hours some entertainment similar to Tentacle ” ^[15] . Edge magazine columnist wrote that “in many adventure games it’s hard to have any feelings for the characters you control,” and noted that Sam & Max Hit the Road violated this form by being “really funny” and that the players would “be experimenting more than usual just to see what a crazy couple will do next. " The observer praised the graphics of the game as “beautifully detailed” and the puzzles as “difficult to solve”, but noted that the number of mini-games was “gloomy” ^[11] . Junas Linkola, a columnist for Adventure Gamers, repeated many of these reviews, praising cartoonish graphics as “suitably fashionable” and “color”. On the topic of the game’s humor, he noted that the game “has a lot of visual jokes, but the basis of the game is its witty dialogs,” and therefore the game has significant “replayability” as players can notice jokes based on “verbal acrobatics, the use of polysyllabic words, Old English and other such oddities, "which they first overlooked. Linkola also praised the soundtrack and scoring, saying that "very suitable voices ... complement the character of the comic duet" ^[14] .

Allgame columnist Steve Honeywell also left positive comments, calling the game’s plot “interesting”, the graphics “suitably cartoonish and fun,” and the game locations as “well-drawn,” and noted that “what makes Sam & Max Hit the Road work is her humor". Commenting on puzzles, Honeywell noted that “some of the puzzles are quite simple, while others are extremely complex. One nice thing is the almost complete absence of deceptive items. Everything you find can be used somewhere. ” As in other reviews, Steve praised the dubbing, noting that “the music is decent throughout the game, and the voice dubbing is excellent”, and concluded by commenting that the game raises point-and-click adventure games to “insane heights in fun and comedy” ^[10] . The GamersHell website praised the graphics of the game, but noted that it may not be for children. Calling the sound setting “a little complicated,” the browser praised voice dubbing and music quality. Однако он раскритиковал игру за «синдром поиска нужного пиксела » ^[16] .

Владимир Горячёв с Absolute Games в ретроспективном обзоре 2002 года положительно высказался об игре, назвав историю «хорошей детективной». Про загадки он отметил, что они «удивительно логично-абсурдны», и ответы на них «хитроумно запрятаны под толщей „здравого“ смысла». Отдельно Горячёв выделил игровые диалоги, написав что «шутить с таким задором не умеют иные „эстрадные юмористы“», и цитаты на множество кинофильмов, игр и музыки. Заключил обозреватель что ему «отчаянно хочется поругать игру», но этого ему сделать не удалось ^[4] .

Игра была одной из четырёх номинантов на Annie Award 1994 года в категории «лучшая анимированная игра на CD-ROM», однако награда досталась другой игре LucasArts, Star Wars: Rebel Assault ^[17] . В 1994 году журнал PC Gamer US назвал Sam & Max восьмой лучше компьютерной игрой за всё время. Редакторы написали что «довольно сложно описать, насколько хороша, профессиональна и развлекательна Sam & Max на деле» ^[18] .

Sam and Max Hit the Road считается классической адвенчурой, и часто появляется в списках ста лучших игр. В 1996 году журнал Computer Gaming World поставил её на 95 место в своём списке лучших игр за всё время, назвав её «приключенческой игрой, которая переопределила термин „дурацкий“» ^[19] . В том же году Next Generation поставил её на 27 место, объяснив что её «тупой шарм» был ключевым в решении поставить именно её в списке, а не другие игры LucasArts, такие как Day of the Tentacle ^[20] . В 2004 году Adventure Gamers назвал Sam & Max Hit the Road восьмой лучшей адвенчурой за всё время, описав её как «самую абсурдную и смешную игру из когда-либо созданных» ^[21] . Сайт IGN поставил Sam and Max Hit the Road в свой список ста лучших игр на момент 2007 года, и отметил что она «больше известна за свою историю и своих персонажей» ^[22] . Написав в 2006 году статью для Adventure Classic Gaming, Дэвид Олгарссон отметил, что игра «несомненно … стала самой популярной приключенческой игрой в LucasArts за всё время» ^[23] . В 2001 году Adventure Gamers назвал Sam & Max двадцать восьмой лучшей адвенчурой из всех когда-либо изданных ^[24] . В обзоре 2002 года на Absolute Games было отмечёно, что LucasArts за игру заслуживает «пятый по счету (после Maniac Mansion , Zak McKracken , Monkey Island 2 и Loom ) памятник из чистого золота» ^[4] .

Первые попытки по созданию сиквела состоялись в 2001 году, когда была анонсирована игра Sam & Max Plunge Through Space ^[25] . Игра должна была быть эксклюзивом для Xbox и разрабатывалась компанией Infinite Machine, состоящей из бывших сотрудников LucasArts. Сюжет игры был написан создателем серии Стивом Перселлом и геймдизайнером Чаком Джорданом. По сюжету Вольные полицейские отправились в путешествие по галактике в поисках похищенной Статуи Свободы . Однако компания Infinity Machine обанкротилась в течение года, и проект был отменён ^[26] .

Спустя год после издания Sam & Max Hit the Road , на Electronic Entertainment Expo 2002 года LucasArts анонсировала разработку сиквела для персональных компьютеров, названного Sam & Max: Freelance Police ^[27] . Freelance Police , как и Hit the Road , должна была быть point-and-click графической адвенчурой , но использующей новый трёхмерный игровой движок . Разработкой Freelance Police руководил Майкл Стеммль , один из оригинальных дизайнеров Sam and Max Hit the Road . Стив Перселл также поучаствовал в проекте, написав сюжет для неё и нарисовав концепт-арт ^[27] . Оригинальные актёры озвучивания Сэма и Макса, Билл Фармер и Ник Джеймсон, также должны были поучаствовать в разработке. Но в марте 2004 года, уже далеко в процессе разработке игры, Sam & Max: Freelance Police была отменёна компанией LucasArts, которая назвала причиной «текущие реальности рынка и экономические вопросы» в коротком пресс-релизе ^[28] . Фанаты остро отреагировали на отмену игры и собрали петицию с 32 000 подписями, которая была позже отправлена в LucasArts ^[27] .

After the LucasArts character license expired in 2005, the Sam & Max franchise went to Telltale Games , a company consisting of former LucasArts developers who had previously worked on a variety of LucasArts adventure games, including Freelance Police . Under Telltale Games, a new series of Sam & Max games has been announced. Sam & Max Save the World was supposed to be a point-and-click graphical adventure like Sam & Max Hit the Road with Freelance Police , but without the original character voices. The first season contained six episodes, each of which had an autonomous storyline, but with a common story arch passing through the series. The first episode was released in October 2006 on GameTap , and subsequent episodes were released until April 2007, and in October 2008 a compilation was released for the Wii game console. In November 2007, the second season began, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space , which ended in April 2008. The second season was also published as a compilation for Wii. The third season, originally planned for release in 2009 ^[29] under the name Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse , was released in April 2010 ^[30] .

Quotes from the game

Sources

Literature

• Ivan Gusyov. Sam & Max Hit the Road - a great adventure of talking little animals (Russian) // " PC Games ": magazine. - Gameland Publishing , 2007. - May ( No. 05 (41) ). - S. 194–196 .