Sam and Max: Season 1 Review

Sam and Max: Season 1
Rating: T
For: Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
Platform: PC, Coming to Wii.



Sam and Max save the world in this six part episodic game for the PC.

Story: Sam and Max, a pair of Freelance police discover a hypnotizing scheme and have to save the world in six hilarious, action filled episodes. You'll travel everywhere from the White House to the Moon, to Sam and Max's office in New York City. These games are some of the funniest (maybe even the funniest) games I've ever played. In every corner in the game, there's a huge element of hilarity in it. There are about 20 secrets in every episode, kind of like "Easter eggs", giving the game more replay value to go back through and try to find them. The story is very rich and there never is a dumb moment. It's very addictive too. I beat all 6 episodes in less then a week. You always have a clear idea of what you you have to do and what's going on in the story. The episodes are tightly wound together, but all have separate stories.


Music: The music is pretty much great. There are 40 (maybe 50) tracks in the game, so it's not hard to find some tracks that you like. Overall, the songs are very good sounding and catchy. The songs really have a feel to them about your surroundings. (For example, Sam and Max's office has a New York-ish/Detective like song.) Most of the music is instrumental, but some have words, which usually have a bit of comedy in them. The songs are very high quality, and very nice overall. The game is also completely voice acted.

Characters: There is a huge cast of characters with more introduced in each episode. The characters each have a very unique personality, and almost all of them are usually funny. From the paranoid shop owner Bosco to Sybil the therapist, everyone has a very developed personality. Once a person is introduced in an episode, they usually come back for other episodes. Since there really aren't any boring characters, this is a good thing. I really didn't dislike any character. As I said, their great personalities and sense of humor make them hard to hate.


Controls: The game is very simple to control. You click the mouse where you want Sam to move, and interact with objects by clicking on them. To use an item, you don't have to go into a special menu like in most games. Just click on the "box" onscreen, and your items come onto screen. So you don't have to pause the game, navigate through menus, and find it, which is really convenient. Using items is easy too. All you do is click onscreen where to use it, and yay, it works. Items are needed to progress through the games, so making them easy to use makes it better.

Overall: Sam and Max: Season 1 is a great game, and for $20, a bargain. You get many hours of game play, while meeting great characters, hearing great music, and laughing almost all the time. Controls are easy, and the episodes are all tied together by a great story.

Since the game is made up of episodes, I shall grade each one separately.

Episode 1: Culture Shock = 9.4
Episode 2: Situation Comedy = 9.2
Episode 3: The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball = 8.8
Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must Die! = 9.7
Episode 5: Reality 2.0 = 9.3
Episode 6: The Bright Side of the Moon = 9.4

OVERALL = 9.4

I really enjoyed the game. I can't pick out anything I didn't like about it.

Thanks for reading!

Nice job, Nintendo.

So, I decided to put a little faith in Nintendo's WiiWare decisions yesterday, and check the shop channel for Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Well, I wasted my time, seeing as Frat Party Ping-Pong came out. Seriously... what? I doubt it'll be out next week, either.

WiiWare Weekly? Joy.

So, Nintendo has only been releasing one WiiWare a week. Now I have this to say.

Come on Nintendo! Release more than one a week! It is so annoying if you are waiting for a game to come out, like I am. So, last week, I bought 2000 Wii Points waiting for Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive people. But what happens? We get Pirates Freaking Dream Adventure. WHAT?! Come on! So many people are waiting for a specific game, so release them when you get them! Is only one regular Wii game released a week? NO. So release them as you get them! Now Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People has 5 episodes. So I have to go through your waiting process 5 times! Who knows how long it will take you to even release the first!?

That is all.

Nintendo Conference Impressions

I was terribly upset with this year's E3. Animal Crossing was the only good thing, really. I was sure there would be more announcements. They only showed 3 DS games, one of which had already been announced, Pokemon Ranger 2.

Wii Music is okay, but the demonstration sucked. Wii Sports Lodge? Meh.

I was really hoping for a Mario or Zelda title, both of which are in the works but weren't showcased. I was surprised the Kid Icarus Wii wasn't shown. Also, I can't believe there wasn't a new channel. Are they running out of ideas?

The biggest shocker?: NO HARD DRIVE. Come on Nintendo! If you release all these games you are , PEOPLE WILL NEED A STORAGE SOLUTION. Man....

Oh... and Cammie scares me.

Rambling over.

Animal Crossing: City Folk overview

I wrote this overview for The Nintendo Pipeline, thought I'd post it here, because I did promise an overview once it was revealed.

There were some announcements today as E3, but few stood out as much as Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii, apparently coming sometime this year.

Animal Crossing: City Folk, as the name implies, adds a City to normal gamplay, where you can go to see The HRA Building, Gracie's fashion studio, among other things.

AC: CF brings back some of the classic holidays we missed in Wild World, such as Halloween, and brings back an updated version. Other holidays include Bunny Day, where you dig up eggs. And of course, New Years was also shown.

A new element of online play, Wii Speak, was introduced. Wii Speak is a speaker that goes on top of your sensor bar, rather than a headset, which lets everyone in the room talk into it.

On the subject of homes, there probably is a home for every playe, like there was in the origianl. My inference coming from the bedroom only has roomfor one bed. From what I've seen, the size/shape of the homes has stayed the same, and that probably means no backyards. Or, at least none in the house they showcased.

Sadly, there was no glimpse of Tom Nook's store in the showcase, but there was a brief glance into the Able Sister's, which sadly hasn't changed. Also, you can buy masks that look like your Mii.

You can look forward to Animal Crossing: City Folk sometime this year.

E3 2008 - Soon!

So, E3 20008 starts Tuesday. I already made my predictions, but I'm sure there will be more. Like a new peripheral (Balance Board, Wii Wheel, Zapper) or something. A peripheral would be cool, if they could think of anymore. Plus, some new Wii channels would be nice, if they have anymore ideas. Right now, I'm even hoping for a few channel update, hopefully for the Mii Channel. WE NEED MORE OPTIONS. Even Gameboy being added to the VC would work.... actually, that'd be a pretty cool idea.

Maybe a Mario game, some Mario sports games, whatever. They know we really want Paper Mario 3. Some people, including myself, would like to see a Luigi's Mansion 2, or even a longer remake with Wii controls. Paper Mario DS would be pretty neat, too. Or if neither Paper Mario happens, maybe Paper Luigi? A whole new story would be nice, or even the Waffle Kingdom story would sort-of work. Also, Super Mario Sunshine with motion controls would work. There was a mini-game of it in Wario Ware Smooth Moves, and that worked out pretty well. Or a Super Mario Sunshine 2 (Like, not called Sunshine, but it would have FLUDD in it.) work be nice, also.

I'm also hoping for a Zelda title, whether it be DS or Wii, but Wii preferably.

Some news on Professor Layton 2 may be announced- we already know it's coming, but a release date would be nice.

It has been confirmed that Animal Crossing Wii will be announced, so 'll worry about that after it is.

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Wow. Longest article I've ever written.

Rambling Over.

Another Animal Crossing Wii idea

Yay, another Animal Crossing Wii idea.

Museum Gift Shop

So, what if the museum had a gift shop? You would be able to buy things exclusive to the museum. Posters of dinosaurs, fish, and more! It wouldn't be just posters, though. Also shirts and some exclusive furniture!

Ōkami

I just beat one of the longest and best games I have ever played- Okami.

Ōkami is the story of the Sun god, Amaterasu, trying to restore peace all over Nippon (The previous name for Japan.), by defeating the darkness called Orichi, the 8-headed dragon.

The game looks beautiful. It is celled shaded, and looks absolutely gorgeous. It kind of reminds me of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

The game also plays very much like a Zelda game. You go into dungeons, solve puzzles, everything.

The game's music is also very stunning. Taking place in Japan, you'd expect the music to be Japanese themed. Well, it is. And that's a great thing.

So, if you like Zelda games, you should try this.

More Animal Crossing Wii Ideas

1. Hey! Look! Up there!

In Animal Crossing DS, you were able to see the sky. So, why not have a way to just turn the camera up to look at the sky?

2. Look! Up there! On the ceiling!

You can have lights on the floor in the first 2 Animal Crossing games. Yay. But now, what we need are lights that hang on the ceiling!

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Will add more as I think of them.

Animal Crossing Wii Ideas

Yay, 10th post. So, here are some ideas for Animal Crossing Wii.

1. More in depth Neighbors.

It would be pretty cool if some of your neighbors were rich, and could upgrade their house. I'd also like to see neighbors shopping. Also, animals need to have different things to talk about, instead of all repeating the same things.

2. Mr. Resetti's House/Animal Island

In the Japanese versions of Animal Crossing, you could go to Mr. Resetti's house. but English? Nooooooo.

Also, Animal Island was a cool feature in the GCN version, so why not bring it back?

3. Visit Other Towns

In my Pokemon Ranch, people programmed into the game will come on random days to ask you if you want to come to their Ranch. So, why can't characters come to your town and invite you to their town?

More as I think of them.