Replaying Telltale's Game Catalog

[DAISHI]

I don't know if words can describe how annoyed I got with season one episode one after a while.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by ryannumber1gamer

Well i replayed Strong Bad's Cool game for attractive people episode 1 and here is my thoughts.

Thanks for joining in on the fun! I can't wait to get to SBCG4AP, that's one of my favorite seasons by Telltale.

OK... now to get back into this again. My interest keeps waning for reviewing rather than playing, I'll keep doing them because I really am enjoying playing the games again, and my interest in reviewing comes in waves (just see my blog to see that is true ). I'm on a wave of interest again, so here's my thoughts on Abe Lincoln Must Die once again played on XBLA.



The Bad:

Peepers' voice is still irritating. I made a Neutral section this time, since there were some things that were repeated more than I liked but I didn't mind as much. The other two Poppers are down there.

Neutral:
Whizzer's voice seems to have mellowed a bit (probably because he's depressed here), so he doesn't bother me as much (which is good because he has a really big part both before and after Max becomes president Specs still doesn't irritate me as much as the others.

The Sybil and Bosco gags are becoming more tiresome. The writing and acting made them a bit less tiresome than in the last episode though. Sybil is neutral for me here, see Bosco below in the good for my opinion on his character.

The Good:

Telltale started implementing advice from the press and from fans in this episode. The previously visited locations now have some new decorations and the things that Sam (and sometimes Max) say when you click on objects are different.

All the voice actors are really getting into their roles here. Sam and Max both are in top form (which will continue throughout the series' run). Bosco is hilarious with the poorly imitated accents as usual. The Bosco gags are running thin, but his voice actor really makes up for the tiredness with his enthusiasm.

The new characters and locations are really great here. The White House is my favorite set from the series (at least up to this point), and I really love agent Superball. I really like how the ending of the third game tied right into this one with the secret service agent who was part of the Ted E. Bear mafia guarding the president.

The irony and puns (a Sam & Max staple) here are great the president being a puppet (both ironically, and as it was meant as being controlled by someone else were a high point)

the real Easter egg

The music really shines here. The War Song is still my favorite song (and dance!) number in any Sam & Max game.

The puzzles just keep getting better and better. I especially like the debate puzzle with the signs that you have to collect from all over in order to get Abe Lincoln to read exactly what's written, Anchorman style

I gave it 4½ out of 5 on my blog. This episode's considered the best of the season by many people (not by me though, my favorite will be revealed later ) and it's a reputation that's well-deserved.

[BlankCanvasDJ]

Abe Lincoln may be my favorite of all of the Sam & Max episodes. It's definitely when they hit their stride.

"Don't feed the submarine."
"What do you feed a submarine?"
"Nothing, weren't you listening?"

[ryannumber1gamer]

I'm wondering if i should play S&M Season 3 again.

Also Jennifer congratulations on becoming a mod

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by ryannumber1gamer

I'm wondering if i should play S&M Season 3 again.

If you liked it, go for it. It's my favorite season of Sam & Max story-wise, so I'm looking forward to getting to it once my fading interest allows.

Originally Posted by ryannumber1gamer

Also Jennifer congratulations on becoming a mod

Thanks.


Since this is bumped, I'll use the opportunity to write up a look-back of Sam & Max Save the World Episode 5: Reality 2.0 (played on XBLA).

The Bad:
Honestly, just that the graphics are still a bit on the sharp "jaggie" side. Other than that, not much. I didn't hear any of sound problems here that were present in the earlier episodes.

The Good:
The locations really get a facelift here once you go inside Reality 2.0.

They used the plot to give a much needed shake up of Bosco and Sybil. Their digital versions are a lot of fun. It's fun to communicate Sybil's empty avatar here, whereas Bosco is more fun when he's in control of his avatar The device that Bosco makes for them in this episode is really funny too.

The new characters. All of them, especially the C.O.P.S. Jared did a great job voicing them. They all sound like the "ancient" devices that they are supposed to be. Bluster Blaster is especially fun when you put the virus on him.

The music, with special note towards the 8-bit style songs and the C.O.P.S theme song. It wasn't as grand as the War Song, nor was it meant to be. The full version over the credits is fantastic.

The puzzles were really good here. There was one puzzle that stumped me when I first played it, and was the first Telltale puzzle to do so. The puzzle in question being the car painting puzzle to get past the bank security on the internet. It's actually a really clever puzzle, and the logic behind it is obvious once you know the solution. It's one of those classic style adventure puzzles that you don't see too much in modern commercial adventure games.

The jokes were great here, and the video game parodies were fantastic. The text adventure parody that was the finale was a stroke of genius.

Reality 2.0 is my second favorite of the season. The finale is my personal favorite.

I gave it a 4 1/2 out of 5 on my blog.

[ryannumber1gamer]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

If you liked it, go for it. It's my favorite season of Sam & Max story-wise, so I'm looking forward to getting to it once my fading interest allows.


Thanks.

Since this is bumped, I'll use the opportunity to write up a look-back of Sam & Max Save the World Episode 5: Reality 2.0 (played on XBLA).

The Bad:
Honestly, just that the graphics are still a bit on the sharp "jaggie" side. Other than that, not much. I didn't hear any of sound problems here that were present in the earlier episodes.

The Good:
The locations really get a facelift here once you go inside Reality 2.0.

They used the plot to give a much needed shake up of Bosco and Sybil. Their digital versions are a lot of fun. It's fun to communicate Sybil's empty avatar here, whereas Bosco is more fun when he's in control of his avatar The device that Bosco makes for them in this episode is really funny too.

The new characters. All of them, especially the C.O.P.S. Jared did a great job voicing them. They all sound like the "ancient" devices that they are supposed to be. Bluster Blaster is especially fun when you put the virus on him.

The music, with special note towards the 8-bit style songs and the C.O.P.S theme song. It wasn't as grand as the War Song, nor was it meant to be. The full version over the credits is fantastic.

The puzzles were really good here. There was one puzzle that stumped me when I first played it, and was the first Telltale puzzle to do so. The puzzle in question being the car painting puzzle to get past the bank security on the internet. It's actually a really clever puzzle, and the logic behind it is obvious once you know the solution. It's one of those classic style adventure puzzles that you don't see too much in modern commercial adventure games.

This one's my second favorite of the season. The finale is my personal favorite.

I gave it a 4 1/2 out of 5 on my blog.

Well i did like S&M Season 3 and it was my first TTG game i played.

Also good look back on Ep 5, Personally i'm looking forward for you doing Strong Bad,W&G and Monkey Island. I really enjoy this thread

[Woodsyblue]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

There was one puzzle that stumped me when I first played it, and was the first Telltale puzzle to do so. The puzzle in question being the car painting puzzle to get past the bank security on the internet. It's actually a really clever puzzle, and the logic behind it is obvious once you know the solution. It's one of those classic style adventure puzzles that you don't see too much in modern commercial adventure games.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to get stumped by that puzzle! Still the only Telltale puzzle where I needed to look up a guide to get past.

[BlankCanvasDJ]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

The text adventure parody that was the finale was a stroke of genius.

This is still one of my favorite things that Telltale has ever done.

[Jennifer]

Oh, wow it's been a while since I posted in this topic (it doesn't feel like it's been two months, time flies!) Oh well, without further ado, here's my look back on the Sam & Max Season One finale, Bright Side of the Moon (once again played on Xbox 360).


As I said, this one's my personal favorite. It's weird that the things I like most about this episode are the things I've most read as being people's least favorite (the dialog between Sam & Max where Sam goes through a whole complicated, nonsensical reasoning as to who the villain could be when the clues are quite obvious (this dialog is the closest Telltale has ever gotten to the feel of the conversations in the comics, in my opinion). Also, the use of the magical talismans for puzzles. A lot of people felt that this was too illogical and too out there, even for Sam & Max. But I felt it fit their universe perfectly and led to some really creative puzzles). But, enough about that. Let's get back to analyzing the episode the way I usually do in this topic.

The Bad:

The jagged edges on the objects that are supposed to be circular are still here (as to be expected).

The hint towards the identity of the villain is supposed to be obvious (Roy G. Biv means red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). It's a mnemonic device that's often taught in schools, but if you don't know it, Sam's reasoning as to who the villain could be (as stated above) would be too nonsensical.

The good:

I thought Max pointing to the Moon at the end of the credits, and then the DeSoto somehow just appearing there was perfect for the world of Sam & Max. Especially considering this is a universe where in the comics the Commissioner once told Sam & Max there was a crime going on in the past, and Sam & Max just went there without any explanation about how they time traveled (or how the Commissioner knew about it). If you really want an explanation how they got there though, Bad Day of the Moon in comic or television episode form gives a suitably outlandish explanation on how they got the DeSoto to the moon (they stuffed the exhaust full of matches and rocketed there). This was hinted at/foreshadowed throughout the entire season by a picture in the office. I don't personally feel that this explanation is necessary though (given that it's Sam & Max), and feel it worked fine as shown in the episode.

There are no new characters, but the returning cast is used well. I especially like the fact that Harry Moleman's character is fleshed out here since we didn't get to know him very well in his previous episode. The people that follow the cult of the villain are an unusual mix, but they're reasons for being there all fit their personality. I especially liked Superball. It's funny how he's in a cult of bliss, and supposedly reached the level of true bliss, but he's still his boring monotonous self. Sybil's job here is the best of the season. It's so off-the-wall, but it fits the absurdity of the Sam & Max universe perfectly. I liked Bosco the best here this season too. His invention actually seemed like it was expensive, but in typical Bosco fashion, it was pretty much useless since all it did was crash, making it a really expensive doorstop.

The humor here is really great. I like the change in personality of the characters after Hugh Bliss makes everyone on Earth think like him. Especially Sybil and Bosco.

The villain was perfect. I like how Telltale did a bait-and-switch by having the first episode have a different villain than the rest of the season, but there are still clues throughout all the episodes as to who the real villain is. I always liked that character, but he was even more entertaining in when he acted villainous.

The puzzles are really fun here. Like I said above, they aren't for everybody, because they don't follow real life logic at all, but I felt they followed the logic of the Sam & Max universe (as little logic as is there at least) well. Plus, it let the Telltale team think outside of the box, and get really creative. I personally thought they were all really enjoyable.

Max when his bliss was separated into different Maxes with his primal instincts. was great. William Kasten did a great job doing the subtly different voices of Max. Plus, getting all of the Maxes back together led to some fun puzzles.

I really like the finale and the way that the plot carried over into the end credits, with even the credits song having plot points in the lyrics. The War Song may be my favorite musical number of the season, but World of Max is my favorite song. Jared Emerson-Johnson and Bay Area Sound did a great job with all of the music in this season, and they finished it off wonderfully in this episode.

The quality of the episodes in Season One kept improving since episode 4, and that trend continued here. Bright Side of the Moon was a great way to end the season.

I give it a 4 1/2 out of 5.

[ryannumber1gamer]

Another great review Jennifer I hope Strong Bad is next

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by ryannumber1gamer

Another great review Jennifer I hope Strong Bad is next

Thanks. I keep coming back to this topic because at least a few people seem to like my look back reviews.

I'm doing them in order, so Strong Bad is... 2 games away (or really 7, considering I'm doing each episode (other than the CSI cases) seperately). So, CSI: Hard Evidence (and I just realized I never finished the final case in that one since I only played it on Xbox 360 and the disc was too scratched to finish the final case), and the 5 episodes of Sam & Max Season Two, then Strong Bad.

I'll try not to take 2 months between these look back reviews though.

[flesk]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

I keep coming back to this topic because at least a few people seem to like my look back reviews.

I enjoy these reviews too, so keep 'em coming. I haven't played any of the CSI games even though I got one of them in a free shipping sale some years back. It will be interesting to read your review.

[ryannumber1gamer]

Well i thought i would mention that i might replay S&M Season 3 and post my thoughts here I did it for Strong Bad Ep 1 and i think i will post my thoughts for S&M here as well