Telltale Games

Teeth · 09/18/2010, 03:34 pm

After having played all three Telltale seasons, read Surfin' The Highway and watched the Animated Series DVD, I played Hit the Road again, and by comparison it just seems a bit...bland.

Obviously it's still an excellent and funny game, and a LucasArts classic, but as a part of the Sam and Max franchise, it just doesn't appeal to me as much as the other adaptations do. Sam looks and sounds utterly bored and depressed, and neither him nor Max have nearly the amount of energy or enthusiasm that I've grown to love from the other adaptations. One of my favourite things about Sam and Max is how they bounce off each other, and it's clear whenever they have conversations that they've been friends for a long time. This is very obvious in the comics right from the start of Monkeys Violating the Holy Temple, and yet In Hit the Road I just don't feel it at all.

I'm not dissing the voice actors, I think they're great (Nick Jameson always makes me laugh in Day of the Tentacle with "Have them wait on the bench in the LAAAAAAABBY!!!!!") and what we saw of them in Freelance Police!! was much better. It just seems as though their characterization was off in this game, and part of the Sam and Max magic that I feel with other adaptations is missing.

I suppose we have Telltale to thank, for bringing Sam and Max closer to how they were in the comics, and also exploring new depths of their relationship with They Stole Max's Brain and the ending of Season 3.

Anyway, cue the angry mob with torches and pitchforks, led on by Lattsam.

S@bre · 09/18/2010, 04:53 pm

Sod Lattsam, I'm here first. HERESY! MUTANT! BURN HIM! String him from the castle walls by his little toe and put killer ants (is there actually such a thing?) in his hair, douse him in some cheap crap whisky (something from Kentucky will do) and cleanse him with fire!

More seriously, I can understand where you're coming from, but have to disagree. Hit the Road remains my favorite Sam & Max game, I think the voices and characterisation are perfect, the writing and banter great, though it is somewhat more limited. And given that Purcell was involved in much closer work on Hit the Road than with any of the TTG's efforts and its based on one of the comics, it seems far more like the comics than any of the others to me. I dunno, maybe because Hit the Road was my first exposure to Sam & Max - and computer gaming in general - it remains the definitive version for me.

The-J23 · 09/18/2010, 05:02 pm

Lattsam's gonna have my head on a stick for this but I totally agree. Bill Farmer and Nick Jameson are good(I like them better than the series voices) but Hit the Road my least favorite when it comes to Sam & Max. I wouldn't say it sucks, but I have only played through Hit the Road once whereas I've watched every episode of the cartoon many times, read all the comics countless times, and played every episode of the Telltale series quite a few times.

09/18/2010, 05:04 pm

the voice of max sucks

Remolay · 09/18/2010, 05:12 pm

Yeah, it does kinda seem bland, but it has always felt like that was how it was supposed to play out, Plus limitations of SCUMM engine. I did not like the trailer for Freelance police because it was less bland with the same voices. HTR Sam and Max are good for Slow paced things, not 3D/less limited things.

Secret Fawful · 09/18/2010, 05:16 pm

Hit the Rod is awesome and memorable. I need to play it again. the jokes are some of the most quotable, funny, quirky, memorable adventure game jokes of all time. And Sam and Max do bounce off of each other in the game; perhaps moreso than any Telltale title.

Falanca · 09/18/2010, 05:17 pm

Yes. It's pretty obvious that the newer games are the superior ones.

I don't really like the voice acting in Hit the Road. It was good in the ol' days perhaps. What's getting on my nerves is that there is actually a bunch of people wishing to get the old VA cast back for a future installment of the franchise. Those people are even boycotting The Devil's Playhouse, but since most of us don't even know about them they're just playing in their own little circle. Their arrogance really gets me angry though, I mean, they just oppose because they want to oppose. But my GOD, the VAs are 60 years old now! Leave them alone, they did their jobs.

Oh... and... erm, yeah, voice acting was actually pretty bland and monotone, but I guess that's the charm of it. Sam and Max are pretty sarcastic characters and they're left unsurprised by the stuff that normal people would be surprised. What would surprise THEM, is, well, not in the game. Explosions, beating up stuff... Instead, the creators wanted the game to be a cult, something opposing our reality and even mocking our beliefs. But Telltale series didn't aim for that, you know. Hit the Road is not there just because they wanted us to see how Sam and Max deals with a bigfoot, they wanted us to see how completely absurd the world (mainly USA) can be. But Save the World, for example, wanted to show us exactly how Sam and Max deals with hypnotism, and made their jokes about absurdity only whenever the timing is right.

*Irishmile* · 09/18/2010, 05:18 pm

I will always love hit the road... I do not know if its nostalgia having played it when it was brand new.... But I think it holds up to this day...

Remolay · 09/18/2010, 05:21 pm

I would like to note, I would like to hear the old voice actors in, but only if they play two characters that only resemble Sam and Max or an Alt universe Sam and Max. I wouldn't notice it if they were playing to random characters

jp-30 · 09/18/2010, 05:41 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falanca

What's getting on my nerves is that there is actually a bunch of people wishing to get the old VA cast back for a future installment of the franchise. Those people are even boycotting The Devil's Playhouse, but since most of us don't even know about them they're just playing in their own little circle. Their arrogance really gets me angry though...

I think you're referring to just one guy who tends to post the same stuff with multiple accounts. He may have picked up a supporter or two, I guess.

Falanca · 09/18/2010, 05:43 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp-30

I think you're referring to just one guy who tends to post the same stuff with multiple accounts. He may have picked up a supporter or two, I guess.

I've seen many other people on sites such as DeviantArt or Facebook, so...

Remolay · 09/18/2010, 05:45 pm

Those are the same people who think that Monkey Island now sucks because it is 3D, I bet

*Irishmile* · 09/18/2010, 05:48 pm

Its easy to get around the not liking 3D thing if you just play the game with one eye closed.

doodo! · 09/18/2010, 05:52 pm

Hit the Road was the first time I was introduced to the characters and I loved them. Later adaptions evolved the characters a bit but saying the first game sucks is sort of hmm, shallow?

Falanca · 09/18/2010, 05:54 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by doodo!

Hit the Road was the first time I was introduced to the characters and I loved them. Later adaptions evolved the characters a bit but saying the first game sucks is sort of hmm, shallow?

Ethics suck, dog.

Hungryfreak · 09/18/2010, 07:45 pm

I think Hit the Road was amazing despite the many limitations. It also includes my favorite cultural parodies in the series and a number of my favorite scenes. Also, the lines are more biting and Max was at his most violent, which I love.

Hatley · 09/19/2010, 03:26 am

You know, this thread is kinda like a reverse TL;DR version of the conversation between Sam and the Max Spore in Max's inventory when you click the bucket of fish in 305.

jeeno0142 · 09/19/2010, 09:09 am

I am currently playing this game for the first ever time and IT IS AWESOME. I can't wait to finish it so I can do it all again! I think the puzzles are great, the dialouge is great, and the graphics are my favourite style. It took a little while to get the hang of the voices as they were so different to Telltales versions, but now I quite like them. The only fault it has is that it is making me very sorry the second one was cancelled.

Rather Dashing · 09/19/2010, 11:13 am

You guys,I don't think we can be friends anymore.

BlankCanvasDJ · 09/19/2010, 11:42 am

I actually agree with you on most of your points, Teeth. I still think Hit the Road is a great game - one of my favorites - but I agree that the voices and the character interplay is better in the Telltale games (in my opinion anyway). I think after 3 seasons, Nowlin and Kasten have become the definitive Sam & Max voices in my mind. So much so that if they ever do a high-res remake of Hit the Road, I hope it includes an option to have Nowlin and Kasten play the characters.

09/18/2010, 03:34 pm	#1
Teeth Meh. Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: England Posts: 494	Hit the Road...kinda sucks? After having played all three Telltale seasons, read Surfin' The Highway and watched the Animated Series DVD, I played Hit the Road again, and by comparison it just seems a bit...bland. Obviously it's still an excellent and funny game, and a LucasArts classic, but as a part of the Sam and Max franchise, it just doesn't appeal to me as much as the other adaptations do. Sam looks and sounds utterly bored and depressed, and neither him nor Max have nearly the amount of energy or enthusiasm that I've grown to love from the other adaptations. One of my favourite things about Sam and Max is how they bounce off each other, and it's clear whenever they have conversations that they've been friends for a long time. This is very obvious in the comics right from the start of Monkeys Violating the Holy Temple, and yet In Hit the Road I just don't feel it at all. I'm not dissing the voice actors, I think they're great (Nick Jameson always makes me laugh in Day of the Tentacle with "Have them wait on the bench in the LAAAAAAABBY!!!!!") and what we saw of them in Freelance Police!! was much better. It just seems as though their characterization was off in this game, and part of the Sam and Max magic that I feel with other adaptations is missing. I suppose we have Telltale to thank, for bringing Sam and Max closer to how they were in the comics, and also exploring new depths of their relationship with They Stole Max's Brain and the ending of Season 3. Anyway, cue the angry mob with torches and pitchforks, led on by Lattsam. __________________ ^ Thanks for reading that.

09/18/2010, 04:53 pm	#2
S@bre Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Blighty Posts: 356	Sod Lattsam, I'm here first. HERESY! MUTANT! BURN HIM! String him from the castle walls by his little toe and put killer ants (is there actually such a thing?) in his hair, douse him in some cheap crap whisky (something from Kentucky will do) and cleanse him with fire! More seriously, I can understand where you're coming from, but have to disagree. Hit the Road remains my favorite Sam & Max game, I think the voices and characterisation are perfect, the writing and banter great, though it is somewhat more limited. And given that Purcell was involved in much closer work on Hit the Road than with any of the TTG's efforts and its based on one of the comics, it seems far more like the comics than any of the others to me. I dunno, maybe because Hit the Road was my first exposure to Sam & Max - and computer gaming in general - it remains the definitive version for me. __________________ "In this country we find it pays to shoot an admiral from time to time to encourage the others" — Voltaire "Beer is proof that God wanted us to be happy" — Benjamin Franklin > Sam & Max on Wikipedia > Tales of Monkey Island on Wikipedia Last edited by S@bre; 09/18/2010 at 05:00 pm.

09/18/2010, 05:02 pm	#3
The-J23 (NamelessRedWolf) Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Canada Posts: 111	Lattsam's gonna have my head on a stick for this but I totally agree. Bill Farmer and Nick Jameson are good(I like them better than the series voices) but Hit the Road my least favorite when it comes to Sam & Max. I wouldn't say it sucks, but I have only played through Hit the Road once whereas I've watched every episode of the cartoon many times, read all the comics countless times, and played every episode of the Telltale series quite a few times. __________________ With bony hands I hold my partner On soulless feet we cross the floor The music stops as if to answer An empty knocking at the door It seems his skin was sweet as mango When last I held him to my breast But now we dance this grim fandango And will four years before we rest.

09/18/2010, 05:12 pm	#5
Remolay Does not compute Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Planet Earth(Sol 3) Status: My head asplode Posts: 1,987	Yeah, it does kinda seem bland, but it has always felt like that was how it was supposed to play out, Plus limitations of SCUMM engine. I did not like the trailer for Freelance police because it was less bland with the same voices. HTR Sam and Max are good for Slow paced things, not 3D/less limited things. __________________ It's Gallifreyan, it doesn't translate Crap I do: Homestar WUW Twitter YouTube Fanfiction.net It says Remolay

09/18/2010, 05:16 pm	#6
Secret Fawful Fearless Oathbreaker Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Stuck In This Pose Sexiness: Off The Charts! Posts: 5,118	Hit the Rod is awesome and memorable. I need to play it again. the jokes are some of the most quotable, funny, quirky, memorable adventure game jokes of all time. And Sam and Max do bounce off of each other in the game; perhaps moreso than any Telltale title. __________________ You're the greatest. The greatest! - GuruGuru214 You'll go far in this life, Fawful. - That Guy In The Wheelchair Fawful, you sir, are made of win. - mgrant I love the Fawful! - Davies You're like a bad comedian. - monkey_05_06 ** you. - Giant Tope Why do you have to be such an hole? - Avistew You're a miserable little weasel who derives pleasure from being a *. - AllenB Grow up. - Mike Haley Now Playing: ~~Space Quest 0: Replicated~~ - ~~Space Quest I EGA: The Sarien Encounter~~ - Space Quest I VGA: The Sarien Encounter** - Space Quest II EGA: Vohaul's Revenge - Space Quest II VGA: Vohaul's Revenge - Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon - Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers - Space Quest V: The Next Mutation - Space Quest VI: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier - Space Quest: The Lost Chapter

09/18/2010, 05:04 pm	#4
seibert999 Guest Posts: n/a	the voice of max sucks

09/18/2010, 05:17 pm	#7
Falanca Hasn't Played TWDG Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,239	Yes. It's pretty obvious that the newer games are the superior ones. I don't really like the voice acting in Hit the Road. It was good in the ol' days perhaps. What's getting on my nerves is that there is actually a bunch of people wishing to get the old VA cast back for a future installment of the franchise. Those people are even boycotting The Devil's Playhouse, but since most of us don't even know about them they're just playing in their own little circle. Their arrogance really gets me angry though, I mean, they just oppose because they want to oppose. But my GOD, the VAs are 60 years old now! Leave them alone, they did their jobs. Oh... and... erm, yeah, voice acting was actually pretty bland and monotone, but I guess that's the charm of it. Sam and Max are pretty sarcastic characters and they're left unsurprised by the stuff that normal people would be surprised. What would surprise THEM, is, well, not in the game. Explosions, beating up stuff... Instead, the creators wanted the game to be a cult, something opposing our reality and even mocking our beliefs. But Telltale series didn't aim for that, you know. Hit the Road is not there just because they wanted us to see how Sam and Max deals with a bigfoot, they wanted us to see how completely absurd the world (mainly USA) can be. But Save the World, for example, wanted to show us exactly how Sam and Max deals with hypnotism, and made their jokes about absurdity only whenever the timing is right.

09/18/2010, 05:18 pm	#8
Irishmile The Skipping Dead Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: WI, its a paradise 3 months of the year Posts: 6,542	I will always love hit the road... I do not know if its nostalgia having played it when it was brand new.... But I think it holds up to this day... __________________ unholy THIS! I am a community moderator, here to assist, keep the peace, and keep these boards clean and friendly for all. I am a volunteer, and not a Telltale employee, and my opinions are my own.

09/18/2010, 05:21 pm	#9
Remolay Does not compute Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Planet Earth(Sol 3) Status: My head asplode Posts: 1,987	I would like to note, I would like to hear the old voice actors in, but only if they play two characters that only resemble Sam and Max or an Alt universe Sam and Max. I wouldn't notice it if they were playing to random characters __________________ It's Gallifreyan, it doesn't translate Crap I do: Homestar WUW Twitter YouTube Fanfiction.net It says Remolay

09/18/2010, 05:45 pm	#12
Remolay Does not compute Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Planet Earth(Sol 3) Status: My head asplode Posts: 1,987	Those are the same people who think that Monkey Island now sucks because it is 3D, I bet __________________ It's Gallifreyan, it doesn't translate Crap I do: Homestar WUW Twitter YouTube Fanfiction.net It says Remolay

09/18/2010, 05:48 pm	#13
Irishmile The Skipping Dead Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: WI, its a paradise 3 months of the year Posts: 6,542	Its easy to get around the not liking 3D thing if you just play the game with one eye closed. __________________ unholy THIS! I am a community moderator, here to assist, keep the peace, and keep these boards clean and friendly for all. I am a volunteer, and not a Telltale employee, and my opinions are my own.

09/18/2010, 05:52 pm	#14
doodo! Banned Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4,268	Hit the Road was the first time I was introduced to the characters and I loved them. Later adaptions evolved the characters a bit but saying the first game sucks is sort of hmm, shallow?

09/18/2010, 07:45 pm	#16
Hungryfreak Ant-Baby Machete Squad Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: In the icy bowels of Niflheim Posts: 70	I think Hit the Road was amazing despite the many limitations. It also includes my favorite cultural parodies in the series and a number of my favorite scenes. Also, the lines are more biting and Max was at his most violent, which I love.

09/19/2010, 03:26 am	#17
Hatley Snake Eater Join Date: May 2010 Location: Hedge End, England Posts: 219	You know, this thread is kinda like a reverse TL;DR version of the conversation between Sam and the Max Spore in Max's inventory when you click the bucket of fish in 305. __________________ I hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on hara-kiri rock.

09/19/2010, 09:09 am	#18
jeeno0142 Love is for the Living. Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Liverpool, England Posts: 1,122	I am currently playing this game for the first ever time and IT IS AWESOME. I can't wait to finish it so I can do it all again! I think the puzzles are great, the dialouge is great, and the graphics are my favourite style. It took a little while to get the hang of the voices as they were so different to Telltales versions, but now I quite like them. The only fault it has is that it is making me very sorry the second one was cancelled.

09/19/2010, 11:42 am	#20
BlankCanvasDJ Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,069	I actually agree with you on most of your points, Teeth. I still think Hit the Road is a great game - one of my favorites - but I agree that the voices and the character interplay is better in the Telltale games (in my opinion anyway). I think after 3 seasons, Nowlin and Kasten have become the definitive Sam & Max voices in my mind. So much so that if they ever do a high-res remake of Hit the Road, I hope it includes an option to have Nowlin and Kasten play the characters.

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