Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space is an episodic graphic adventure video game developed and published by Telltale Games. It is the second Sam & Max episodic video game developed by Telltale, serving as the sequel to Sam & Max Save the World, and the third overall game based on the comic book series created by Steve Purcell. The game continues the investigations of Sam and Max, an anthropomorphic dog and rabbity-thing, working as private detectives, as they solve cases across the world, in space and at Hell, between the past, present, and future.
Like Save the World, the game was released through separate episodes, each having a contained story. Five episodes were released between November 2007 and April 2008 for Microsoft Windows, originally titled as Sam & Max: Season Two, before being ported to the Wii, Xbox 360, and iOS in later years. A sequel, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse was released in 2010. A remaster of the game by Skunkape Games was released in December 2021 for Windows, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One, and in September 2022 for PlayStation 4.
Gameplay
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space is a 3D graphic adventure game with largely the same gameplay elements as Sam & Max Save the World; the player controls and directs Sam via a point-and-click interface through a variety of different environments to solve puzzles. The player can interact with a number of different items and non-player characters through a dialogue tree, which may be required to complete certain puzzles.
The game now implements an adjustable hints system, support for widescreen monitors, more realistic animations, and additional mini-games within each episode. Beyond Time and Space features a calibration assistant when first run, which allows the player to set their graphics and difficulty settings before playing. During each episode, the player can unlock decals after playing mini-games using Sam and Max's 1960 DeSoto Adventurer. The iOS port of the episodes received online leaderboards for Whack da Ratz, a Whac-A-Mole-style minigame, which was modified to continue indefinitely, and a soundboard. There is also a tutorial on the first puzzle seen on Save the Worlds first episode, "Culture Shock", highlighting the basics of puzzle solving and game interface.
Synopsis Setting and characters
Like Sam & Max Hit the Road and Save the World, Beyond Time and Space continues the investigations of the titular duo Sam and Max, together known as the Freelance Police. Sam (voiced by David Nowlin) is a six-foot tall Irish Wolfhound who wears a gray suit and fedora and is generally very friendly and inquisitive, though he isn't above solving cases using force. Max (voiced by William Kasten) is described as a "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing" and is the more sociopathic and trigger-happy member with a complete lack of conscience and enjoys solving cases in the most chaotic way possible. He became President of the United States during the previous season.
Some characters from the previous season return in Season Two including a convenience store owner and consipracy theorist Roscoe Bosco; Sybil, a local business owner; US Secret Service agent Superball; Abe Lincoln, the head of the Lincoln statue from the Lincoln Memorial, the Computer Obsolescence Prevention Society (COPS), a group of old computers, one of whom is revealed to be built by Sam; Jimmy Two-Teeth, a rat who lives inside the duo's office; and the Soda Poppers, a group of former child actors, later revealed to be the masterminds behind the evil plots at Hell during the final episode.
New characters were also introduced in this season, including Flint Paper, a hard-boiled detective and Sam and Max's next door neighbor (though an already existing character in the Sam & Max franchise); Girl Stinky and Grandpa Stinky, vitriolic co-owners of Stinky's Diner; Santa Claus and his elves; the Moai heads of Easter Island; Jürgen, a vampire living in Stuttgart whose lair has Frankenstein's monster; Ms. Bosco, Bosco's deceased mother living as a ghost in the present; "THEM", a group of time-traveling mariachis who appear during someone's birthday; and the Devil. Sam and Max also revisit their past and future selves during "Chariots of the Dogs" as well as briefly transforming into their younger selves in "Moai Better Blues".
Plot A year after the events of Save the World, Sam and Max, self-styled vigilante detectives known as the Freelance Police, suspect that their pet goldfish Mr. Spatula has turned evil. He is suddenly killed by a giant robot. After taking down the robot, with the help The two head to the North Pole and find Santa firing upon the elves with a machine gun. Suspecting Santa is possessed, Sam and Max conduct an exorcism, but discover the demon is possessing an elf instead. With help from the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, the demon is reduced to a plate of Jell-O, which Santa inadvertently eats and becomes possessed. Sam and Max knock Santa out, learning the demon was meant for Satan but sent to Santa due to a typo. They send Santa to Hell and deliver all the Christmas presents in his place.
A month later, Sybil and Abe get sucked into a Bermuda Triangle portal. Sam and Max follow and arrive on Easter Island, populated by missing people turned to babies by the Fountain of Youth, and are told by the local Moai that a prophecy states that a volcano will erupt and destroy them. In a nearby cave, they discover a group of aquatic Ocean Chimps who worship the Moai's giant stone feet, and the ghost of Mr. Spatula has established himself as their High Priest, planning to use a machine to trigger an eruption. Sam convinces the Ocean Chimps that Max is the true High Priest, but Mr. Spatula sets off the eruption, only for Sam and Max to use a giant Bermuda Triangle to divert the lava. The two swim back to shore with Abe, who has broken up with Sybil, while the Moai are suddenly abducted.
Sometime later, the city is attacked by zombies from the Zombie Factory, a nightclub in Stuttgart run by the vampire Jürgen. Using traditional vampire weaknesses to lower Jürgen's popularity and make him vulnerable, Sam and Max pursue Jürgen but get caught in a death-trap and killed. The two reawaken as zombies and find Jürgen sleeping in his coffin and their souls trapped waiting to be shipped off to Hell. They retrieve a Soul Mater device from Sybil, inadvertently convincing her to get back together with Abe, but accidentally end up in each other's bodies. The two force Jürgen into his own deathtrap, and his soul is abducted. As Sam and Max return to their bodies, their neighbor and fellow detective Flint Paper arrives to announce Bosco has gone missing.
The three break into Bosco's store to look for clues, but Sam and Max inadvertently signal a UFO, which abducts them. They find Bosco, who has turned into a cow after stumbling into a time-traveling elevator and inadvertently altering the events of his birth. Sam and Max use the elevator to travel through time and restore Bosco, and they discover the UFO is piloted by past, present and future versions of a mariachi named Pedro, who travel through time in order to perform at everyone's birthday and collect souls for Hell to pay for their spaceship. Bosco is overwhelmed and dies of a heart attack, and the mariachis decide to use his soul to fill their quota. Sam and Max trick the mariachis into leaving so they can rescue Bosco's soul, but they accidentally send it to Hell and trigger the ship's self-destruct sequence. The two follow Bosco's soul through the portal, while the spaceship explodes just as it reaches the beginning of time, causing the Big Bang.
Sam and Max emerge in a subway station to Hell below their office. After gaining access to the train, they discover Hell to be an office environment employing their deceased enemies from past episodes. Satan ignores the two, but they interfere by freeing all their deceased friends' souls from their personal Hells. Sam demands that all these souls be released, and Satan agrees, but tricks Sam into taking their place. Max frees Sam, only to discover Satan is no longer in charge of Hell, which has been taken over by the Soda Poppers. The trio fire Satan and initiate a series of new evil plots, but Sam and Max thwart each of these and convince Satan to join them in retaking Hell. The Soda Poppers assume demonic forms and attempt to kill Sam & Max, but are tricked into using their own banishing ritual against themselves, trapping them in a fiery pit and allowing Satan to take back control. Everyone then leaves to attend Abe and Sybil's wedding. In a post-credits scene, the Soda Poppers swear revenge, only to be killed by the diverted lava flow from Easter Island.
Episodes Episode Release date GameTap release General release "Ice Station Santa"November 8, 2007November 9, 2007 An ancient and bloated pagan god sends a bloodthirsty war robot to destroy Sam & Max. "Moai Better Blues"January 10, 2008January 11, 2008 Sam & Max travel to the tropics where they try to stop a volcanic eruption. "Night of the Raving Dead"February 12, 2008February 13, 2008 Sam & Max crash an emo European vampire's nightclub to stop a zombie apocalypse. "Chariots of the Dogs"March 13, 2008March 14, 2008 Sam & Max team up with Flint Paper to discover what happened to a missing Bosco. "What's New, Beelzebub?"April 10, 2008April 11, 2008 Sam & Max travel to hell to confront Satan and retrieve Bosco's lost soul.
Development
Release Unlike Save the World, where GameTap users were able to access each episode two weeks before it was available through Telltale's website, Beyond Time and Space reduced this period down to one day. The first episode, "Ice Station Santa", was released on November 8 on GameTap, followed by a worldwide release on November 9. The second episode was delayed until January 11, 2008. New episodes were thereafter released on the second Thursday and Friday of each month.
A playable demo of Episode 1: Ice Station Santa was released on the DVD home release of The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police in March 2008.
As with Save the World in 2007, Beyond Time and Space was released on Steam on May 16, 2008.
Atari published the physical versions of Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space worldwide for both Microsoft Windows (in 2009) and Wii (in 2010). The game also received fully localized releases in French and German, as well as Italian and Spanish subtitles for the foreign language versions of Beyond Time and Space.
Sam & Max Season One and Two were released for Xbox Live Arcade in February 2009. Telltale also officially named Season Two Beyond Time and Space. Remastered A remaster by Skunkape Games was released in December 2021 for Windows, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One, and in September 2022 for PlayStation 4. Like the Save the World remaster, it features new cinematics and music, improved character models and lighting, and some re-recorded dialogue.
Reception