"Ooh! Does this mean we get to kick some puffy, white, mad scientist butt?"
There's probably nothing quite as painful as failed humor. This has been my experience with quite a few amateur games that have attempted to channel the spirit of LucasArts, and also some of the Leisure Suit Larry games, among others. When the humor in question is subtle and cynical, sometimes it can just pass by harmlessly if it doesn't work. But when the humor is loud, abrasive, and way over the top, it either works beautifully or it crashes fantastically.
The game works so well as absurd humor because at first glance, it feels just like a kids' game. This dog and rabbit are just downright adorable! When they open their mouth, though, out comes a barrage of questionable language and insane humor, peppered with lots of big words thrown in for effect. Some of the things that come out of this fuzzy little bunny's mouth are still shocking to me (which may give you an idea why I use Max the rabbit as my forum avatar).
The game did away with the standard sentence-formation interface of previous SCUMM games, and reverted to more of a Sierra-style interface that fit much better with the spirit of the game. The technical aspects were all standard LucasArts excellence, with brilliant cartoon graphics and animation that inspired many future games, and stellar voice acting. The only aspect of the game that frustrates some is the sheer absurdity of the puzzles; you have to really think in a different way to proceed quickly in this game, and often times it forces the gamer to resort to a walkthrough. This is the only thing that keeps Sam & Max from a five-star rating.
Last time: Sam & Max checked in one spot higher, at #7. This doesn't really mean anything, it's just the way it played out this time.
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