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Sam & Max Hit the Road is a graphical adventure game, originally developed and released by LucasArts in 1993 for DOS and Macintosh computers. It is the ninth game to use the SCUMM adventure game engine.
Based on Sam & Max: Freelance Police comic book characters created by Steve Purcell, it follows the detective duo (Sam: a 6 foot anthropomorphic dog, and Max: a 3 foot "hyperkinetic rabbity thing") across a kitsch, tourist trap pastiche of America (featuring The World's Largest Ball of Twine) in search of an escaped sasquatch.
It introduced a slightly modified SCUMM interface - instead of the inventory and a panel with the control verbs appearing at the bottom of the screen, a right-click of the mouse cycles through a set of icons representing different control verbs, with the inventory as a separate screen. A similar interface was later used in The Dig and all SCUMM games that followed it.
It was written and designed by Steve Purcell along with Sean Clark, Collette Michaud and Michael Stemmle and commonly applauded for its substantial amount of humor. It was released simultaneously on floppy disk and CD-ROM; the CD version had a full voiceover soundtrack.
Technical issues
Though still available in stores, usually as a budget release, a major problem found by users of modern PCs is that no music can be heard. This problem is easily solved by one of two methods. Firstly an updated executable file can be obtained from the Unofficial Sam & Max Website,* which also includes basic anti-aliasing code to improve the visuals of the game.
Alternatively, ScummVM (or DOSBox) can be used to run this and many other LucasArts adventure games on a number of originally unsupported platforms while also having a number of optional filter settings for improved image quality.
Sequel
Nearly a decade after the release of the original adventure game, LucasArts issued a statement to the press on August 23, 2002 announcing a sequel to Sam & Max Hit the Road, titled Sam & Max Freelance Police. The sequel — like the original — was to be a point-and-click adventure game, although this time utilising 3D computer graphics. Mike Stemmle, co-designer of Sam & Max Hit the Road, was the lead director on this project with Steve Purcell contributing story design and concept art. Its unexpected cancellation caused an uproar among fans of the crime-fighting duo.
A second game was later announced by the newly formed Telltale Games, a company consisting of many ex-LucasArts employees. For more information on this title, see Sam & Max (computer game).
Trivia
- Another game by LucasArts, Shadows of the Empire (video game), featured collectible items called Challenge Points. Most of the points were in the shape of the Rebel Alliance's logo, although one of them, located on the 6th level just outside Mos Eisley, was shaped like Max's head.
- Dark Forces, by LucasArts, featured a hidden map shaped like Max's head.
- Dark Forces II, by LucasArts, featured a hostile 3D model of Max in a hidden room.
- Curse of Monkey Island by LucasArts, features a shape of Max's head in a lightshow on Plunder Island, at the stage.
- Full Throttle by LucasArts, featured a Max's head drawn on a wall during a destruction derby.
External links
1993 computer and video games | 1995 computer and video games | Adventure games | Comedy computer and video games | DOS games | LucasArts games | Mac OS games | Sam & Max | ScummVM supported games
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"Sam & Max Hit the Road"