In the world of video games, sequels can often be broken into two broad categories: games that tweak and improve upon their predecessors, and games that simply offer more of the same. After spending a good deal of time with Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space, I can comfortably say that it is the latter. Whether or not that’s good or bad is based completely on whether or not you liked the series’ previous Xbox Live Arcade outing, Sam & Max Save the World.

Gameplay:

In truth, Beyond Time and Space isn’t so much a sequel as it’s again a collection of “episodes” that continue the adventures of Sam the detective dog and Max the insane rabbitty thing. Rather than offering six episodes as Save the World did, BTS offers five this time and comes with a handful of extras like character bios and whatnot. That being said, nearly everything I wrote in my original review of Sam & Max Save the World can be applied to Beyond Time and Space, so forgive me if this seems rehashed.

Once again, players move Sam around the world freely (as, again, it should be noted that you really only play as Sam while Max still just wanders about). As the player, you must give him a location to move to by pressing A on the place you want him to move. It still seems as if it would’ve been more practical to move Sam around with the left stick and examine the useable/examinable objects around him with the A button, but that isn’t the case. As I said in my review of Save the World, a cursor works fine on a PC when you have a mouse, but on an Xbox controller it just doesn’t translate that well.

My reaction to the sitcom aspect of the game is much the same. The situations are still enjoyably strange, while the comedy mostly fell flat for me. Like I said in my review of Save the World, though, this could all be a matter of personal preference, and some players may find the humor much more engaging than I did. While I still found myself grinning or enjoying a quiet chuckle, I never really laughed out loud at the comedy or writing.

The gameplay can still be described as follows: Go to Bosco’s, talk to Bosco. Go to Sybil’s, talk to Sybil. Go back to Bosco’s. Go back to Sybil’s. Go back and forth and talk to the plot characters. Use acquired items 1 through 4 on plot character 1. Learn that you can’t use these items on plot character 1. Use acquired items 1 through 4 on plot character 2. Learn that you can’t use these items on plot character 2. Use acquired items 1 through 4 on plot character 3. Succeed with plot character 3, then realize that you can use item 2 on plot character 1. Repeat while sprinkling in mini-games appropriately. The only difference comes from replacing “Bosco’s/Sybil’s” with new locations and “Bosco/Sybil” with new characters.

Graphics:

Because Beyond Time and Space uses the same graphic engine as Save the World, nothing is any better or any worse, and that’s largely fine. As I said about StW, BTS is likewise a vibrant and colorful game with graphics very appropriate for the series. There are still better examples of cartoony prowess to be found, though, and while the graphics are, yes, two years old, that isn’t a very compelling reason for them to remain underwhelming.

Sound:

Like Save the World, Beyond Time and Space sounds fantastic. The music is, again, perfectly appropriate for each setting and each crazy scenario, and once again it’s very easy to listen to for extended periods of time (which you’ll be doing). While the ambience is still very good, the biggest strength remains, by far, the voice acting. Though I still wasn’t falling out of my chair laughing, the voice actors once again did a sensational job with their characters. Like StW, no one phoned in his performance for BTS, and each character’s voice matches the unique quirkiness of his character. For two collections now the casting has been very well done.

Longevity:

Even though Beyond Time and Space shrinks the episode list down to five from six, you’ll still get about 30 hours of gameplay for 1600 Microsoft Points ($19.99 / £13.60). Once again, though, you’ll need to fit into that adventure game niche to really get your money’s worth. Unfortunately, most of that length is still related to wandering around figuring out which peg goes into which hole. As in Save the World, neither Sam nor Max does a very good job of leaving you hints if you can’t figure out what to do next. This isn’t entirely unexpected, however, as the series was slightly dated before appearing on the 360, and thus the ported version we’re getting won’t have much room for improvement between seasons.

Overall:

Sam & Max: Beyond Time in Space is a solid, fun adventure game that fans of the series can easily get into. While casual players may be better off skipping the title, those looking to experience an adventure game for the first time would be hard pressed to find a better one for the length and price.