Thu Apr 10, 2008 — by Karl Cramer

Final Episode of 'Sam & Max: Season Two' Wraps

The comic book detectives are quietly becoming kings of multimedia

That's a wrap. Steve Purcell's Sam & Max have just finished the second season of their episodic computer game series with the latest chapter, "What's New, Beelzebub?" scheduled for release on Friday, April 11. Not only is it remarkable in its own right as one of the few successful examples of episodic content in videogames, but that Sam & Max has discretely become one of the best quality franchises in the realm of multimedia.

Originally a comic book released under various publishers, the dog and rabbit detectives took on hilarious cases with a unique outlook: Sam used wry observations, Max used psychotic threats of violence. Before long, they became a hit computer game in the DOS days of  computers, a television series and an Eisner-nominated webcomic.

The latest bit of multimedia stardom for the franchise has arrived via critically acclaimed episodic content videogames. In this format, smaller chunks of games are sold online and released on a shortened schedule as opposed to a single, standalone game release every few years. In the end, it's like watching a television program season-by-season instead getting the boxed-set DVD. And just like television, episodic videogames have annual seasons that continue the adventures as long as the public wants them. And with storylines that involve assasinating the Lincoln memorial after it comes to life and decides to run for office, how could the public not ask for more?

You can download one of the episodes from the first season of Sam & Max absolutely free. (Psst... There's a wickedly funny Superman joke contained within the game, comics fans.) If the first episode gives you the game bug, you can purchase more episodes or the Season One Collected Edition.

On a related note, Sam & Max producer Telltale Games recently announced that Season One would be coming to the Nintendo Wii system. However, in a little bit of ComicMix exclusive news, Marketing Coordinator Emily Morganti revealed that the rumored Xbox Live Arcade version of the episodic content would not be coming anytime soon, saying, "We'd like to bring Sam & Max to XBLA some day, but right now it's not something we're working on. We had a huge fan response to the idea of Sam and Max on the Wii, so it felt like the right place to start."

Since even the PC version is basically just pointing and clicking, we can hardly disagree that the Nintendo Wiimote is ideal for this kind of game. Just make sure the strap is on your wrist, because you might laugh enough to drop the controller.

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