Sam and Max: The Devil's Play House Review (Switch)

Written by Thomas G.J. Sharpe

I had briefly played the 2007 Sam and Max game by Telltale Games when it released, with all the appropriate eagerness of a rabid fan of Sam and Max Hit the Road and everything that creator Steve Purcell had a hand in. I bought Hit the Road in the US, in it’s full big-box, extra item-laden glory, at the height of the Lucasarts golden era. That game, with its full talkie CD-ROM treatment is a high point of the genre, to this day. The Devil’s Playhouse, as a part of the franchise that followed, has a nigh-on impossible job. This has been demonstrated for years after Monkey Island 1 and 2, where even the excellent Curse of Monkey Island, was burdened with the weight of nostalgia, historic success, and fan expectation. When I played through this post-Telltale remaster, I had to bat away much of this predictable and rather useless rose-tinted baggage. A team of ex-Telltale developers, under the moniker of Skunkape, have been breathing fresh life into this set of Sam and Max titles, that do a great job of capturing the essence of Purcell’s absurd creations. 

These are point and click adventure games of the generation spawned from Grim Fandango (the poster child of the post-2D world). While even Hit the Road had some 3D elements in it’s visuals, the whole way PnC could be played changed. Playhouse has scenes to puzzle through that operate and utilise the 3D-ness of the locations. The essential parts are there; inventory, dialogue options, and the modern squishing of action-verb tables or radials into a more succinct action prompt. There is a lovely comic-style feel to GUI and a charming little illustration of Sam when choosing some dialogue points on a radial. A key twist to this story is Max’s use of the Devil’s Toybox, which provide him with means to use all sorts of strange powers. This fits right in with Max’s frenetic weirdness, but in gameplay terms, keeps him much more engaged than previously. While Sam is still our straight-er man (dog), Max is less of a prop this way, or a means to deliver a psychopathic one-liner. Long and the short of Sam and Max as a concept, if you’ve not encountered it before, is a banjo playing, revolver wielding dog and an insane rabbit solve crimes in a bizarre bastardisation of the United States (that really just seems like the real United States a lot of the time).

After Sam and Max Save the World and then Beyond Time and Space, The Devil’s Playhouse appears to have some continuity, but not so much that I couldn’t enjoy it having not played the others. The episodic structure of the original Seasons is present, that feeds into the “case of…” detective schtick, and neatly providing some way to pace and metre out the plot points. As the scenarios are typically surreal and/or zany, they need to move fast. Most parts of this move at a decent whack, despite most of the entertainment of the thing being rooted in the classic point and click space of dialogue. There are consistent and reliable laughs in The Devil’s Playhouse, which is a relief given the IP. I didn’t expect to be amused this much. Often it was the dialogue itself, with it being quick and piercing to a great degree. This may lack the more scathing social satire of Purcell’s comics, there is enough of the absurd, the violent, and the indiscriminate about it. The sensibilities of both characters are dutifully flippant. They fight crime and cause more damage than the villains, and this is just how it should be.

There are memorable characters a plenty. My personal favourites were a set of talking radio gadgets, Sal the security cockroach, and the tin can army of Maimtron robots. The voice acting often hits the comedy mark instead of the lines themselves, and these are enthusiastically performed. Even at times, there is unexpected emotion and depth to what is inherently a very pulpy scenario. There is also a stand-out apex of the episodes here in “They Stole Max’s Brain” (“based on the similarly titled novel by Jane Austen” is one of the best lines in the game), where the drama ramps up and things get dark. Sam is always the best for me when he’s on tilt.

The graphics look great compared to the original game (from a little glance at some videos). The environments to have a slight sparse feel at times that does date it. These are remasters that will hopefully make the games up to date enough to smooth a modern audience into engaging. Subsequent Telltale games after these ones notched up the visuals, design and scene setting each time until it became the license hoover it did. I believe that these games will instantly be more accessible to modern audiences than any 2D PnC, however old feeling some of it is.

I will look to play the first two collections of episodes at some point as these feel they represent the true sequel to a beloved game of mine. You can feel the influence of the Lucasart era, and not just because of the closeness of some designers and writers, but just how well others have taken the characters and made them work in new but faithful ways. This is a great success that doesn’t have the baggage of a lot of the “cool” licenses that can get in the way of other Telltale games for me, and Skunkape have buffed it up real nice. Bravo.

Overall 9/10

Aero the Acrobat 2 Review (SNES)

We reviewed the first Aero game a little while back and found it to be a solid platformer that had enough character to stand out in a crowded market, For those that didn’t think the release of Aero the Acrobat was obscure enough though, here comes the even rarer sequel. We are pleased to say that while the general circus aesthetic of the original made it stand out in terms of setting, the sequel is generally a much better game overall.

Aero 2 is very much a looker of a game. The first game was bright and colourful, but everything here has certainly had an upgrade. Colours are brighter and pixels seems sharper and bolder. The environments may have lost their theme, but it gives much more variety to levels and allows for some fun design. In motion the game is incredibly slick as well and flows very smoothly.

The characters movement has also been tightened up. The first game was a little lose with some of the collision detection and the controls in general feeling slightly off. This isn’t the case for the sequel, and everything has been refined and tightened considerably. This makes the overall experience much more fun and coupled with the graphical face lift really helps to elevate the experience.

In terms of moves, Aero is still pretty much the same. You still have the jump and twist to hit enemies or extend your leap and you can still pick up stars to use as weapons. There are environmental changes though, such as bells to swing from and cogs that fling you around. There are also some levels which have you snowboarding or introduce other gimmicks that give the player something different to do and think about.

Overall, it’s really nice to have Aero 2 revived for a new audience. The character itself is fine and the first game is solid, but this sequel is one of the standout late releases of the SNES’ life. If you were to try and pick up an original cartridge it would set you back a small fortune, so to have it so easily available now can only be a good thing. It looks like the Aero love is continuing with the GBA game and spinoff coming soon. Long may this revival of more obscure games continue.

Overall 8/10

Shovel Knight Dig Review (Switch)

 Review by Thomas G.J. Sharpe

Shovel Knight Dig joins a small, but compelling, coterie of games that plunge down ‘tward the core like in that film where a group of scientists go to the centre of the earth to restart it with nukes, but the name escapes me.

Dig is on one hand really familiar territory. Blue Knight is back with his sort of unflappable-yet-flailing charm. The moveset is pretty much the same, as it has been, since Shovel of Hope, but there’s an emphasis on the digging (deeply unsurprising). You’re urged downward, making the most of Blue’s Duck Tails-esque pogo-shovel jump attack. Enough is changed by this 90-degree clockwise spin rotate, to give a fun, if short, addition to the series. Unlike Downwell, for instance, you are not in free fall. And unlike Raising Hell, you’re not going up. There is still a “room” quality to the progression. You go down, dig, collect loot, traverse environmental traps, shovel enemies, and that’s about it. Occasionally there are bosses to cap off sections, where you get a choice of two paths. Also, shops to change your loadout and thus alter your stats, help to give some purpose to the greed.

It is important to stress that this has rogue-lite elements to it. A persistent hub area with a host of wonderfully realised characters (by far, to me, the crowning glory of the series is the character design, animation, and writing). You collect armour sets, trade in gems for relics, and therefore have some control over your gameplay feel. This is, admittedly, quite thin, as the level traversal is the real loop here. And by loop, yeah, you go back into the hole in the ground caused by the schemes of (checks notes) Drill Knight, to pursue him and your pilfered loot, over and over until you get to the end. I haven’t gotten to the end, but all reports I have read seem to suggest a reasonably short experience of around five hours if you slightly backseated a 100% completion of collectibles, and were any good at it. I, for one, am not enhanced in my ability to play platformers whichever way the action in the game is moving toward, be it down, up, or the traditional right.

The game was responsive, looked great, and sounded superb. Another highlight of this series is the music, and this is no exception. Shovel Knight has consistently managed to find that sweet spot of nostalgia and newness, evoking something at once familiar and yet not tired, or second-hand. With a toe dipped into the one-more-round paddling pool, there is a different motivation than a traditional level-beating goal. It puts a lot of the load onto the satisfaction of competency through iteration. If you must repeat sections (however differently randomised) you get a keen sense of your change as a player. Part of my love of Hades for instance, was the creeping skill wall. The risk is, perhaps, how this sense of progression is felt by the player, and those permanent upgrades do help, but sometimes short play time can do it too. I will see where the load shifts to, or whether the pursuit of collectibles rears its strange head.

All in all, Dig is as consistent, enjoyable, and effective as ever. I consider these games to be a part of the high-water mark of the new platforming set. With the exemplary visual design, they’re not afraid to try these twists, like Pocket Dungeon, to capture a whole new way to engage with their gorgeous world and loveable characters.

Overall 8/10

Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space Review (Switch)

We covered the first in the Telltale Sam and Max trilogy a few weeks ago and now the duo is back with their second collection of five episodes. This time our heroes are dealing with everything from Santa Claus demons and vampire rockstars to time traveling Mariachi band aliens. Much like the previous collection, the game isn’t perfect but there is still nothing quite like following around the mad-cap duo with their dry and slightly psychotic brand of humour.

Little has changed in terms of structure from before. The game is still set in a 3D world which our heroes wandering around looking for things to interact with. There’s help in the form of the shoulder buttons which will highlight interactive elements of the scenes and you can also set Max to give you hints about what to do at varying intervals which we found was a good way to keep the story moving.

The aim of each chapter is to solve the various puzzles and mysteries in classic point and click style by collecting objects and using them in weird and wonderful ways. This being a Sam and Max game though you really have to get your lateral thinking skills going, and even then we found some puzzles fell too far into surreal obscurity for most normal humans at times. At least locations are kept fairly tight so there’s always the option of just talking to everyone and trying everything everywhere.

It's fair to say that the episodes get better and more creative as you progress. The opening chapter based around a demon taking over the north pole dragged a bit and this is followed by a Bermuda Triangle based chapter which we found quite fiddly. Next though is a great chapter about zombies, featuring a vein vampire holding a European dance rave, This is then followed by the alien time travelling Mariachi band which has some of the funniest dialogue. The final chapter rounds everything off well and doing just enough to send you back to the eShop to pick up the final game in the trilogy.

Some of the complaints about the previous game are still relevant of course. Again, these were released originally as standalone episodes so there is a certain number of repetitive locations and environments. It’s something the game even references at one point. At least this time you are mostly whisked away to other locations though which does give much needed variety. There’s also some silly mini games to help keep things interesting as well. You are still going to be visiting Bosco’s Shop, Stinky’s Diner and Sybils Office a lot though.

We found the writing to be a lot sharper than the first game though. Max in particular seems to be much more on point. Seemingly a case of the writers and voice actors having got more comfortable with characters again. It means it’s well worth clicking on everything and seeking out the additional dialogue options in order to hear all the jokes and quips and the game is consistently funny throughout all the episodes.

Overall, Sam and Max: Beyond Space and Time is an enjoyable and welcome continuation for the crime fighting dog and rabbit. There’s nothing here that’s going to put you off if you have played the previous games and, in all likelihood, you’ll finish this then head straight back to get the next episode. The locations are a bit more inventive than the first game as well and writing is certainly sharper. A very welcome addition to the Switch point and click library.

Overall 7/10

Shadow of the Ninja Reborn Review (Switch)

 

I don’t think anyone had relatively obscure NES game Shadow of the Ninja on their bingo card for a revival this year. But Atari, Natsume and others are going all out to squeeze every piece of equity from gamings now lengthy back catalogue.  We have played the original game though and it’s a fun take on the platform genre that tries to distance itself from the Gaiden series as much as possible.

As an update, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is a strange sort of game. If you think back to the days of the NES, a lot of games were ported from the arcade. This take on the franchise looks to reverse the approach. Taking what was an 8-bit game and imaging how it would work as an arcade game. Changing its level design, how the game plays and boosting its graphics to be bigger and more colourful.

The game is pretty hardcore in terms of difficulty. Players can pick from normal or hard to begin with (pick normal), and once your energy bar has depleted you die and start the stage again. There are two or three checkpoints throughout levels though and normally one before boss fights as well. You also have unlimited continues and the game will also give you more health pick ups and items if you get stuck dying on a particular section, so at least it does try and keep players going. Despite the arcade nature of the game, you don’t have to play through from the beginning each time either as it’ll autosave your progress and unlock levels as time attack stages once completed.

In terms of your ninja, you have a couple of cool weapons at your disposal. You have your basic sword which can be upgraded to sort of fire swooshy things. It can also block a lot of projectiles that are fired your way which is a nice touch. You also have a sort of grappling hook weapon which has a decent range and can be used to attack enemies from different angles. This also upgrades to add length and extra spikes. You can also find a host of other weapons and items which are limited use. We did find most of them took far too long to use though so tended to stay with the basic sword and hook set up.

There are a few issues with controls unfortunately. The standard sword swipe and jump are fine, but you can also sort of wall run and jump but it never felt natural to pull off and sticking to surfaces also seemed a bit hit and miss. In terms of using items there’s an odd selection process. Pressing the shoulder button selects whatever your closest item on your inventory is. However, logically, pressing the button multiple times should really syphon through your inventory, but to actually do that you need to hold the button down and then use arrows to shift through. It is rarely practical to do this to the point it makes the inventory almost useless for large parts of the levels.

Level design and enemies though are generally pretty cool. There’s a wide range of opponents who attack you in different ways and the sort of sci-fi cyber design works well. Bosses are varied and creative and follow attack patterns which will need to be learned to down them. They are pretty well balanced though with just the right amount of health and work as highlights rather than annoyances.

Overall, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is a fun and creative throwback to arcade games of the 90’s. it’s not perfect but the annoyances never stop it from being fun. The difficulty is something players will have to get used to, but the game at least tried to help you out when you start to really struggle. If you like arcade action platformers then this will likely be right up your alley. A very well thought out use of an old and obscure IP.

Overall 8/10