Sam & Max Hit The Road - Sequels

Sequels

The first attempts at creating a sequel took place in September 2001 with Sam & Max Plunge Through Space. The game was to be an Xbox exclusive title, developed by Infinite Machine, a small company consisting of a number of former LucasArts employees. The story of the game was developed by series creator Steve Purcell and fellow designer Chuck Jordan and involved the Freelance Police travelling the galaxy to find a stolen Statue of Liberty. However, Infinite Machine went bankrupt within a year, and the project was abandoned.

At the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo convention, nearly a decade after the release of Sam & Max Hit the Road, LucasArts announced the production of a PC sequel, entitled Sam & Max: Freelance Police. Freelance Police, like Hit the Road, was to be a point-and-click graphic adventure game, utilising a new 3D game engine. Development of Freelance Police was led by Michael Stemmle, one of the original designers of Sam and Max Hit the Road. Steve Purcell contributed to the project by writing the story and producing concept art. The original voice actors for Sam and Max, Bill Farmer and Nick Jameson, were also set to reprise their roles. In March 2004, however, quite far into the game's development, Sam & Max: Freelance Police was abruptly cancelled by LucasArts, citing "current market place realities and underlying economic considerations" in a short press release. The fan reaction to the cancellation was strong; a petition of 32,000 signatures stating the disappointment of fans was later presented to LucasArts.

After LucasArts' license with Steve Purcell expired in 2005, the Sam & Max franchise moved to Telltale Games, a company of former LucasArts employees who had worked on a number of LucasArts adventure games, including on the development of Freelance Police. Under Telltale Games, a new episodic series of Sam & Max video games was announced. Like both Sam & Max Hit the Road and Freelance Police, Sam & Max Save the World was in a point-and-click graphic adventure game format, although it lacked the original voice actors for the characters. The first season ran for six episodes, each with a self-contained storyline but with an overall story arc running through the series. The first episode was released on GameTap in October 2006, with episodes following regularly until April 2007, and a special compilation on the Wii released in October 2008. A second season, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, began in November 2007 and ended in April 2008. This was also released as a compilation on the Wii. Originally thought to be released in 2009, a third season, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, began in April 2010.