Born for Wii: Sam & Max Hit the Road
by Wesley Fenlon 
{ Sep 2nd 2008 at 1:32PM }
In 1987 Lucasfilm Games (now better known as Lucasarts) released a little game called Maniac Mansion. And while Maniac Mansion is a great game in its own right, the effects of its creation were considerably more significant -- it kicked off more than a decade of Lucasarts adventure games, launched the SCUMM engine that would form the framework for each adventure, and inadvertently led to the production of some of the best PC games of all time. One of those games was Sam & Max Hit the Road.Arguably released at the height of the adventure game's popularity in 1993, Sam & Max Hit the Road is possibly the zaniest of Lucasarts's adventure titles. The titular characters were originally created for a comic book by artist/writer Steve Purcell, but they eventually found their way into Lucasarts when Purcell began working on games such as The Secret of Monkey Island. Sam, the leader of the pair, is a canine gumshoe decked out in the traditional film noir suit and tie. Max is a lagomorph, though he's often referred to as a "hyperkinetic rabbity thing" who has a penchant for violence. Together, they are the freelance police, and their original 1993 adventure outing is the perfect opportunity for the Wii to catch a classic.
Gallery: Born for Wii: Sam & Max Hit the Road
Every week, Born for Wii digs into gaming's sordid past to unearth a new treasure fit for revival on the Nintendo Wii. Be sure to check out last week's entry in the series, Power Stone 2, and for more great titles that deserve your attention, take a look at Virtually Overlooked.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chalito @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:33PM
You're late to the party :)
Sam & Max Hit the Road has been playable on Wii for some time now, thanks to homebrew and ScummVM (using the pc version of the game).
Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC4IN2t35sg
Peter S @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:31PM
So true. This is a great game. I am glad to see Sam & Max Episode 1 for the Wii, but really would love to see a lot of these older classics re-done. There are some great games out there that would be worth paying a small bit of money for if they were made to work well on the Wii. It and the DS seem particularly well suited to games like this. I remember trying to play these games on consoles or early GB flavors, but the touch-screen and/or pointer really make these usable.
Ethan @ Sep 2nd 2008 3:47PM
Scummvm should be a virtual console category. That really would bring some great games to a massive audience.
Bryan @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:10PM
I actually tried out Hit the Road using my disc version and ScummVM and you're absolutely right - this is a game that needs to be on the Wii. I would definitely consider buying an updated VC/WiiWare version, especially one that lets me save, which my ScummVM version does not.
Fullmetal Salchemist @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:15PM
You forgot:
Fact: LucasArts is currently run by douchebags and cuntswillers, and we'll probably never see the golden age adventure games again.
....unless Steve Purcell kept all rights to Hit the Road. I don't remember. It'd be awesome if he did.
ChaoticTails @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:48PM
This game can be played on Wii- Buy a copy, dump it pop it on an SD card with the homebrew channel and ScummVM and you're all set.
Danny @ Sep 4th 2008 6:01AM
I absolutely agree, i loved that game so much.. so many good memories. Who remembers its theme tune 'Hit the road Jack, and dont you come back, no more..... ' friggin loved that. this game MUST be on WiiWare!!