The Sam & Max music
I almost forgot one of the most important and appealing aspects of the first SAM & MAX game; the MUSIC.
Don't know who created the music for SAM & MAX: HIT THE ROAD, but it was really good and unique for inclusion in a game. No other adventure game of its time had quite the same mix of jazz & swinging melodies. It was really a milestone in that department. (The game CD could also be put in a CD player and listened to).
Was it jazz? Was it be-bop? Was it blues? Whatever it was, it was great and it enhanced the game 1000%. I hear in the trailer you've got that 'BIG-BAND/BROADWAY MUSICAL' sound going again, although you can hear it's synthesized...maybe that's good? The end bit of the audio reminds me of INDIANA JONES & THE FATE OF ATLANTIS. If it were possible to get a fully orchestrated soundtrack going, it's a decision you won't regret. It makes SUCH a difference. It's that 'CHURCH ORGAN' honkey-tonk sound, THAT'S what it is! Include that in the game. Also the XYLOPHONES. They're in the trailer, you have to listen for them, once you pick it out you can't miss it. Less of the trumpets, and you're on the right track. Whoever's doing the audio has done his/her homework.
Don't know who created the music for SAM & MAX: HIT THE ROAD, but it was really good and unique for inclusion in a game. No other adventure game of its time had quite the same mix of jazz & swinging melodies. It was really a milestone in that department. (The game CD could also be put in a CD player and listened to).
Was it jazz? Was it be-bop? Was it blues? Whatever it was, it was great and it enhanced the game 1000%. I hear in the trailer you've got that 'BIG-BAND/BROADWAY MUSICAL' sound going again, although you can hear it's synthesized...maybe that's good? The end bit of the audio reminds me of INDIANA JONES & THE FATE OF ATLANTIS. If it were possible to get a fully orchestrated soundtrack going, it's a decision you won't regret. It makes SUCH a difference. It's that 'CHURCH ORGAN' honkey-tonk sound, THAT'S what it is! Include that in the game. Also the XYLOPHONES. They're in the trailer, you have to listen for them, once you pick it out you can't miss it. Less of the trumpets, and you're on the right track. Whoever's doing the audio has done his/her homework.
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The music for Sam & Max Hit the Road was in fact done largely by Clint Bajakian (who also scored Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis), with some input from Peter McConnell (who is most well known for his work on the music in Grim Fandango but also worked on many other LucasArts adventures). Clint is now a music director at Sony Interactive and seems to be enjoying himself.
The person doing the music for Telltale's Sam & Max game is Jared Emerson-Johnson, who you may recognize as the person who did the exellent soundtracks to our first two Bone episodes. (You can also hear his music in the Sam & Max trailer)
Jared actually got his start writing music for games by working with Clint Bajakian for around two years, starting with the score to Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, which the two of them co-wrote.
As for live music in Sam & Max I don't know what the plan is on that but I know getting live musicians has been discussed and is wanted.
Tee hee. I wonder if they know that game's been released for 12 years already. They can already play it even!
This isn't that game
Well, in some ways, perhaps I can't help it.
You know, of all the games that were released in and around 1993, SAM & MAX & DAY OF THE TENTACLE were the only games I bought. Why? Because I could see the LOVE that went into them.
I don't know Steve Purcell at all, but I instantly associaited with the characters and the LOVE and SELF that was poured into the game was immediately noticeable.
I find that's just not common nowdays; companies churn out pieces of mass-produced junk one after the other. When SAM & MAX: HIT THE ROAD came out, it was really a breath of fresh air. It's easy for someone with more money than sense to extinguish that flame. Of course, I know TELLTALE is something special as many of the staff are ex-Lucasarts employees who in fact worked on such gems as SAM & MAX, INDIANA JONES, MONKEY ISLAND & DAY OF THE TENTACLE.
It'd be a pity if this game came and was went like thousands of other releases every year, just to be forgotten about, only to be found at the bottom of the bargain bin someday. Excuse the seriousness of it all, but when I saw Steve Purcell's artwork for the cover of HIT THE ROAD, it started something for me and now I have an awesome career as a freelance illustrator/animator. So it's kind of a big deal. I don't even live in America and Sam & Max & their humor influenced me hugely. I live in South Africa (where the hell? It's on the tip of Africa. Yes, we have computers
why wouldnt they.. it is a sequel to hit the road right? there is a reason most of us are here 13 years later interested in a new sam and max game.. Hit the road was the best..and funniest game I ever played..
Yes spot on.. I have the hit the road soundtrack on my ipod its that good.. I just wish there could be a live band to replay that music..its so good.. ball of twine and the sam and max theme were my favs.. In fact i liked the music so much i remember i used to go into that screen where u could view a day of the tentacle trailer..and just play the theme..over n over again.. Loved the music they had in the freelance police trailer.. and am hoping for more of the same.. some classic jazz to go along with the sam and max universe..that kind of music just fits really well
It isn't, really. It's a game made with the same characters, by a few of the same people, but it's not a sequel.
In many ways Telltale and Steve have a lot more freedom to be creative with Sam & Max than they would be if they were making a direct sequel to Hit the Road...
On the subject of the music, I agree that something jazz or swing inflected works really well (I suppose hoping for something in the vein of Jim Thirlwell's more horn-driven work would be going too far), and this is generally the route the cartoon series took as well if I remember correctly.
I really hope Jared is going Jazz with this (is there actually a way to contact him? PM me if yes
Real musicians... I guess that's a must... but does that fit into the budget? I hope so...
That maybe true, but what I said was that people want it to -be- Sam & Max Hit The Road. Even if it -was- Hit The Road 2, it'd -never- be exactly the same as the original. It appears as if some people want every minute detail to be exactly like it was in Hit The Road... which is neither very creative nor reasonable.
If you listen to the end of the trailer (in the white room) you can hear the old main theme referenced at least in spirit, so hey.
That said, Telltale's Sam & Max is exactly that - Telltale's Sam & Max. It's a new Sam & Max game, not "Hit The Road 2." It seems in the last couple of days people have been putting a lot of emphesis on the "Hit the Road" and not so much on "Sam & Max." Everyone around here loves the first game, and we've all spent hours thinking about what made that game great and what made it maybe not as great - it's all floating around in our heads all the time. I promise.
As for the topic at hand, I'm sure the music will include some references to the great sound of the old game, but it would be a crime to ask our composer to adhere to it simply for the sake of replicating something someone has already done.
Jake's advice: Wait and see. With the music as with everything relating to this game, you may not get exactly what you were expecting, but I think you'll be very pleased with the results.
The blend of film noir detective stories, the unbridled violence, the improbable assignments and the goofball attitudes of the characters is what makes Sam & Max absolutely unique, in my view.
I'm just hoping their new creative freedom lets the Telltale team darken the whole thing up a bit. The "Hit the road" game was, let's face it, a lot more family-oriented than the comics, so hopefully a bit more of the duo's noir side will shine through in the new game [>:)]
But going back to the topic, the jazzy soundtrack of the first game is astonishingly good. That and the soundtrack of Ecco the Dolphin (of all things) are my favourite background music for working, reading, programming, whatever else I do on my computer.
That's part of the plan.
Here's a quote from an interview Kevin Bruner did last fall with Adventure Gamers:
Full interview.
If that's the case, then there's quite a big market for Sam & Max. Essentially, they're 2 detectives that solve crime cases, am I right? The fact that they're a crazy rabbit and a wise-crack dog is besides the point (but very cool).
It's actually somewhat rare to get unsynthesized music for a production these days, although I guess if it's jazzy stuff that'd cost less (as opposed to full orchestras). Even a Warner Bros. animated series like Justice League Unlimited can't manage to get the budget for an orchestra these days. I think 24 also uses synth music in lieu of an orchestra for most of its soundtrack.
Bottom line, I'm not expecting anything higher-quality than what was in the trailer. But that's good enough for me, as long as the music itself is good and works.
BTW, I think the CD tracks on the original Sam & Max CD might actually have been synth -- just high-quality synth.
I think you're right.
You are correct, sir. Apart from Bumpus' voice, of course
I really look forward to hearing how it sounds.
I think everyone here has very fond memories of the original Sam & Max video game - It's the reason they are so interested in the Telltales’ take on the franchise.
Damn right it is - since the interest in this title is garnered almost exclusively from the Lucasarts adventure, any other video game released in the same universe is going to be compared - Another point & click adventure game doubly so.
It doesn’t make Telltales’ life any easier sure, but these are smart guys they would have known the following the original games has (even 13 years down the road) when tendering for the contract.
That’s not to say all I want is the same game [engine] with smarter graphics, but I do want the same humour, playability, type of secondary character, etc... Essentially I want the Sam & Max universe to be as realised as it was 13 years ago
(Quake4 wasn’t developed by ID, but there were still comparisons to previous versions of quake)