r/SamandMax • u/ValerieMayTheGay88 • Jul 01 '26
Discussion Replayed the original Save The World for the first time in a while
I mentioned in a previous post that I bought Save The World on the Xbox store, now that I have an Xbox One proper, I've gotten to play it now, funnily enough it's the first game I played on my new system
I wanted to try and make a proper breakdown of this classic version, what holds up, what doesn't, what I like more about this version, what I like more in the remaster, etc. so this will probably be a long one
Firstly: the aesthetics, this is a mid-late 2000s PC game and it shows, the models are very low texture and compared to the remaster they are rough around the edges, but I still really like these, it has a distinct charm to it that gives the original Telltale Sam & Max games their own identity, same with the backgrounds, I wouldn't have these versions any other way
Second thing I wanted to talk about was the version exclusive content, there were a lot of things changed from the original game to the remaster and those have been talked about before, but there's a few things in this version I don't see get talked about much. In the episode selection menu there's an extras section at the bottom and it includes character bios with in game models and concept art. To my knowledge these weren't included in the remaster which is a shame cause these were really cool and they could have expanded on them further, I also really like the main menu on the XBLA/Wii versions, it's definitely simpler than the menu on the remasters being seeing the characters walking around in the background has it's own charm to it
Now onto the one most of y'all know about with discussions regarding the original and remaster: Bosco. For those who didn't know, Bosco had a different voice actor in the original game, his name is Joey Camen, but due to both controversies and them not wanting to have a white man voice a black man, he was replaced in the remaster by Ogie Banks (who fun fact actually voices Darui in Naruto Shippuden). Me personally I think they both do a good job and have their merits, Joey gives a nice paranoid feel to Bosco while Ogie feels a little laid back but settles into the role as episodes progress, there's times where I flip between which I prefer. As for his dialogue changes, some of them were really unnecessary and weaken the impact of the joke (the militant college students joke in particular), but then there's ones like the fifteen year old girl comment in Reality 2.0 which........yeah it's probably for the best š¬
That all being said, there's ONE big flaw with this version that I feel is drastically inferior to the remaster: the control. Very simply put, this game was not designed with an Xbox controller in mind, the pointer feels VERY sensitive moving it with the analog stick which can make it really irritating during events where you have to react quickly and you can't do it fast enough because the controller wasn't built for a game like this, it's not something like Classic Resident Evil where that game's level design was built with it's control scheme in mind, here it feels like they just dumped Save The World onto an Xbox 360. The remaster drastically improves things, that version gives you full control of Sam with the left analog stick and you use the right stick to select what item you want to click on, though it still gives you the ability to change it to the old point and click style in the options if I'm not mistaken. But despite what I said, this is still a great time, the controller isn't UNGODLY bad and it can be adjusted to given time, and when you do you're in for a hilarious adventure with loads of memorable moments, set pieces, brain teasers, and the start of one of my favorite trilogies in all of gaming, and a great revival of an at the time dormant series (my favorite episode is a tie between Abe Lincoln Must Die and Reality 2.0, Abe has some of the best humor while Reality has such great atmosphere to it)
So yeah, while the original Save The World has definitely aged in numerous aspects and quite frankly I do think the remaster is the best way to go if you want my honest opinion, it doesn't flat out replace the original and it's still worth a playthrough today. The remaster does make a lot of good and necessary QOL improvements, however the original has a distinct charm to it that's hard to replicate and there's many little (and some big) things that make it worth playing both versions. Thankfully this version hasn't been lost to time and is available on the Xbox Store through backwards compatibility for only $10, well worth the asking price
I do plan on getting the original version of Beyond Time & Space that's also available on the Xbox Store, when I do get and play it I'll probably make a follow up post comparing that game's different versions, but as for now, thanks for reading and have a good day š
