While the adventure game genre for the PC has certainly seen better days, if you consider the quality of some recent releases, one could be excused in thinking it might be making somewhat of a comeback. One of the more recent testaments to this surge in quality has been the Sam & Max series from Telltale Games, which has been seeing release in the form of episodes since late 2006 with a mixed, but mostly positive reception from fans of this genre and the Sam & Max franchise alike. We are now up to episode 6 and the last of the first 'season' - Sam & Max: Bright Side of the Moon.

Bright Side of the Moon, as you'd expect from what effectively would have been the final chapter in a fully fleshed out adventure game if Telltale opted for a traditional full game release, basically wraps up the loose ends in the previous episodes, and as such, you definitely should have at least played the previous release, "Reality 2.0", before firing up Bright Side of the Moon as from the very start it references the events from the previous episode which, without trying to spoil things for those who haven't played it yet, was left unfinished. References from all of the previous 5 episodes make an appearance in one form or another though - mostly as subtle jokes - so ideally you really should have played them all if you plan to get the full experience on offer.

As you'd expect, Bright Side of the Moon is basically just a storyline extension to the series featuring gameplay very similar to the previous episodes, and since I've already recommended that you play the previous episodes before getting into this one, you are either very familiar with the gameplay already, or will/should be before playing BSotM anyway. So while it seems redundant of me to sit here and discuss the gameplay mechanics of episode 6 in fine detail, perhaps this is a good time to wrap up the first season's gameplay as a whole - initially, we saw Telltale Games take a more fluent, storyline focused approach, but by the first few releases they seemed to adopt a more traditional adventure game approach, including more emphasis on puzzle solving and more "back and forth" gameplay - that is, going between a few areas at any given time collecting or modifying items to advance the storyline in other locations. BSotM is no exception as it follows this style exactly.

This is not to say the storyline took a back seat at any stage - if anything things definitely started to get a little crazier and interesting as the season went on - but the sense you get from BSotM compared to, say, Culture Shock (the first episode) is Telltale Games started treating each episode more like little full games than actual episodes with more gameplay obstacles rather than the storyline alone attempting to immerse the gamer. This really isn't necessarily bad or good - it may have been nice to see a more fluent feel from episode to episode with less in the way of potential frustrating gameplay but, like any adventure game, it's really a matter of personal taste than fact. Some people will love this style, others may feel indifferent about it.

Like the episodes before it, savvy gamers will likely have no troubles finishing BSotM in an afternoon which is to be expected from a 81MB, US$ 8.95 computer game. However, also like the more recent episodes before it, BSotM features puzzles that will definitely take quite a few gamers off guard as once again we see some pretty far out there problems and solutions. BSotM deals with supernatural forces so I'm sure you can already imagine some of the weird and wonderful mischief Sam and his buddy Max get in to. On the other hand though I can recall one or two puzzles that are so simple most gamers will probably get burnt and frustrated from over thinking. In fact, there is one specific simple puzzle (which I will only elaborate as something that's locked and needs unlocking) that I think will frustrate many, particularly those in the younger crowd. The reason I say this is because the method that the game requires to solve this solution is so dated that I don't think I've seen it referenced in anything for a very long time and I doubt it will even cross the minds of most gamers in their teens or early 20's without the aid of a walkthrough.

As is custom in any Sam & Max creation, BSotM offers a rather surreal experience with its storyline but also a very funny one. To be perfectly honest, I don't expect computer games to make me laugh - I don't usually play them to test my funny bone - but Telltale Games' Sam & Max episodes have been consistently achieving this for me and BSotM is no exception here either. Now, I'm not saying you'll fall off your chair in hysterics, but I must commend Telltale in achieving humor that never really seems to come off as forced. Most of the humor stems from Sam's clever references supplemented by the 'wise guy' antics from Max, but the support characters in the game also crack their share of funnies. Despite the sometimes frustrating puzzles, BSotM was enjoyable to play because it made me chuckle early on and kept the pace of decent humor very nicely throughout the entire game. However, with that said, a lot of the humor in BSotM can be found in objects and dialogues not central to the storyline so if you don't play this game with enthusiasm and try to click on and do everything you possibly can, you will miss on quite a few jokes.

Once again, like the episodes before it, BSotM features a classic cartoon style adventure game look with its graphics but does so in a 3D environment - or at least 3D in the sense the character and environment models are mostly done in 3D. Obviously, keeping to the traditional feel of a point and click adventure game, the camera is fixed and not freely moveable but that's not to say the game doesn't make good use of the three dimensions on offer, as you can move about freely in the environments, provided you're inside the invisible wall barriers anyway. On top of the well suited cartoon graphics, once again the voice acting on offer is top notch and adds to the humor well. The only issue I have with the game engine is sometimes the camera can be annoying as you move from one area to another, but this is only a very small speck on an otherwise well designed and made game.

You've really gotta' give it to Telltale Games - not only did they take on a very tough to reproduce franchise in Sam & Max with success, they also did it while deploying a reasonably ground breaking episodic digital distribution system which ultimately ended up working well. I'm not really sure I would prefer it over a full game release, but at least this way gamers were able to start playing the new Sam & Max games earlier than they would have if Telltale waited until all episodes were done. As for Bright Side of the Moon itself, it caps off what has been a memorable 1st season with the expected level of high quality consistency seen throughout the previous episodes but at the same time it doesn't change anything significantly so it isn't going to change your opinion on the series if you haven't liked it so far. In turn, BSotM is strictly for those who have kept up with the series and nothing more. If this is you, it's an absolute no brainer purchase as it does do a good job of wrapping the 1st season up in a nice little package.