Sam and Max return to retail

The 1993 LucasArts PC game Sam & Max Hit the Road was one of the traditional point-and-click adventure genre's last hurrahs. While the canine-and-lagamorph freelance police duo have returned in an episodic series of downloadable adventures from Telltale Games, they haven't set fuzzy foot in a retail game store for more than a decade.

That's set to change, because Telltale Games today announced agreements with publishers The Adventure Company and The JoWood Group that will see the first "season" of Sam & Max games released in stores worldwide this August.

The first four installments in the six-episode debut season have already been released online through subscription-based service GameTap as well as the Telltale Games Web site. The fifth episode, Reality 2.0, is expected to be released next month. Telltale currently sells episodes individually for $8.95, or as part of a season set for $34.95.

For more on the series, check out GameSpot's review of the most recent episode, Abe Lincoln Must Die!