Pajama Sam 2: Thunder and Lightning Aren't So Frightening

My memories of Pajama Sam must go back to when I was four (or even younger!!!). His games and those of the other big Humongous heroes (Freddi Fish, Spy Fox, Putt-Putt) were alongside Nancy Drew and Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets as my favorite PC games. This was before I had a PS2 - they were one of many things I ‘inherited’ from my older siblings. If you were a kid in the 90s - 2000’s, you may recall how Humongous games were a treasure. The way Humongous had these faint images of the characters and places you see in the game on the covers was like your own memories of it. Seeing how Pajama Sam is a series of dreams, this effect is even more present. The fact many game discs wound up broken or wonky in some way added to the novelty back then. To this day I look back on Humongous games with fondness, and as an added bonus, their soundtracks were surprisingly quality.

Pajama Sam had the best games though. Freddi and Putt-Putt had plenty of Humongous’ warmth and charm, while my one Spy Fox game, Dry Cereal, was fun and clever, but Pajama Sam was the most unique and creative. Each game had Sam, the aspiring superhero, daydreaming to a different world while trying to conquer his fears. The one that always stood out the most was this, Thunder & Lightning. Sam finds himself in a weather factory, one situated in the clouds. He’s given the mission to find four lost pieces of the weather machine after he hits the ‘red button’ in the weather’s ‘master control room’ by mistake, which breaks the machines apart. The machinery you see along the way is shown to be the source of all weather - wind, rain, sun, etc. - and this incredible setting matched with one of the best, catchiest Humongous soundtracks makes it my favorite Humongous game. They pulled off the PJ formula well with the first game but I think this is the game that reached it’s true potential.

Seriously, World Wide Weather (the name of the place) makes the first game’s Land Of Darkness look mundane by comparison. It’s also detailed and clever - the weather machines are elaborate and huge, with several little mechanisms working at once, while the office building has it’s own ‘suggestions department' taking submissions for ‘new types of weather’. The personification of Mother Nature oversees everything. The game’s world has a dreamlike quality where some things don’t really add up or make much sense - for example, why would one of the weather machine pieces wind up in a vending machine, why does the gate to WWW talk, and why does the vacuum cleaner act like a dog? It perfectly creates the feeling of a kid's imagination, making this the ideal setting for a young children’s game. Seeing Sam run past all these (rather precarious) floating floors in this make-believe sky-world excited me back then. Humongous were obviously the sort of developers who aimed at doing just that - appealing to kids’ imaginations - with their games, so I think they accomplished their goal here. Even if you're 4 years old and get lost on what to do, they have all these click-spots that play completely nonsensical mini-animations.

The soundtrack does the infamous 90s smooth-jazz sound right; the saxophone has this humble, sometimes airy tone that’s never overwhelming but just prominent enough. It helps that the actual melodies are some of the catchiest in a Humongous game. Another thing I like is how while the music in the ‘staff’ building of World Wide Weather has a soothing loungey sound, the tunes in the factory itself are much more quirky and lively to match it’s constant motion. I’ve dubbed this unique style ‘sky jazz’.

This game is simple and brief; maybe a bit cheesy at times, but considering some of the truly obnoxious children’s media out there with the 2000’s-to-present CGI overload, Pajama Sam is mild. It helps PJ is the exact kind of game that manages to be endearing and funny in the process. Nearly every character has some amusing trait or gimmick. For example, in true Pajama Sam fashion, the B.O.D. at WWW comprises literal wooden boards and a ‘chairman’ in the form of a talking chair. In one of the game’s alternating paths, the boards wind up finding ‘a new job as a floor somewhere’. A talking hippy carrot who befriended Sam in the first game busts into the B.O.D. to make them financially support their employees... and this is a game for 6 year olds.

The visuals are very cartoony, bound to drive off a lot of ‘serious gamers’ I’m sure, but they’re also very bright and colorful in a way that works well with the younger audience and the fantasy-like themes of this series. I find they aged in a charming way rather than an overwhelming or corny way. I challenge you to name me a different game that managed to be this cute and harmless in it’s 90s-ness. I think of this game and let out a sigh because it has me missing the finer parts of the PC game era, when software/adventure games were fresh and exciting, something that had a true appeal for kids without seeming fake or patronizing - a market that's since taken an undeserved downfall. And let’s not forget how this is set in a weather factory. I must emphasize this; what OTHER game has a weather factory?

Yes, I know well I’m rating it high for a ‘little kids’ game’ - you may think I’m just saying it’s a flawless masterpiece because I ‘cling too much to nostalgia’. But I’ve replayed this plenty of times since however long ago, and though I’m no longer it’s target audience, I still have so much fun with it. The music is great, the setting is fascinating, the characters are always entertaining, the overall effect is so calming. It may not be lengthy, complex or thought-provoking, but that’s not the point of a game like this one anyway. How is it fair to judge simple, low budget Humongous games like this on the same scale as your big-budget T-for-Teen JRPGs, anyway? They’re different breeds to begin with and this does a great job at doing it's own thing. The several awards and high sales are one indicator; the retrospective fondness for Pajama Sam you’ll find on sites like Tumblr are another. It tends to end before I know it, but it’s a fun ride every time.