
You can tell that they tried to make interesting characters and dialogue, but they only succeeded about a fourth of the time.

Here, the dialogue has been toned down from “humorous wacky” to “mildly tepid.” It’s kind of sad, really. Part of the fun of previous games was talking to characters and seeing the wacky dialogue that occurs. There are too many bland characters who lack the charm of their predecessors. The final major problem is that the game just isn’t as fun as the other games in the series. If you play this game immediately after playing PS3, you’ll notice all the reused assets. In order to make this work properly, they also ripped all of the backgrounds from previous games (so Sam will be standing in the same spots and running on the same roads). Why? These animations were ripped directly from previous games in the series. The only animation which looks perfect is Sam’s “move from one screen to the next” animation. Why? I’m not sure, but I think it has something to do with the fact that the game’s maximum speed is ten frames per second. If you’re playing the game on a modern computer, the sync issues are even worse. The characters’ mouths try (and fail) to sync up with the actual dialogue. The animation is overly choppy for a 2003 game. The other major change is that they removed the randomization that was present in all the other games, in favor of having a game that is straight and linear. The most obvious change is that Sam has a new, less expensive voice actress. It was made after Atari’s takeover of the Pajama Sam company, and it is quite apparent that a new company was behind this game. The game’s original title was Pajama Sam: Your Life Is Lame, When You Play This Game. I am sure that High School Michael is currently rolling in his grave.

In other words, I am totally inconsistent, and you should not believe a word I say. Today, ten years later, I have played the game for a second time. “It’s bad, and no one should ever play it.” For almost as long as I can remember, I have hated Pajama Sam 4: The Game That Killed the Pajama Sam Series.
