Putt-Putt (series)

The Putt-Putt series is a collection of children's adventure and puzzle computer games created by Humongous Entertainment. They primarily involve clicking to get to a destination, although some sub-quests and mini-games involve the keyboard. The main character, Putt-Putt, an anthropomorphic purple convertible, and his pet dog, Pep, travel to various locations.

History

Putt-Putt was originally thought up by Shelley Day as a series of bedtime stories for her son, Travis; the first story involved Putt-Putt saving a cat caught in a tree.^[1] Child actor Jason Ellefson did Putt-Putt's voice for the first eight of the games. In the games released between 1998 and 2000, Nancy Cartwright (of The Simpsons fame) voiced Putt-Putt. Michelle Thorson voiced Putt-Putt in Pep's Birthday Surprise.

The games are supported by ScummVM and thus can be played on other platforms such as handhelds. Humongous has brought several Putt-Putt and other titles to iOS^[2] and Android.

Several games from the original series were later re-released by Humongous on Steam in April 2014,^[3] alongside games from the Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, and Spy Fox series.^[4][5][6]

Games

Adventure games

Humongous Entertainment classified these games as Junior Adventures (for kids 3-8)

Putt-Putt Joins the Parade (1992)

Released in 1992, this is Putt-Putt's first game, as well as the very first Humongous Entertainment computer game. It also shows how Putt-Putt and his dog Pep first met.

Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon (1993)

When Putt-Putt visits the fireworks factory, a slip of Pep's paw sends him rocketing to the moon. Once there, he needs to gather the pieces of a rocket ship to get himself, Pep, and his new friend, Rover back home to Earth. There was a hidden sneak peek to this game if Fatty Bear looks through a telescope in Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise. The game was ported from MS-DOS to Windows in 1995, and re-packaged in 1999. It was rereleased on Steam on May 1, 2014

Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo (1995)

In this game, Putt-Putt has to rescue the zoo animals and return them to Outback Al (who also appears in Putt-Putt Enters the Race) before the Zoo's grand-opening. The animals he needs to rescue are Baby Jambo the elephant, Masai the giraffe, Kenya the lion cub, Zanzibar the hippopotamus, Sammy Seal, and Little Skeeter the snake. The game features the song "Topiary Creatures". The animation style also changed with this game and becomes much more refined, in contrast to the computer-like style of the past two games. The game was reissued in 1999. On November 15, 2011, the game became the first Humongous Entertainment game to be rereleased for iOS and Google Play.^[8] Developed by Nimbus Games Inc. In April 2013, the iOS version of this game released by Atari was discontinued.

Putt Putt Travels Through Time (1997)

Putt-Putt Travels Through Time begins with Putt-Putt packing his new school supplies, which are a history report, a calculator, a Smokey the Fire Engine lunchbox, and his dog, Pep. He goes to Mr. Firebirds' lab before school to show him his new supplies. Mr. Firebird, who worked at the fireworks factory in Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon has invented a time portal. He starts it up, but then it malfunctions and opens. Pep, the history report, the calculator, and the Smokey the Fire Engine lunchbox get sucked in. Putt-Putt has to go through the portal to various places in time to retrieve his items. It is the last game to be dedicated to Bret W. Barrett and Bret Barrett's father. This was the last game to feature Jason Ellefson as the voice of Putt-Putt. The game's story of time travel, future area (featuring Car Town in the year 2112) and the fact that the characters are cars have been connected to Back to the Future. Coincidentally, this game was released on iOS and Google Play on August 15, 2012 (100 years before the game's future events in 2112).

Putt-Putt Enters the Race (1998)

Putt-Putt has to find a number of important objects before he qualifies for the Cartown 500 race: high powered, high octane gasoline, 4 racing tires, a safety helmet for Pep, and a flag with a specific number on it (1-9, Redline Rick tells Putt-Putt his official number on his checklist). When all of the objectives are completed, Putt-Putt is allowed to enter the race. The player is then allowed to race as Putt-Putt at the end of this game, the first time in the series where the Putt-Putt can be directly "driven." This is the first game to have Putt-Putt's voice done by Nancy Cartwright. Many characters from previous games make return appearances, including Smokey the Fire Engine, Rover, Outback Al and others. This game was released on iOS and Google Play on June 27, 2014.

Putt-Putt Joins the Circus (2000)

"Putt-Putt Joins the Circus" is the sixth Putt-Putt adventure from Humongous Entertainment. In this game, Putt-Putt (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) and his dog Pep go to see BJ Sweeney's Big Top Circus (a reference to Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus) in Apple Valley. They hopped on Roll-Along Cassidy, a circus train after a goat ate their ticket. When they reached Apple Valley, everything was in chaos. The circus' five main acts, Honko the Clown, The Flying Porkowskis: Herb, Pearl and Hammy, Phillipe the Flea, Reginald Cornelius Andronocles III the Lion, along with two tiger sisters, Terri and Marie, and Katie Cannonball; and all the minor acts, Marvin the Marvellous, Eunice the Unicycle, Francine the Hippo High Diver, Ivan the Semi-Strong Van, Sebastian the Juggling Seal, Mama Mombasa (from Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo), and Belobrodnik the Ballet Dancing Bear, are having serious and okay problems. Putt-Putt and Pep also meet new friends like Lester the Flea Janitor, Bart the Peanut Cart, Hank the Security Car, and Bette Bandwagon, along with Baby Jambo (the elephant from Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo). Putt-Putt needs to help all his new circus friends, so they will practice and finally perform under the big top in the opening night. It becomes a "Huge Success". This game was released on iOS and Google Play on October 4, 2013.

Putt-Putt: Pep's Birthday Surprise (2003)

It's Pep's birthday tomorrow and Putt-Putt wants to throw a surprise party for him. He just needs to get everything he needs before the party tomorrow morning. In this game, Putt-Putt is voiced by Michelle Thorson. Some of the music is reused from Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo. This is the only Putt-Putt game without a demo, possibly because the game was only released after Atari's takeover along with Pajama Sam: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff!.

Arcade games

Humongous Entertainment classified these games as Junior Arcades

Putt-Putt and Pep's Dog on a Stick (1996)

You guide Pep on a pogo stick through a 3D isometric maze, avoiding hazards and obstacles like oil spills and traps. The dog collects bones, ice cream cones and candy to gain points. As the game progresses, trampolines appear, changing the path of Pep. This game pays homage to Q*Bert (1982).

Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama (1996)

A Putt Putt arcade game where you have to pop the balloons by guiding Putt Putt, all while bouncing Pep. This game pays homage to Breakout (1976) and Arkanoid (1986).

Other games

Putt-Putt's Fun Pack (1993)

Putt-Putt's Fun Pack is a spinoff of the Putt-Putt series released on March 26, 1993 by Humongous Entertainment for the 3DO, MS-DOS and Macintosh systems. It was the first spinoff game Humongous Entertainment produced, and included several mini games (including a couple that were also featured in Putt-Putt Joins the Parade.)

The games/activities included Tic-Tac-Toe, checkers, Cheese King, Puzzle Blocks, Pinball, and Remember.

The background music is entirely recycled from Putt-Putt Joins the Parade. This game was later reissued and combined with Fatty Bear's Fun Pack in 1994 to become Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear's Activity Pack.

Putt-Putt & Fatty Bear's Activity Pack (1994)

Putt-Putt & Fatty Bear's Activity Pack is a game released on March 25, 1994 for the PC. The game features Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear playing 12 games to choose from. This is Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear's only appearance being in the same game, (not included Putt-Putt Saves The Zoo and Putt-Putt goes to the moon which Fatty Bear only makes a quick cameo).

Putt-Putt's One-Stop Fun Shop (2000)

Putt-Putt's One-Stop Fun Shop is an arts and crafts game released in 2000. This game reuses music from Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama.

Putt-Putt's Fun House (2013)

Putt-Putt's Fun House is a new app released by Nimbus Games after ten years of the release of the previous Putt-Putt Junior Adventure. Android and iOS versions now available.

Customization

Players can change Putt-Putt's color to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or rainbow. All colors can be painted on again. This also changes the color of the dashboard in Putt-Putt Enters the Race, Putt-Putt Joins the Circus, Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-O-Rama, Putt-Putt Travels Through Time and Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo. However, in Putt-Putt Joins the Parade and Putt-Putt Enters the Race, the player needs to put 3 coins in a coin slot before changing his color.

Reception

The Putt-Putt series received various awards including "All-Star Software Award" from Children's Software Revue, "Reader's Choice Award" from Mac Home Journal and "2000 Best Picks Award" from Choosing Children's Software.^[9]

References

External links

• Putt-Putt series at MobyGames