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Putt-Putt Travels Through Time

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Putt-Putt Travels Through Time is a 1997 video game and the fourth of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. In 2014 Night Dive Studios re-released the iOS, Linux and Steam versions. In 2022, a port was released on the Nintendo Switch in January, as one of the first Humongous Entertainment games to be released on the system alongside Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell,[4] followed by a PlayStation 4 version in November.[5]

Putt-Putt Travels Through Time
Developer(s)Humongous Entertainment
Publisher(s)Humongous Entertainment[a]
Producer(s)Ron Gilbert
Designer(s)Brad Carlton
Bret Barrett
Matthew Mahon
Nick Mirkovich
Writer(s)Laurie Rose Bauman
Composer(s)Jeremy Soule
EngineSCUMM
Platform(s)Android, Macintosh, Windows, iOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
ReleaseReleased:
  • June 1, 1997 (Win, Mac)[1][2]
  • August 14, 2012 (iOS)
  • October 4, 2013 (Android)

Re-released:

  • May 15, 2014 (Linux)[3]
  • January 3, 2022 (Nintendo Switch)[4]
  • November 3, 2022 (PlayStation 4)
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Production

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Concept art for Merlin the Medieval Sorcerer, a new character in the game. Artists played around with designs and colours until settling on the finished version as he appears in the game (bottom).

The production team brainstormed ideas for the follow-up title in the Putt Putt franchise. Among the alternate titles were: Putt-Putt Goes to the Carnival, Putt-Putt Saves the Universe, and Putt-Putt Learns to Fly. They eventually settled on Putt-Putt Travels Through Time.[6] While the designs of the main characters were already established, the team had to work on designing to look of new characters such as Merlin the Medieval Sorcerer.[7] The scripts was written and storyboards were created to layout how each scene would work as a self-contained piece, as well as part of a larger story.[8] Background artists then interpreted both the script and storyboards to create the look and feel of the game through the backgrounds; part of their job was to leave sufficient space for clickable hotspots. Once the basic design sketch was approved, it was given more detail and finally painted.[9] Next, animators created series of drawings based on the storyboards which when viewed together would simulate movement; each of the 30,000 drawings were then individually scanned into a computer, where they were cleaned up and had imperfections removed.[10] The next stage was for artists to colour frames and animate clickpoints; Humongous noted that while this stage was "tedious", it allowed low-level artists to be creative and use their initiative.[11] The work was handed over to programmers who wrote code to ensure the game responded to player choices, and who added sound effects to synch up to the animations.[12] The music was created by Humongous, while voice actors were auditioned by the company (if new to the franchise), then sent to a studio to record their lines.[13]

Putt Putt game designer Nick Mirkovich commented that there was a design philosophy of creating immersive interactive world for players to explore, and that like other games by Humongus, items needed for game completion were programmed to be in different places for separate playthroughs.[14] Players could go behind the scenes into the game's production via the company website.[14]

Plot

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Putt-Putt visits Mr. Firebird's laboratory with the intention of showing him his new school supplies. At the lab, Mr. Firebird demonstrates a machine made to view different time periods like a television. The demonstration turns chaotic, however, when the machine opens a portal that sucks Putt-Putt's items and Pep into four different dimensions (Stone Age, Medieval, Old West, and the Distant Future). Since the portal can't be shut down until everything is brought back from the other eras, Putt-Putt is forced enter the portal to search for everything.

After finding every item and Pep in the eras, Putt-Putt returns to the laboratory and Mr. Firebird shuts off the portal to prevent any more chaos. Putt-Putt then leaves for school, promising to show his school items to Mr. Firebird later. At his classroom, Putt-Putt tells everyone about what he learned by time travelling as the credits roll.

Gameplay

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The game mechanics are the same as in the predecessors including the glove box inventory, horn, radio and accelerator. The locations of the items and Pep vary throughout each playthrough; they each have four variations of where they could be, with one variation being in each of the eras and there cannot be more than one item in an era in each playthrough. There are also a number of optional minigames throughout the four eras.[15]

Reception

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Computer Shopper felt the game was fun, but ultimately failed to live up to predecessors of the genre.[20] The Cincinnati Post deemed the game "outstanding", and recommended that younger children purchase an earlier title in the Putt-Putt series first to acquaint themselves with computers before attempting this more "challenging" title.[21] The Boston Herald gave the game a rating of 4.5 stars, praising the abundance of clickable hotspots in every scene which would keep kids entertained while completing the adventure.[22] The newspaper also deemed the game one of the "finest kid titles ever".[23] Rocky Mountain News gave it a B, commenting that it lived up to the quality standard of Humongous Entertainment.[24] The Washington Times wrote that the game was "delightful" and "uncomplicated".[25] Macworld rated the game 8.7 out of 10 and inducted it into its 1998 Game Hall of Fame in the Kids category, saying that while the point was "to encourage junior adventurers to master the reasoning and problem-solving skills necessary to complete the task [...] the bottom line is fun, and as in grown-up adventures, the journey itself is the reward".[19]

In the fourth quarter of 1997, the game was the 4th biggest seller in the PC Kids/Edutainment category.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "June 1997 News". Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  2. ^ "Humongous Entertainment Crafts Its Biggest Putt-Putt Adventure Ever: Putt-Putt Travels Through Time Hits Stores June 1" (Press release). Humongous Entertainment. April 30, 1997. Archived from the original on October 4, 1999.
  3. ^ "Putt-Putt Travels Through Time on Steam". Steam. Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Humongous [@HumongousEnt] (December 27, 2021). "Freddi Fish 3 and Putt-Putt Travels Through Time will be released on January 3rd, 2022!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2022 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Playstation4". HE. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  6. ^ "The Making of Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Page 2". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  7. ^ "The Making of Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Page 3". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  8. ^ "The Making of Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Page 4". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  9. ^ "The Making of Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Page 5". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  10. ^ "The Making of Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Page 6". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  11. ^ "The Making of Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Page 7". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  12. ^ "The Making of Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Page 8". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  13. ^ "The Making of Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Page 9". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Humongous Entertainment crafts its biggest Putt-Putt adventure ever: Putt-Putt Travels Through Time hits stores June 1. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  15. ^ "ADVANCE RELEASE". Archived from the original on February 10, 1998. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  16. ^ Rosemary Young (July 1998). "Putt Putt Travels Through Time Review by metzomagic.com". metzomagic.com. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2016. It's a worthy challenge for pre-schoolers and a particularly good game choice for a young first time adventure game player.
  17. ^ NeoJ (March 24, 2015). "Putt-Putt Travels Through Time". Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016. Some puzzle parts in a classic point and click procedure with cute graphics and lots of charismatic characters.
  18. ^ Bonnie James (May 15, 1997). "Putt-Putt Travels Through Time – Electric Playground". Greedy Productions. Archived from the original on August 4, 1997. Retrieved September 6, 2016. If your kids liked any of the other Junior Adventures, they will like this one too.
  19. ^ a b c Levy, Steven; Crotty, Cameron (January 1998). "1998 Game Hall of Fame". Macworld. Mac Publications, LLC. p. 82.
  20. ^ "Putt-Putt Travels Through Time. (Humongous Entertainment)(The Learning Arcade) (Software Review)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)". Computer Shopper. September 1, 1997. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018.
  21. ^ "NEW PUTT PUTT MOST CHALLENGING.(AT HOME)". The Cincinnati Post. June 14, 1997. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018.
  22. ^ "KID TECH: Players 'Putt-Putt Through Time'". The Boston Herald. May 25, 1997. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018.
  23. ^ "New Yu-Gi-Oh! 'Duelist' game hits its mark.(Arts and Lifestyle)". The Boston Herald. November 3, 2002. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018.
  24. ^ "'HERCULES' A CAN'T MISS BABY-SITTER.(Entertainment/Weekend/Spotlight)(Review)". Rocky Mountain News. July 25, 1997. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016.
  25. ^ "Dachshund, Frog Help Math Skills Take Leap". The Washington Times. May 26, 1998.[dead link‍]
  26. ^ "Top PC and Video Games Spur Strong Growth for The Interactive Entertainment Industry – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  1. ^ The 2012/2013 iOS/Android release was published by Atari, while the re-release was published by Tommo. The Steam release was co-published by Tommo and Night Dive Studios. The Nintendo Switch version was published by UFO Interactive Games.
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