''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
Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company is best known for developing multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently ''Putt-Putt (series), Putt-Putt'', ''Fred ...
. In 2014
Night Dive Studios
Night Dive Studios, Inc. (doing business as Nightdive Studios) is an American video game developer based in Vancouver, Washington. The company was founded in November 2012 by Stephen and Alix Kick, former video game artists for Sony Online Ente ...
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''.
Later in November, a PlayStation 4 version was released on the PlayStation Store. This is the last game to feature Jason Ellefson as the voice of Putt-Putt.
Production
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''. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.
Players could go behind the scenes into the game's productio
via the company website
Plot
The game begins with Putt-Putt (voiced by Jason Ellefson) packing his new school supplies. Putt-Putt is excited to show Mr. Firebird his history report, calculator, and Smokey the Fire Engine lunchbox before school starts. He wakes up Pep, brings his coin, and heads down the road to Mr. Firebird's Lab. Mr. Firebird explains about his new Time Portal invention, which allows the past and future to be seen without actually traveling there. After Putt-Putt takes out his things, Mr. Firebird attempts to start the machine, fails, and realizes he needs a coin to start the machine. Putt-Putt offers the coin, and Mr. Firebird starts the machine.
However, the Time Portal goes haywire and opens up. It sucks Putt-Putt's objects and Pep into different times. A panicked Mr. Firebird tells Putt-Putt he cannot close the time portal unless all the present items are retrieved back from the different eras. Putt-Putt assures him that he will personally enter the portal and gather his things and Pep.
After many adventures in four different time periods (
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
,
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
,
Old West
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
, and the
Distant Future), Putt-Putt returns to the present with his things and Pep, and Mr. Firebird closes the portal for good. Putt-putt reassures a worried Mr. Firebird that Time Traveling was fun and that he had a good time. Mr. Firebird points out Putt-Putt will be late for school, so Putt-Putt leaves. At school, Putt-Putt shares with his classmates about all the things he learned while time traveling.
Gameplay
The game mechanics are the same as the prequels including the glove box inventory, horn, radio and accelerator. There are also a number of optional minigames throughout the four eras.
Reception
''
Computer Shopper'' felt the game was fun, but ultimately failed to live up to predecessors of the genre. ''
The Cincinnati Post
''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and onetime ...
'' 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. ''
The Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
'' 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. The newspaper also deemed the game one of the "finest kid titles ever". ''
Rocky Mountain News
The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...
'' gave it a B, commenting that it lived up to the quality standard of Humongus Entertainment. ''
The Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'' wrote that the game was "delightful" and "uncomplicated".
In the fourth quarter of 1997, the game was the 4th biggest seller in the PC Kids/Edutainment category.
References
External links
*
''Putt-Putt Travels Through Time'' at Humongous Entertainment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Putt Putt IV
Putt Putt Travels Through Time
Adventure games
Android (operating system) games
Children's educational video games
Classic Mac OS games
Dinosaurs in video games
Humongous Entertainment games
Infogrames games
IOS games
Linux games
Nintendo Switch games
Point-and-click adventure games
ScummVM-supported games
Single-player video games
Video games about time travel
Video games developed in the United States
Video games scored by Jeremy Soule
Video games set in the future
Video games set in the Middle Ages
Western (genre) video games
Windows games
Tommo games
UFO Interactive Games games