Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon | |
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Developer(s) | Humongous Entertainment |
Publisher(s) | Humongous Entertainment Infogrames (1999) |
Release Date(s) | October 1, 1993
1995 (Windows/Mac) 2015 (iOS) |
Genre(s) | Point-and-Click, Adventure |
Platform(s) | 3DO DOS Windows 3.1 - Windows XP System 7 - Mac OS 9.2.2 iOS |
Engine | SCUMM |
Input device(s) | Keyboard and Mouse |
Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon is the second game in the Putt-Putt series. It was released in 1993 by Humongous Entertainment for the DOS operating system as well as the 3DO. It was ported to the Mac OS in 1994 and Windows 3.1 and higher in 1995. Some parts of the moon are several references to Star Wars episodes 4-6: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. These are possible references to Lucasfilm Games, as the creator Ron Gilbert had initially worked for them and created the (now famous) SCUMM engine for Maniac Mansion.
An accident at Mr. Firebird's Fireworks Factory blasted Putt-Putt and Pep to the moon. They need to explore the moon to find and receive rocket parts to return home.
This was the first Humongous video game to feature the soundtrack composed by George Alistair Sanger, who would then compose later popular HE games such as Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, and Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat from Your Head to Your Feet. Unlike the other HE classics, the MIDI soundtrack to this game was also optimized for higher-end sound cards, such as the Roland GS. It was also the first Putt-Putt game in the series to feature a vocal opening theme (on the 3DO version and the later Windows versions; the MS-DOS and Macintosh versions simply had an instrumental opening theme).
Plot[]
Putt-Putt and Pep are excited to visit Mr. Firebird in the Fireworks Factory. As they enter, they are welcomed by Mr. Firebird. Mr. Firebird offers Putt-Putt to make fireworks, but he warns him not to touch the lever. After he finishes, a butterfly enters the factory and lands on the lever. Unfortunately, the excited Pep tries to catch the butterfly, only to pull the lever by accident. Rockets flew around everywhere, and one of them blasted Putt-Putt and Pep through the roof and out of the factory! The two of them fly into space and eventually land on the moon, and Putt-Putt wonders how they will return to Earth.
Putt-Putt meets Rover after being saved from the moon goo when a bridge collapsed. Rover explains his situation of being abandoned by astronauts, and wants to return to Earth too. After Putt-Putt wishes that there's something he can do, Rover shows Putt-Putt a rocket ice cream shop. Putt-Putt needs to find rocket parts and glowing moon crystals to purchase the rocket and fly back to Earth.
Once Putt-Putt has everything, he purchases the rocket with glowing moon crystals. Putt-Putt then places the parts and the rocket blasts to Earth. Back on Earth, the other cars are happy that Putt-Putt has returned and has met Rover.
Gameplay[]
The player takes control of Putt-Putt with the goal of finding the missing rocket parts so Putt-Putt can return to Earth and having fun along the way. The game is played by using the mouse to interact with the environment. By clicking on various areas called click points, the player can collect items, talk with other characters, and watch entertaining animations. Items are collected to help the player solve puzzles. The game contains many places on the moon. While searching for the missing parts, the player can learn about all the places that are on the moon.
Characters[]
- Putt-Putt
- Pep
- Rover
- Mr. Firebird
- Robbie Radar
- Governor Moonbeam
- Man in the Moon
- Beauty Shop Customer
- Blue Alien
- Blue Bull
- Clarence (miscellaneous)
- Cosmic Dust Diner Waitress (miscellaneous)
- Geeky Alien
- Gert (miscellaneous)
- Glo (miscellaneous)
- Newscasters
- Observatory Guide
- Princess Alien
- Red Alien (miscellaneous)
- Tourist Mice
- Two-Headed Alien
- Two-Headed Secretary
- Baby Alien
- Beauty Shop Customer
- Blue Wrestler
- Buster T. Buggy
- Fish Aquarium
- Mail Alien
- Mime Alien
- Octopus Alien
- Orange Dog
- Phineas Fender
- Purple Cyclops
- Robot Mailbox
- Strongman Alien
- Sunflower Alien
- Tami Torpedo
- The Mice Family
- The Purple Fat Cat Twins
- Three-Eyed Alien
Items[]
Rocket Parts/Currency[]
Other Items[]
Locations[]
Cartown[]
Moon[]
- Bubble Moon Apartments
- Buzz and Glo's Do-it-yourself Beauty Shop
- Cosmic Dust Diner
- Man in the Moon's Mansion
- Moon City
- Moon City Gas
- Moon City Observatory
- Moon Goo River
Mini-Games[]
Voices[]
- Jason Ellefson - Putt-Putt
- Scott Burns - Rover, Mr. Firebird, Governor Moonbeam, Man in the Moon, Robbie Radar, Red Alien, Clarence, Radio
- Kath Soucie - Baby Beep
- Mike McAuliffe - Blue Alien
Trivia/Errors[]
- At one point during the accident scene in the MS-DOS version, there are two errors:
- The inventory is shaking
- The background is cut-off for unknown reasons. It's the first Humongous game to do so (It happens again in Pajama Sam: Life Is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff!).
- The astronauts that left Rover on the moon are the only humans mentioned in the entire series.
- Elmo, a red alien, is likely a reference to the popular red character of the same name from Sesame Street.
- While Pep did have a helmet over his head during the flight to the moon, he does not have it on the moon. In real life, there is no oxygen or air of any kind on the moon, so no dog in real life would have survived it, though it doesn't apply here due to video game logic.
- When Putt-Putt and Rover are in the rocket heading back to Earth, Putt-Putt is in his original color (purple), whether he is in any other color.
- The aliens are unnamed in Buzz and Glo's Do-it-yourself Beauty Shop, changing the head, the body, and the feet.
- There is cut radio dialogue that says that Mr. Firebird was going to be arrested and held responsible for Putt-Putt's accident, which was likely an internal developer joke.[1]
- This is the first Putt-Putt game to have a theme song.