Putt-Putt Joins the Parade
{{Short description|1992 children's video game}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Putt-Putt Joins the Parade
|image = Putt-Putt_Joins_the_Parade_Win-Mac_Boxart.jpg
|caption = Windows / Macintosh cover art featuring Putt-Putt and Pep (both foreground) and Smokey (background)
|developer = Humongous Entertainment
|publisher = Humongous Entertainment{{efn|The 3DO version was published by Marubeni. The Steam release was co-published by Tommo and Night Dive Studios.}}
|director = Ron Gilbert
|designer = {{Unbulleted list|Laurie Rose Bauman|Annie Fox|Ron Gilbert|Shelley Day}}
|writer = Laurie Rose Bauman
Annie Fox
|engine = SCUMM
|composer = Tom McMail
|released =
- November 6, 1992 (MS-DOS)
- 1993 (3DO)
- 1995 (Mac, Windows)
- April 17, 2014 (Linux)
- April 17, 2014 (Steam){{cite web |url=http://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Humongous%20Entertainment |title=Putt-Putt Joins the Parade on Steam |publisher=Steam |access-date=May 13, 2015 |archive-date=May 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519183926/http://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Humongous%20Entertainment |url-status=live}}
|genre = Adventure
|modes = Single-player
|platforms = MS-DOS, 3DO, Macintosh, Windows, Linux, Steam
}}
Putt-Putt Joins the Parade is a 1992 video game and the first of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. Upon release, the game sold over 300,000 copies.{{cite web|title=Cyber Elite - Shelley Day|url=http://time.com/time/digital/cyberelite/24.html|author=Robert Sorbo|access-date=September 4, 2016|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://archive.today/20090409061314/http://time.com/time/digital/cyberelite/24.html|archive-date=April 9, 2009}} The combined sales of Putt-Putt Joins the Parade, Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon and Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo surpassed one million units by June 1997.{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519064246/http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-main-bytes-vol-47-no-21/ | url=http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-main-bytes-vol-47-no-21/ | title=The Little Car that Could | author=People Staff | date=June 2, 1997 | work=People | archive-date=May 19, 2018 | url-status=dead}} This is also the first game produced by Humongous Entertainment.
Plot
On a sunny morning in Cartown, Putt-Putt turns on his radio and hears an announcement about a pet parade event. Though excited at this news, Putt-Putt acknowledges that he doesn't have a pet and thus wouldn't qualify to participate. He meets with the parade's manager, Smokey, who encourages him to find a pet and a balloon for the parade as well as a car wash in order to enter the parade.
During his mission, Putt-Putt finds and befriends a stray dog by giving him a bone and names him "Pep". After Putt-Putt does all the tasks he needed to do, Smokey signs him up for the parade and even lets him lead in it. The cars in the parade all drive off as the sun sets and the credits roll.
Gameplay
Putt-Putt Joins the Parade plays like a typical point-and-click adventure game with the player moving Putt-Putt from one location to the next, picking up items and using them with mouse clicks. Putt-Putt places collected items in his glove box, which serves as a simple heads-up display. In the 3DO version, the on-screen pointing cursor is moved with the D-pad and a button is used to click on what the cursor is pointing at.
Release
After the game's creation, Humongous Entertainment had intended to get Electronic Arts to distribute the product, invoking a lawsuit from LucasArts over the ownership of the SCUMM game engine and disruption from press release.{{cite web | title=Lucasarts vs Humongous Entertainment | url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/870/285/1648288/ | access-date=December 21, 2016 | archive-date=December 21, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221164111/http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/870/285/1648288/ | url-status=live}}
When a demo of the game was completed, it was uploaded to CompuServe. It took time before a single user downloaded the game, then gave a lengthy review which gave a steady increase in audience.{{cite magazine |title=An Interview with Ron Gilbert |magazine=Game Bytes |issue=9 |url=https://archive.org/details/game-bytes-9 |date=March 13, 1993}}
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| AdvGamers = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web | url=http://www.adventuregamers.com/games/view/24272 | title=Putt-Putt Joins the Parade Information, Screenshots & Media | publisher=Adventure Gamers | access-date=May 15, 2015 | archive-date=April 8, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408011431/http://www.adventuregamers.com/games/view/24272 | url-status=live}}
| rev1 = MacUser
| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000122070956/http://macuser.zdnet.com/mu_1295/personal/gameroom.html | url=http://macuser.zdnet.com:80/mu_1295/personal/gameroom.html | title=The Game Room | author=LeVitus, Bob | date=December 1995 | archive-date=January 22, 2000 | work=MacUser | url-status=dead | access-date=May 13, 2020}}
}}
In 1997, a study conducted by the University of Texas at Austin compared children's reception of educational games with their professionally assigned developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) ratings. Of the thirteen programs selected, Putt-Putt Joins the Parade ranked as the most frequently played game.{{Cite journal|last=Escobedo|first=Theresa H.|last2=Evans|first2=Sharon|date=1997-03-28|title=A Comparison of Child-Tested Early Childhood Education Software with Professional Ratings|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED411060|language=en|access-date=2019-02-14|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117181656/https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED411060|url-status=live|journal=ERIC – Institute of Education Sciences}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
External links
- {{moby game|id=/putt-putt-joins-the-parade}}
- [http://humongous.com/games/putt-putt-joins-the-parade/ Putt-Putt Joins the Parade at Humongous Entertainment]
{{Humongous}}
{{Portal bar|1990s|Video games}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Putt-Putt I}}
Category:ScummVM-supported games
Category:Single-player video games