Putt-Putt Joins the Parade

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.[2] 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.[3]

Putt-Putt Joins the Parade
Windows / Macintosh Cover art
Developer(s)Humongous Entertainment
Publisher(s)Humongous Entertainment
Director(s)Ron Gilbert
Designer(s)
Writer(s)Laurie Rose Bauman, Annie Fox
Composer(s)Tom McMail
EngineSCUMM
Platform(s)MS-DOS, 3DO, Macintosh, Windows, Linux, Steam
Release
  • 1992 (MS-DOS)
  • 1993 (3DO)
  • 1995 (Mac, Win)
  • April 17, 2014 (Linux)
  • April 17, 2014 (Steam)[1]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot

When Putt-Putt (voiced by Jason Ellefson) hears on his radio that today is the day of the Cartown pet parade, he decides to visit Fire Chief Smokey and join the festivities. Before he can enter the parade, he must find a pet, a balloon, and make himself presentable. Putt-Putt sets off through Cartown, mowing lawns and delivering groceries for his friends and neighbors to pay for a quick car wash. Along the way, Putt-Putt clears obstacles, helps find a missing child, and begins a close friendship with a puppy named Pep. He returns to Smokey just in time for the beginning of the parade and happily leads the line of cars and their pets through the streets.

Gameplay

The game plays like a typical point-and-click adventure game with the player moving Putt-Putt from one location to the next with mouse clicks. Fully voiced characters can be talked to and every scene is filled with colorful and animated interactions. Putt-Putt's places collected items in his glove box, which serves as a simple heads-up display.

Lawsuit

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.[4]

Reception

Critical reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings50% (PC - 1 review)[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Adventure Gamers[6]
IGN8.2/10 (PC)[7]
MacUser[8]
Awards
PublicationAward
Choosing Children’s Software1999 Best Picks for the Holidays Award[9]
Anders CD-ROM Guide1997 Medallion Award[9]
Sesame Street Parents1997 Reviewer’s Choice Award[9]
CES1994 Innovations Showcase Award Winner[9]
CNETTop 100 CD-ROMs Award
Buy It! Award[9]
MacUserFive Mouse Award
Best New Children’s Program[9]
KidsoftMember’s Choice - Early Learning[9]
PC EntertainmentBest PC Educational Game[9]
Compute!Best Educational Program[9]
CD-ROM WorldThe CD-ROM 100 Best[9]
Family Fun MagazineSoftware of the Year[9]
Parents' ChoiceParent's Choice Award[9]
Home PCTop 100 Products[9]
Family PCFamily Tested-Recommended[9]

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.[10]

Commercial performance

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.[11]

gollark: What? No. That would be stupid.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: Determinism is outdated. I'm a *super*determinist.
gollark: In this setup, it pushes on the same thing the other magnet is pulling.
gollark: Because the magnet you're holding pushes on you.

References
  1. "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade on Steam". Steam. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  2. Robert Sorbo. "Cyber Elite - Shelley Day". Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  3. People Staff (June 2, 1997). "The Little Car that Could". People. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018.
  4. "Lucasarts vs Humongous Entertainment". Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  5. "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade for PC - GameRankings". GameRankings. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  6. "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade Information, Screenshots & Media". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  7. "Putt-Putt Joins the Parade Review". IGN. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  8. LeVitus, Bob (December 1995). "The Game Room". MacUser. Archived from the original on January 22, 2000. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  9. "Humongous Entertainment® Hall of Fame 1993-2000": 9–10. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. Escobedo, Theresa H.; Evans, Sharon (1997-03-28). "A Comparison of Child-Tested Early Childhood Education Software with Professional Ratings". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "An Interview with Ron Gilbert". Game Bytes. No. 9. March 13, 1993.
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