Perhaps it’s no surprise that of Humongous’ Junior Adventure titles, the YAGA games are also the only ones that haven’t received ports to other machines or mobile devices. The game’s audio lacks the harsh compression of its predecessors, for example, but by and large it’s an added hindrance to the game, especially for those who want to play it today. This isn’t to say the change of engine doesn’t have any benefits. Even when they do run, it’s often with performance issues. Little effort has been made to make the game compatible with newer technology, and even older machines are known to struggle with making these games work. Those looking to play Humongous’ YAGA games must run the games natively on their computers, however. While other Humongous games have been kept in circulation with re-releases, those games all used the SCUMM engine and are easily played on newer machines. Some characters are even being played by the game’s artists, pointing to possible budgetary issues. In an especially bizarre example of asset reuse, the baker who bakes Pep’s cake has a partially obscured oven that looks a lot like a reskinned version of the time machine from Putt-Putt Travels Through Time.Īlongside Putt-Putt, who is now voiced by Michele Thorson, almost every role has been recast.
A security guard car who is trying to put together the world’s biggest rubber band ball clearly shares his design with the security guard from Putt-Putt Joins The Circus, while the “carrista” Chuck Wagon from Putt-Putt Saves The Zoo is recycled as two new characters, with one colored blue. Other characters clearly have designs lifted from other games as well. Other assets are clearly recycled, including some music from Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo and several screens from Putt-Putt Enters the Race.Ī lot of characters return from previous games as well, like Marvin the Magician from Putt-Putt Joins the Circus, Smokey the Fire Engine, Torvill the Tractor from Putt-Putt Enters The Race, Rover from Putt-Putt Goes To The Moon, and Mr. The HUD also mimics its series, but is clearly a new asset, with blurry, ugly soft-shading. The game visually tries to follow its predecessors, although the animation is choppier than previous games. The resulting game looks like Putt-Putt, but doesn’t quite feel like Putt-Putt, and its take on Cartown feels much less cohesive than in previous games.
HERSHEY PUTT PUTT ONLINE GAME SERIES
If Putt-Putt is celebrating the dog he adopted, it seems like the largely new team is also celebrating the series they adopted.įans of Humongous Entertainment might also recognize this plot as somewhat derivative of one of Humongous Entertainment’s first games, Fatty Bear’s Birthday Surprise, which similarly focuses on preparing a surprise birthday party. It’s central conceit of Putt-Putt throwing Pep a surprise birthday party for the anniversary of the puppy’s adoption brings out a saccharin song that mentions both series mainstays as well as the the martians from Putt-Putt Goes To The Moon. The plot seems to strive to appeal to fans of the series as a way to make up for the new staff and cast. While Putt-Putt was never known for its breathtaking narratives, Bauman-Arnold’s absence is felt.
His script is a mix of puns, chicken jokes and awkward dialog. He’s best known as an early subversive figure of the 90s Internet known for, among other things, creating a cryptic fake religion called Kiboism. Parry is an odd choice for a Putt-Putt game. In the creative department, Laurie Bauman-Arnold, who’d written every prior game, is notably absent, leaving James “Kibo’ Parry to pick up the pieces. Perhaps most notable is the change of engine from SCUMM to YAGA, an Atari proprietary engine. Both are considered low points of their respective series, and both are departures from the previous games. Forming in July 2001, Hulabee’’s formation would prove to be unsuccessful for its own reasons, releasing only a few games, most notably the SCUMM adventure title Moop & Dreadly before their own demise.ĭespite this, the remnants of Humongous Entertainment released two final Junior Adventures in 2003, Pajama Sam: Life is Rough When You Lose Your Stuff and Putt-Putt: Pep’s Birthday Surprise. July of the same year, Humongous co-founders Ron Gilbert and Shelley Day confounded Hulabee Entertainment as a way to return to their roots of kid-friendly adventure games, while increasing their own creative freedom. The remaining 117 were left to focus on the developer’s more lucrative Backyard Sports franchises. After an unsuccessful bid to buy back the company’s independence, parent Infogrames laid off 82 of the developer’s employees, over 40 percent of their staff, in June 2001. The company found new pressure under the possession of Infogrames, who would in 2003 rename themselves Atari, Inc. By the early 2000s, Humongous Entertainment was splintering.
0 kommentar(er)
