By Ilmari
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| I wonder if there’s any rockets around here |
Starting the game filled me with a sense of deja-vu. The interface - car dashboard - is just like in the first game, Putt-Putt has the same silly grin and there’s even the smiling Sun. And even more. The game had spent no time in revealing my destination - I was supposed to go to a nearby firework factory - but I took my time clicking every hotspot and checking for hidden animations.
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Chekhov’s lever
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When I finally arrived to the factory, its owner greeted me and took me to a conveyor belt, where the fireworks were made. This was essentially a mini-game where I could choose shapes (hearts, stars etc.) that would come out of a firework. After shooting few of those, I started to investigate the factory further. Say, what’s this window over here? Let’s open it so that a butterfly can come in.
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| I think I know where this is heading… |
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| Bull’s eye |
My pet dog jumped toward the butterfly and landed on the lever that was not to be touched. This released a large firework, which just happened to take Putt-Putt with it.
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| Does Putt-Putt’s insurance cover this? |
The rocket flew to space, leaving Putt-Putt stranded.
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| Conveniently the dog got a helmet somewhere |
After meeting few improbable things, like a catstronaut tied to a rocket, Putt-Putt arrived to the Moon and landed on its surface with no problem.
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| So, where geographically are the hands Earth has? |
Driving around the lunar surface, I met a group of mice tourists. They suggested that Putt-Putt could use a rock with an upward slope to gain some momentum and launch himself to space. This suggestion fails miserably, as the gravity of the Moon pulls the car back after a short flight.
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| Every crater has something hidden in it |
The next point of interest on the Moon’s surface was a cave. This was an apparently optional mini-game, where Putt-Putt and dog played hide and seek in a labyrinth.
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| I guess Moon must have oxygen in the Putt-Putt universe since a) the dog survives without a helmet and b) Putt-Putt, a gasoline car, is able to move around. |
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| Thank you for playing Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon, Would you like to a) Restart, b) Restore, c) Quit? |
A bridge with a sign saying Caution? I’ll vote for driving through it. After centerpiece of the bridge collapses, Putt-Putt falls to some moon goo. With nothing else to do, I try pressing the honk, which is the right solution. Rover left to the Moon by astronauts hears Putt-Putt’s call, rescues him and fixes the bridge.
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| Were the astronauts humans? |
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| Putt-Putt also receives a picture of Moon |
Rover tells Putt-Putt that he would also like to get back to Earth and that he knows a rocket used as an ice cream kiosk, which the owners might be willing to part with for a fair prize.
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| So the ice cream sellers need a helmet, but local birds don’t? |
The owners asked ten moon crystals for their rocket (I think I now know where I have to use math). The rocket was also missing some crucial parts - nose cone, key, steering wheel and some fuel. I now had my mission set out for me.
The game so far has been simple enough, and I suppose the rest won’t be that difficult either. Still, people were complaining, when I completed the first
Putt-Putt in one post, so I’ll end the post here, where it is thematically appropriate.
Session time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Man, Putt-Putt still has that uncomfortable leering expression. I wonder what game he starts being cute.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that was the mouse cursor at first, and thought the Earth(?) was having a smoke!
ReplyDeleteI thought exactly the same, I even though for a moment it was the moon but that would be a bit problematic. Doesn't look like Earth either so might just be a random planet, possibly Neptune or, erm, the one before it.
DeleteAs an adult I don't particularly care for Rover's backstory. Not only does it bring up humans, the only time the Putt-Putt series mentions them IIRC, it also brings up some dark implications. Everyone involved had to know they were going to abandon Rover on the moon. Assuming cars are just sentient and not something people program, that's a cruel thing to do.
ReplyDeleteAssuming Putt-Putt's world is like ours, except with cars, that means this was happening while the space race was going on. Did the Russians just shoot sentient cars into the air? Given that some random car has a rocket capable of shooting a car to the moon, that's likely. How many Russian cars are just floating through the vacuum of space, waiting for death? How many died screaming reentering the Earth's atmosphere?
One of my favorites growing up
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