Putt-Putt Travels Through Time

Concept art for Merlin the Medieval Sorcerer, a new character in the game Putt Putt Travels Through Time. Artists played around with designs and colours until settling on the finished version as he appears in the game (bottom).

The production team brainstormed ideas for the follow-up title in the Putt Putt franchise. Among the alternate titles were: Putt-Putt Goes to the Carnival, Putt-Putt Saves the Universe, and Putt-Putt Learns to Fly. They eventually settled on Putt-Putt Travels Through Time.[3] While the designs of the main characters were already established, the team had to work on designing to look of new characters such as Merlin the Medieval Sorcerer.[4] Next, the scripts was written and storyboards were created to layout how each scene would work as a self-contained piece, as well as part of a larger story.[5] Background artists then interpreted both the script and storyboards to create the look and feel of the game through the backgrounds; part of their job was to leave sufficient space for clickable hotspots. Once the basic design sketch was approved, it was given more detail and finally painted.[6] Next, animators created series of drawings based on the storyboards which when viewed together would simulate movement; each of the 30,000 drawings were then individually scanned into a computer, where they were cleaned up and had imperfections removed.[7] The next stage was for artists to colour frames and animate clickpoints; Humongous noted that while this stage was "tedious", it allowed low-level artists to be creative and use their initiative.[8] Next, the work was handed over to programmers who wrote code to ensure the game responded to player choices, and who added sound effects to synch up to the animations.[9] The music was created by Humongous, while voice actors were auditioned by the company (if new to the franchise), then sent to a studio to record their lines.[10]

Putt Putt game designer Nick Mirkovich commented that there was a design philosophy of creating immersive interactive world for players to explore, and that like other games by Humongus, items needed for game completion were programmed to be in different places for separate playthroughs.[11] Players could go behind the scenes into the game's production via the company website.[12]

The game begins with Putt-Putt packing his new school supplies. Putt-Putt is excited to show Mr. Firebird his history report, calculator, and Smokey the Fire Engine lunchbox before school starts. He wakes up Pep, brings his coin, and heads down the road to Mr. Firebird's Lab. He explains about his new Time Portal invention, which allows the past and future to be seen without actually traveling there. After Putt-Putt takes out his things, Mr. Firebird attempts to start the machine. After failing, he realizes he needs a coin to start the machine, and he is fresh out. Putt-Putt offers the coin, and Mr. Firebird starts the machine.

However, the Time Portal goes haywire (out of control) and opens up. It sucks Putt-Putt's objects and Pep into time. A panicked Mr. Firebird tells Putt-Putt of the risk of being sucked into time unless the portal is shut closed for sure. Putt-Putt assures him that he will gather his things and Pep soon, and enters the Time Portal. Putt-Putt must retrieve his lost things and Pep in order for Mr. Firebird to close the portal for good.

Putt-Putt returns to the present with his things and Pep, and Mr. Firebird closes the portal for good. Putt-Putt tells Mr. Firebird that he liked time traveling and that it was the best fun ever. Mr. Firebird is glad that Putt-Putt had fun while time traveling, but then tells Putt-Putt that he's going to be late for school unless he hurries. Putt-Putt tells him that he's right, and he will show him his school supplies later. At school, Putt-Putt shares the news by telling everyone about time traveling as the game ends.

The game mechanics are the same as the prequels including the glove box inventory, horn, radio and accelerator. There are also a number of optional minigames throughout the four eras.

Computer Shopper felt the game was fun, but ultimately failed to live up to predecessors of the genre.[13] [null The Cincinnati Post] deemed the game "outstanding", and recommended that younger children purchase an earlier title in the Putt Putt series first to acquaint themselves with computers before attempting this more "challenging" title.[14] The Boston Herald gave the game a rating of 4.5 stars, praising the abundance of clickable hotspots in every scene which would keep kids entertained while completing the adventure.[15] The newspaper also deemed the game one of the "finest kid titles ever".[16] [null Rocky Mountain News] gave it a B, commenting that it lived up to the quality standard of Humongus Entertainment.[17] The Washington Times wrote that the game was "delightful" and "uncomplicated".[18]

In the Fourth Quarter 1997, the game was the 4th biggest seller in the PC Kids/Edutainment category.[19]

• Putt-Putt Travels Through Time at MobyGames
• Putt-Putt Travels Through Time at Humongous Entertainment