Software:Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo

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Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo
Windows / Macintosh Cover art
Developer(s)Humongous Entertainment[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Humongous Entertainment[lower-alpha 2]
Producer(s)Ron Gilbert
Designer(s)
  • Ron Gilbert
  • Bret Barrett
  • Brad Carlton
Artist(s)Todd Lubsen[1]
Writer(s)
  • Laurie Bauman Arnold
  • Annie Fox
Composer(s)George Alistair Sanger
EngineSCUMM
Platform(s)Android, Macintosh, Windows, DVD player, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
ReleaseReleased:
  • August 10, 1995 (Win)[2]
  • 1996 (Mac)
  • 2005 (DVD player)
  • November 15, 2011, August 13, 2015 (iOS)
  • 2012 (Android)
  • July 3, 2014 (Linux)[3]
  • February 10, 2022 (Switch)[4]
  • November 3, 2022 (Playstation 4)[5]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo is a 1995 video game and the third of seven adventure games in the Putt-Putt series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. The animation style also changed with this game to hand-drawn animation, in contrast to the pixel art graphics of the previous two games, following the studio's jump from DOS to Windows with Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds the previous year. The game was reissued on April 19, 1999. In November 2011, the game became the first Humongous Entertainment game to be rereleased for iOS and Google Play.[6] Developed by Nimbus Games Inc., the iOS version of this game released by Atari was discontinued. A Nintendo Switch version was released on February 10, 2022,[4] followed by the PlayStation 4 version on the PlayStation Store in November the same year.[7]

Plot

Putt-Putt is excited for the grand opening of the Cartown Zoo. While stopping at Mr. Baldini's grocery store, Mr. Baldini asks Putt-Putt to deliver a bag of zoo chow to Outback Al, the zookeeper, to which Putt-Putt agrees. Upon arriving at the zoo and bringing Al the zoo chow, Putt-Putt learns that six baby animals have gone missing: Baby Jambo the elephant; Masai the giraffe; Kenya the lion cub; Zanzibar the hippopotamus; Sammy the seal; and Little Skeeter the boa constrictor. Putt-Putt volunteers to search for the animals, which Outback Al agrees to as he starts repairs on the zoo.

After finding and rescuing all six baby animals, Putt-Putt notifies Outback Al of his success, and Al excitedly thanks him. At the zoo's opening ceremony, Outback Al gives Putt-Putt a Junior Zookeeper award for his help and allows him the honor of cutting the ribbon. The zoo is then opened to everyone as they all enter to explore, ending the game.

Gameplay

The game mechanics are almost the same as its predecessors including the glove box inventory, horn, radio and accelerator, though one addition is an ignition key shown on the bottom left side of Putt-Putt's dashboard, which allows the player to quit the game. Unlike other games, Putt-Putt can acquire a camera so the player can take pictures of the animals and other characters and print them out.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings80% (PC - 1 review)[8]
Review score
PublicationScore
IGN8.5/10 (PC)[9]

The combined sales of Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, Putt-Putt Joins the Parade and Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon surpassed one million units by June 1997.[10] During the year 2001 alone, Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo sold 100,972 retail units in North America, according to PC Data.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Lubsen, Todd. "Todd Lubsen". p. 3. http://toddlubsen.com/Todd_Lubsen2012webcv.pdf. 
  2. ↑ "Putt-Putt® Saves the Zoo Shatters Interactive Animation Standard for CD-ROM; Humongous Entertainment Redefines Interactive Story Telling" (Press release). Humongous Entertainment. August 9, 1995. Archived from the original on December 17, 1999.
  3. ↑ "Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo on Steam". Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/294660/PuttPutt_Saves_The_Zoo/. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Humongous [@HumongousEnt] (February 3, 2022). "Get your adventure on with four of the best games you've ever played, arriving for #NintendoSwitch on February 10th.". https://twitter.com/HumongousEnt/status/1489282536366690306. 
  5. ↑ "Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo". https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10005746. 
  6. ↑ "Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo (Games)". App Shopper. 2012-01-28. http://appshopper.com/games/putt-putt-saves-the-zoo. 
  7. ↑ "Playstation4" (in en). https://www.humongous.com/playstation-4. 
  8. ↑ "Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo for PC - GameRankings". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/582391-putt-putt-saves-the-zoo/index.html. 
  9. ↑ "Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo Review". http://www.ign.com/games/putt-putt-saves-the-zoo/pc-722180. 
  10. ↑ People Staff (June 2, 1997). "The Little Car that Could". People. http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-main-bytes-vol-47-no-21/. 
  11. ↑ Sluganski, Randy (March 2002). "State of Adventure Gaming - March 2002 - 2001 Sales Table". Just Adventure. http://www.justadventure.com:80/articles/State_of_Adventure_Gaming/Mar-02/sales2001.shtm. 
  1. ↑ Ported to IOS and Android by Nimbus Games.
  2. ↑ The 2005 Europe-exclusive DVD player release was published by Take-Two Interactive.
    The 2011/2012 IOS/Android release was published by Atari, while the 2015 IOS release was published by Tommo.
    The Steam release was co-published by Tommo and Night Dive Studios.
    The Nintendo Switch version was published by UFO Interactive Games.
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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