Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo

"If some animals were lost in a zoo, what would you do? I know. Save them."

Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo is one of the early games for Putt-Putt, a car that is well known by other cars in a city called Cartown. He does a lot of stuff for Cartown, and always does it for politeness and rather get nothing in return. By doing so, he is one of the recognized cars in Cartown, and by some of the animals also. And he is always on adventures. This is a new one for him...

Story - 2/10
A new zoo is ready to open in Cartown but there are some animals in the zoo missing and the zoo is not able to open until the missing animals are found and brought back to their proper location. Who is the best person for this job? Putt-Putt. And so, Putt-Putt needs to go throughout the zoo to search for the animals.

Perhaps it is just me, but the story is really too simple. There are literally little to no twists in the storyline and it is pretty straight forward. The way it is set up, the story could have been a little more extended to make it a slight more interesting. But the way it is now, not really a great one.

Gameplay - 5/10
Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo is a "Junior Adventure" category game. As like all Junior Adventure games created by Humoungous Entertainment (HE for short), the gameplay style is a simplistic "point-and-click" game. It is what it says, just a bunch of pointing and clicking, nothing more complex.

Keeping in mind that this is a children's game, much of everything is cartoonish. Realism does not exist in these games so don't be surprised when you see animals talking, cars carrying souvenirs, and such. You control Putt-Putt throughout the zoo in order to find the missing animals. Along the way, you meet other animals and cars who may be of assistance to you in order to find them.

The overall gameplay is, much like the story, simple. You move through the three main locations of the zoo, you get certain items, you solve certain puzzles, and you go try to rescue the animal utilizing what you have or what is provided. That is pretty much the flow of the main game. As this is a children's game, this won't be appealing to those that are older. The game makes the puzzles simple enough for a 2nd grader to understand. If apparently you get stuck somewhere and can't advance on in the game, the game drops off hints that tell you what you should be doing, be it Putt-Putt himself or one of the animals/cars that he is communicating with. Items you can obtain can be clicked on and it will be placed in your "dashboard" for later use if necessary. The game also includes short cutscenes from time to time which, even though it is minimal, is actually a good addition to the game as it builds a mood rather than just being nothing but communication with an animal/car.

The game also throws in a bunch of extra things you can do, but are not necessary for completion, or what you can call "side quests". There are actually many extra things you can do along the way and that can make any child feel entertained to the game more. This includes taking pictures (provided you got a camera item in the game) and being able to print them out, listening to facts about certain animals, playing ice hockey with penguins, and such. Granted, you get nothing out of doing these, but it is a good change of pace and gives something else to do besides playing the main game.

As much I have praised the gameplay so far, I have to give a 5 unfortunately. The prime reason would be its simplicity. There are very few puzzles to do, and there are not enough places to go around, making limitations to look around and thus making the game far easier to complete. Subsequently, there are just too few items for one to use that would actually matter in the actual main game. At most, there are probably just six items you will just need to complete the game entirely. The game itself is also too short, literally doesn't take more than 10 minutes to complete if you know what you are doing. First timers would probably take longer, but it is short all the same.

Graphics - 7/10
Decent graphics. The environment and habitat of the zoo places are drawn well to make it suitable. For example, the Grassland, you would expect a large grass field and some animals from Africa. The Arctic would have a bunch of snow in it and looks cold. Though everything will be cartoonish, which is okay though. Many scenery are clickable which gives a more lively feel to it and to give some entertainment if some are bored. Animals are clickable to be communicated, and such. There are some cutscenes where movement will be involved. Surrealism really is emphasized as you would see yellow giraffes, purple hippos, and some odd color animals. Overall, it is not so bad.

Music/Sound - 5/10
To be honest, the music is bad. Not too terrible though, just plain bad. The music each fits the place theme quite well, but it is too repetitive and ends up getting boring. The fact it replays, especially in specific places, is what gets annoying because more likely, you will be traveling back that same place again. But again, it fits the theme so I won't complain on that. For example, in a Jungle theme, you would expect some Jungle drums be playing as part of the music.
Sound is an entirely different story. There will be a lot of childish-like sounds like a bump or a slide or even water splashing. It's repetitive also, and I'll add it won't be as annoying as the music would be in certain cases. This game also has voice actors, and they aren't bad as they sound. Matter of fact, it's listen-able, and the fact they are voiced by little kids brings up another story. It does get annoying though, if you enter a place and they talk automatically. Evidentally, the animals and cars are what they sound and fits their age, so there is nothing to complain about that.

Replay Value - 1/10
This game lacks entirely on replay value. Once you have completed the game once, everything is done. Playing it again is not going to change anything since the puzzles would appear the same each time, meaning that it becomes too obvious. The first time through is too short, taking some minutes to complete it. Unfortunately, even with the extra "side quests", the game is relatively boring after you beat it once. Really, there is absolutely nothing to do left after it is finished.

Overall - 4/10
Being one of the earlier Putt-Putt games, I can't say it would be that great. On the other hand, it could have more effort placed into it. More puzzles and more replay value would have certainly made this game more fun, but overall, it just doesn't have the potential for a game that is worth buying.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/06, Updated 12/25/07

Game Release: Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo (US, 1995)