Cynical cash-in with a cartoon dog
The mildly famous children's favourite that is Putt-Putt, the anthropomorphic car, returns in this collection of classic board games. However, unlike some of his other efforts, like Dog on a Stick and Goes to the Moon, this one is decidedly middle-of-the-road stuff which is extremely lacking in imagination or charm. As such, it's just about passable for a dodgy Sunday, but you can expect to need some backup to make it through the whole afternoon. There's a variety of games on offer here, all of which require at least a bit of thinking from the participants. What you basically have is a few variants on classics like checkers (not quite as complex as chess and thus more suited to youngsters); pinball (where you can construct your own Putt-Putt themed table); sliding block puzzles (featuring the star's lovable friends); tic-tac-toe; and a word guessing game. Of course, all of the games are dressed up at least a bit with Putt-Putt and chums and while the characters are reasonably charming in their own way, you can't help but sense a slight air of desperation about the whole thing. It feels a tad cynical, as if the developers were running low on inspiration and just thought they could get away with slapping a cartoon car on any old game that is just as easily played with a bit of paper and a pencil in the knowledge that it would probably sell anyway. So while the visuals and sound are nicely vibrant and detailed, bringing the characters to life in decent fashion, the lack of depth or originality soon grates and you're left looking for something a bit more appetizing.
