Find all the things so Putt-Putt can enter the race!

Putt-Putt Enters the Race is a very cute cd-rom computer game. We use it on a computer that has Windows 98. This game came in a Preschool 4-pack with three other games--Curious George Preschool Learning Games, 102 Dalmatians, and Dr. Seuss Preschool. The whole pack was $20 at Toys R Us.

I bought this game (and the others in the pack), because my son Henry (who was 3) only had a couple of computer games that he played constantly. Both of his other games were getting too babyish, so I thought he would like some more advanced ones to play. These games, especially Putt-Putt Enters the Race, were too difficult for my son when he had just turned 3. Now that Henry is 4, he can play Putt-Putt Enters the Race by himself.

General Overview: In this game, Putt-Putt the car receives a notice about the Cartown 500 Race. He has to collect a variety of things around town in order to enter the race. Once he has collected all the needed items (by doing chores, helping others, and collecting bottles for recycling), Putt-Putt races several other cars in the Cartown 500. The overall message, which is stated by one of the cars, is "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you race around the track."

Detailed Description: At the beginning, Putt-Putt the car is playing fetch with his dog Pep when a mail-carrier brings him a notice about the Cartown 500 Race. Putt-Putt wants to enter the race, so he must go to the Cartown 500 to get an entry form. There is an obstacle (an armadillo) in his way to the racetrack, and the player must click on Pep, so the dog can bark at the critter to move out of the roadway. [When we first attempted to play this game, we could not figure out how to move the armadillo, so we gave up and put the game away for future use.] Once Putt-Putt arrives at the racetrack, a mentor car gives him an entry form with a list of "thangs" Putt-Putt will need to enter. These "thangs" include: a helmet for Pep, a racing flag with a specified number on it, gasoline, and racing tires. Putt-Putt then drives around town, trying to find all of these items.

Game play is slightly different each time, as the items can be found or earned in different ways.

Depending on the version of game play, the helmet can be earned by hammering nails into boards at the lumber yard or by helping to retrieve a cat from a tree. Putt-Putt can get the racing flag either by finding specific food to feed an unusual animal at the zoo or by helping to retrieve a cat from under a house. Once Putt-Putt has a racing flag, he can go to the library to put his official racing number on it. Putt-Putt can get free gas at the gas station at all times, but it is revealed that a container is needed to store some gas for the race, so Putt-Putt has to find a gas can. The gas can is either at the Recycling Center, which Putt-Putt must find under a pile of junk that he organizes, or buried in Mrs. Airbag's backyard, which Putt-Putt must find by listening to her dog barking and guessing where to dig with a shovel. The racing tires are at the Tire Store, but Chuck the Tow-Truck has a flat tire on one of the roads, and Putt-Putt has to retrieve a tire-repair kit for him before he can try to purchase tires. The tires cost 4 coins, so Putt-Putt must earn 4 coins before he can buy his tires.

In one section of town, there are several businesses including a car wash, a car-paint store, a toy store, a grocery store, and a fire station. The player can go to each store by clicking on it. Sometimes, there are empty bottles on the ground at the car wash or car-paint store. These bottles can be taken to the Recycling Center to be traded--3 bottles for one coin. The toy store has batteries with a "FREE" sign. The player must click on the batteries in order to store them inside Putt-Putt. The bottom of the screen has a dashboard across it, and all of the items found are pictured on the dashboard. At the grocery store, there is a "Help Wanted" sign on a basket. If the player clicks on the basket, Mr. Baldini Car asks Putt-Putt to go to the farm and collect three specific vegetables. If Putt-Putt completes the mission successfully and brings the basket back to Mr. Baldini, he earns two coins. Coins can be used at the car-wash, the car-paint store, or to buy tires.

Another part of town is the farm. Putt-Putt must go through a one-lane tunnel (honking his horn first) to get to the farm. The crops are in a maze that Putt-Putt must navigate in order to find the vegetables for Mr. Baldini. There is also a flashlight on the ground by the farmer. If the player clicks on it, the farmer tells Putt-Putt that there are no batteries in it, but he can have it. The player must put the batteries (found at the Toy Store) into the flashlight by clicking the batteries and moving them onto the flashlight. Then he can use the flashlight to look around inside the tunnel. There is a hook on the ground inside the tunnel.

A third section of town includes the zoo, the library, Mrs. Airbag's house, and Mr. Fender-Bender's house. Putt-Putt can use the library to cut a shape from the tire-repair kit, to put his official number on his racing flag, or to research what kind of food the unusual animals at the zoo will eat.

The remaining part of town includes the Recycling Center, the Tire Store, and a drive-up Ice Cream Shop. The lumberyard is on the way to this part of town, and there are pipes in the road blocking the way. Putt-Putt must find the missing hook in order for the work-truck to move the pipes. Once Putt-Putt has found the hook in the tunnel and returned it, the pipes are moved, and Putt-Putt can enter the remaining part of town.

The player can click on the Entry Form at any time to see what items have been obtained (they are check-marked) and what Putt-Putt still needs. Once all of the items have been obtained, Putt-Putt automatically appears at the Cartown 500 Racetrack. The player can then race Putt-Putt around the track against the other cars. There are oil-spills, birds, and other cars to avoid. Sometimes Putt-Putt wins, and sometimes one of the other cars wins. The mentor car tells Putt-Putt that "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you race around the track."

This game is entirely animated. The colors are bright and cheerful. The characters are all talking vehicles. The front ends of the vehicles are large faces. Most of the vehicles use their antennae to pick up objects. On every screen, the player can click on different objects to see silly animation--for example, clicking on a flower in the introduction screen starts a trumpet serenade by the flower. The music in this game is lively, and some of it is familiar to me. The game starts with the sun rising to the tune of "Little Deuce Coupe", but with different words. Inside the vegetable maze at the farm, a mysterious tune plays. If the player clicks on a box beside the farmer car, he picks it up to use as an accordion and plays a cute folk song about salad.

This game was fairly complicated to figure out. But now that we know the general idea--that Putt-Putt must do good deeds, work hard, and help people to get the items he needs--my 4-year-old can play it. Sometimes, he still needs to ask me how to find some things. He will play this game for an hour at a time. The racing part at the end makes him laugh, especially when the cars hit the ducks and they go flying up in the air. I would never recommend this game for a child who is just beginning to use the computer, and I would definitely wait until a child is at least 4 before introducing this game.