Putty Download (1992 Amiga Game)

As he slept in his homely hole on Pulty Moon, Putty began to dream about his old Grandpa... "Ee, you must remember as well as I do, young Putty. The Moon used to be a quiet place, and our people lived in peace and harmony. Until, that is, the evil Wizard Dazzledaze and his cohort Dweezil the cat decided to pick on us. Sold us off for chewin' gum, they did. Daylight robbery. And what did you do? You just sat there, didn't you, whinging about how you had a cold. Well now it's time for action, young Putty. ACTION! There is only one way to rid the Moon of its evil presence, and that's to help the Bots to build a tower from the planet Zid to the Moon. When it's completed, the Bots will be able to climb up it to vanquish Dazzledaze and Dweezil once and for all. Only trouble is, the Wiz has captured the Bots as well and frozen them in ice. Only you can rescue them. The future of the Moon is in your hands, young Putty, or whatever you have for hands, at least. Don't let as down." With the vision of Grandpa gradually fading away, Putty awoke. After he got up and stretched a bit, he decided that today was the day when he should change from being a lazy, cowardly blob and do something about the wicked Wizard...

You take control of Putty as he (Is it a He? How can you tell with an amorphous blob of blue matter?) attempts to free the Bots from their captivity, and return them to their spaceship. Not only are the levels of Putty Moon difficult to negotiate for an amorphous blob such as yourself, but also Dazzledaze and Dweezil have sent a whole army of nasties to thwart your efforts.

It must be really difficult nowadays to think up a new scenario for a platform game, but System 3 have not only come up with a good story, but a superb game as well. Not since Robocod have we seen graphics of this quality. It's got incredibly colourful and detailed backgrounds, superb scrolling and great characters.

The main character. Putty himself, is a small but perfectly formed sprite which is very nicely animated. As he moves along, little feet are formed in his flexible form, and his eyes point in the direction he walks. The eyes aren't fixed to his body, they son of 'float' on the top so when he falls they follow his body a split second later. He can be made to stretch into all manner of shapes, look around comers, absorb the enemies and take on their shape - he's basically the most versatile hero since Arnie Schwarzenegger (and you don't often see Amie inflate himself to huge proportions then explode, do you? I rest my case).

The nasties usually attack in large formations, and may take on one of a huge range of different forms. From psychotic carrots which yell "Uzi, 9-centimetre!" as they offload a few rounds at you, to Shockapillars (electric caterpillars), they are generally very deadly hut at the same time strangely cute... Have I mentioned sound? Well, this game his the most bizarre sound effects since Mega-Lo-Mania: a huge collection of sampled bells, whistles, pops and screams all of which actually add an enormous amount to the game. In fact the sound effects arc one of the first things people notice about Putty, and they draw you in immediately.

You are rubber

The first level is basically a trainer, which enables you to bounce around to your heart's content, getting used to the control system. This screen even has little arrows pointing around the level which are labelled with actions (eg Bounce), which is good because control is difficult at first. Anyway, after five minutes of play it all becomes second nature. The first screen only has one Bot on it, along with a few nasties, so saving him is easy. It quickly becomes apparent that the Bots are not only harmless aliens, but also inordinately stupid. How they can build a huge tower from Zid to the Moon when they can't find their way back to the spaceship I don't know.

All seems serene and gentle until... Aaarghh! The second level really drops you in at the deep end, with loads of horrible aliens and three Bots to save. The Psycho Carrot makes his first appearance here, and he is instantly likable even though he's trying to pump you full of lead. Punch him to reveal a crying baby (oh, I nearly forgot - Dazzledaze kidnapped a load of babies and turned them into the nasties), and then absorb the baby for extra points. The Bots actually move around on this level, and if attacked by an alien they will leap to their death, lemming style, so you have to get to them quickly.

Credits arc picked up along the way, arcade style, and a continue option is provided so that you can start from the same place with a new set of lives - and you need them, too. If and when you lose all your lives, Dweezil the cat pops up, Looney Tunes style, and yells "Too Bad!" at you, with a bit of cartoony music playing over the top.

I am glue

I really can't say enough about this game. I could sit and write for a few weeks and fill the pages of this magazine about all the beautiful graphics, marvellous sound effects and neat little touches which make it so special, and then go back and play it again and still find something different. It is that expansive. At the same time, though, it's incredibly playable, the sort of game that will keep young and old coming back again and again for months.

With elements of Dropzone and Robocod, the cuteness of, well, something indescribably cute, and the most bizzare sound effects ever, it's easily the best platform game I've ever played, and certainly in the tunning for the best game ever on any computer. With the recent release of Zool and now this game, the Amiga is yet again confirmed as the games machine to have.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

People who downloaded Putty have also downloaded:
Pushover, Ruff 'n' Tumble, Shadow of the Beast 2, Sensible World of Soccer 96-97, Skidmarks 2 AGA, Turrican I, Robocop, Turrican III