One of the few games
to have come out on the Sony Vita is a "remaster" of a Snes game
called 'Putty Squad'. But when it comes to games where you play as a ball of
blue putty, would you be better hunting down the 16bit version of the prequel?
Developed by System 3
Published by US Gold
Released in 1993
Shuhei Yoshida was quizzed recently on the state of the PS Vita, but he
didn't leave much hope for the future of Sony's second portable console. During
an EGX 2015 developer session, the Sony President said that he was "a huge
fan" of the Vita, but smart phone gaming "had created an unhealthy
climate in which to launch a successor". "People have mobile phones
and it's so easy to play games on smart phones," Yoshida admitted.
According to Eurogamer, both Sony's Vita and Nintendo's 3DS have sold less than
their predecessors. With global sales for both slowing down, it's unlikely they
ever will equal the sales of previous handheld generation, so it’s highly
likely that these will be both company's last exclusively portable systems.
Games will continue to be portable, but with every gamer having a phone in
their pocket, gone will be the need for dedicated game only portable
consoles.
The huge irony of this of course is that the games most people choose to
play on mobile platforms have their roots in the consoles of yesteryear. Simple
graphics, straightforward gameplay and obvious controls were design foundations
necessitated by the limited processing power of the 16bit consoles that they
were designed for. 'Angry Birds', 'Cut The Rope', ‘Flappy Bird', all are
designed with similar limitations to those imposed on 16bit games; limited because
of they are mobile games. As a result, many of the most popular games on mobile
devices feel and play similar to games from twenty years ago and the modern
taste for pixel art and chip tune music draws further parallels.
This is all actually good news for those of us old enough to remember
these types of games the first time they were in vogue. If popular new games look
and feel like old games, then old games should now sit next to new games
without uniformed customers noticing a difference.
Before the mobile gaming boom Nintendo, Sega and Atari were three of
hundreds of companies that would resell their older games every time a new
platform came out. They sold games on nostalgia, encouraging us to rebuy
childhood favourites to relive memories. Now though, while that marketing does
still exist, the favourites of yesteryear are also being aimed at those who
weren't even born to play them first time around. However, the device on which
people play mobile games has very different strengths and weaknesses to the
platform the games were originally designed to be played on. Games like 'Sonic
The Hedgehog', 'Megaman X' and 'Secret of Mana' have all been ported to mobile
devices, with little change from the original. Purists applause this, but new
players do not. For games to work on a mobile device they have to be adapted to
suit. Gesture based inputs replace button presses and gameplay is done in short
bursts. None of these suit 'MegaMan X' but they would be great for 'Super
Putty' (rather than its sequel 'Putty Squad'). It's the Snes game which would
be perfect for mobile play but it's one which is noticeably absent from digital
stores.
'Super Putty' allows you to fulfil a lifelong dream, provided that dream
is to controls a blue blob with eyes. Putty, as he is known, has been banished
from his home of Putty Moon by power hungry wizard Dazzledays and his maniacal
cat. In order to return home, he aims to round up robots and have them build a
tower from a planet to Putty Moon. The story is of course nonsense, but then so
is the plot of 'Angry Birds'.
The aim of each stage is to rescue a set number of these robots within a
time limit. To do this, Putty has to absorb them and carry them to the level's
goal (either a flying saucer or an elevator). Each level in 'Super Putty'
consists of four vertical screens with the screen only scrolling up and down.
To rescue the robots Putty will have to leap across regular platforms, as well
as "solid" ledges that cannot be jumped through. Adding variety to
the levels are special tiles including electric platforms and bounce pads.
While the size of each level remains constant, the platform layout and
complexity varies. In this way each level of 'Super Putty' presents a new
puzzle. Since our blue titular hero can only carry one robot at a time, success
depends therefore on finding the quickest way to get from the bottom of the
level to the top and back down again, as obviously saving the required number
of robots will take multiple trips. It gives the game a puzzling racey feeling
that is often lacking in platformers. Zy Nicholson noted in his Super Play
review that "a good deal of perseverance is required to solve each level.
Although it isn't truly a puzzle game, it helps to have a mental disposition
towards planning your manoeuvres with economy and precision".
When System 3 boss Mark Cale first saw the proof of concept he was
impressed. "In my mind 'Putty' was unique and different. I've yet to see
anything like it before and I've yet to see anything like it since".
Although designer Phil Thornton had created a demo on the Amiga, Cale always
imagined 'Putty' as a Snes title. "I had the Nintendo market primary in
mind at the time". He was so excited by the idea that he wanted Putty to
become mascot that would rival Sonic and Mario. However, to compete with
console titles and their established characters Cale insisted that every effort
was put into making 'Super Putty' look as incredible as possible. This was
perfect for game design Thornton though, as he was a graphic artist prior to
overseeing game design.

When you group together 'Robocod', 'Plok' and 'Super Putty' it's hard to
pretend that this British humour infused into platformers isn't surreal and
bizarre. Enemies in 'Super Putty' include Terminator Carrots, a Clockwork
Orange, Scouse Sausages and sword-wielding spacemen. Most memorable though is a
sarcastic cat which bursts through the screen simply to heckle you every time
you miss a bonus. He doesn't hurt your character, but his cry of "too bad
you just missed it" inspires more shame than 'Duck Hunt' dog's mocking
laughter. According to a Cale "all the inventive ideas came straight from
Phil's [Thornton] imagination". In fact, if Bitmap Books' 'Commodore Amiga
: A visual Compendium' is to believed the bulk of Thornton's ideas actually
came to him during a trip to India, when he ate a dodgy curry. "My bowels
went China syndrome and I was unable to do much except stand in one place
slightly stooped. During the dark days and the disturbed nights I came up with
characters and realised I was onto something."
Despite not being a fan of spicy food, Phil Thornton is clearly a
fantastic pixel artist. Putty is hugely emotive, despite being a blob of pixels
with no permanent limbs and just eyes. The Snes game looked even better than
the original Amiga one, with extra layers of parallax scrolling and a larger
colour palette. Zy Nicholson believes that Snes "'Putty' is a joy to
behold. A radiant gem of a game, slick, humours [with] cheekily well defined
sprites". The 6 levels each contain 3 stages and everyone looks slightly
different with varying foes on each stage.
However, not many saw the later stages due the games difficulty.
According to Dan Phillips, the game starts out hard and just gets more
challenging as it progresses. "The first level was pretty brutal, not many
players could complete it. So, we had to introduce a training mode".
The training mode was certainly needed given the number of ways Putty
had to attack enemies or to just get around the level. These abilities include
being able to stretch out in any direction, which is used to access far-off
ledges. He also has the ability to inflate to both catch any falling robots and
also to pop; killing enemies on the screen. Like "The Blob" in
'Clay Fighter', Putty is able to form part of himself into a fist, allowing him
to punch enemies. He can even melt into the floor, making him invulnerable and
also allowing him to absorb regaining his energy in the process.
If this wasn't enough, Putty also is given power-ups which range from
simple points bonuses and temporary invulnerability, to the fantastic Uncle
Ted. This is, without exaggeration, the most odd and fantastic power up in any
16bit platformer.
Once collected, a man with a Hammond Organ called Uncle Ted appears and plays such a captivating tune, that all enemies in the level freeze. Miyamoto is, by most accounts, one of the greatest visionaries in videos gaming history, yet where was Uncle Ted in 'Super Mario World'? "Its little elements like this in the game that elevate it to the level of near genius" Mark Ramshaw noted in his review of 'Putty' for Amiga Power magazine.
Once collected, a man with a Hammond Organ called Uncle Ted appears and plays such a captivating tune, that all enemies in the level freeze. Miyamoto is, by most accounts, one of the greatest visionaries in videos gaming history, yet where was Uncle Ted in 'Super Mario World'? "Its little elements like this in the game that elevate it to the level of near genius" Mark Ramshaw noted in his review of 'Putty' for Amiga Power magazine.
Yet with so much to do with Putty, Zy Nicholson found that "some
people have trouble controlling the numerous abilities of the little blue
blob". Perhaps this is because 'Super Putty' was originally an Amiga game
and so would have been controlled with a joystick. On a Dpad it is trickier to
get Putty to move precisely, which is perhaps why many note that 'Super Putty'
on the Snes is harder than 'Putty' on the Amiga. It's a shame you can't reach
into your screen and stretch Putty like you would in real life. Indeed it's a
shame that the game pre-dates touch screen controls, as this would be the ideal
way to control the blue blob. Rather than getting frustrated because putty is
stretching in the wrong direction you could tap on each platform and if near
enough he would stretch automatically to it.
Now how do I know that touch screen controls would work so well? Because,
we've seen them implemented in the Vita port of 'Super Putty's sequel 'Putty
Squad'. "But", I hear you ask "why do you crave a mobile version
of the first game, when the sequel has been re-mastered for modern consoles
including the 3DS and PS4?" The reason is simple; the touch controls are
the only good thing about 'Putty Squad Re-mastered'. When developing the sequel
to 'Super Putty', System 3 subscribed to the logic that excess equals a better
game. The ‘Super Putty’ sequel is a confusing mess of too many pick ups, too
many skills and even too many colours on screen. Worst of all though, rather
than just scrolling up and down the levels move in too many directions. The
original 'Super Putty' works because every level is confined to four vertical
screens. It taxes the brain as you can often see the robots but have to figure
out how to get to them without being shot to death by a Terminator carrot
wearing sunglasses. In 'Putty Squad' someone in the development team had the
terrible idea of hiding prisoners across a wide sprawling maze like level. In
‘Super Putty’ spending ten minutes trying inventive ways to get to something is
far exciting than spending ten minutes in ‘Putty Squad’ searching a level to
find what you need to rescue. System 3 tried too hard by attempting to evolve
'Super Putty' into 'Super Mario World'. The sequel would have been better if
they had just left it as a vertically scrolling puzzle platformer. Perhaps this
is why the sequel never saw the light of day on the Amiga, since it was only
released on the Snes is Europe. Perhaps I wasn't the only one who preferred the
original.
Clearly, my advice for anyone interested in playing a 'Putty' game would
be to stick to 'Super Putty'. The Problem is (after the disastrous scores the
re-mastered version of the "superior sequel" got) I doubt anyone
would bother porting 'Super Putty' to the mobile phones which the game is
perfect for. It's a shame as with touch controls it would be unique
"new" game for a generation of gamers who waste hours on 'FarmVille'
but have no idea who Will Wright is.
If people are no longer playing games on portable consoles, now is
the time to make a bigger deal of older games like 'Super Putty'. We should
revisit it not because it's a nostalgic classic, but because the limitations
surrounding its original creation now have made it the perfect type of game for
a mobile platform. "When you look at games today you realise what people
were achieving back then" System 3 boss, Mark Cale laments. "Now
games are unoriginal and follow a set formula as a result. You need more games
like 'Putty' today and for me, [it] will always be a landmark title."
Where did I get this
game from?

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