Putty Longplay (Amiga) [QHD]

Game Info
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Developer: System 3
Publisher: System 3
Year of Release: 1992
Coding: Dan Phillips, Dave Collins, John Kemp, Rob Stevens
Graphics: Phil Thornton, Robin Levy, Jo Walker
Music: Richard Joseph
Sound: Phil Thornton

Game Review & Impressions
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When it came to the C64, System 3 has some of the biggest hits on the system. Games such as Myth: History in the Making, Turbo Charge and the Last Ninja trilogy showcased the studio's creative and programming talent, cementing the developer as one of the UK's best and brightest game developers.

When it came to the Amiga, however, the quality and consistency of the developer faltered somewhat, at least in my opinion. The 16-bit conversions of Last Ninja games didn't have the same impact as the original C64 games had done, and although the Amiga version of Myth looked superb and played well enough, the gameplay was identical to the 1989 original.

Fortunately, the studio finally found its mojo once more with Putty (AKA Silly Putty). This quirky platformer starring a small blob of amorphous, blue putty boasts a unique and surreal sense of humour, with a game design a lot smarter than I ever gave it credit for back in the day.

Something I hadn't been aware of until reading up on the game was the fact System 3 had been planning to develop a range of cartridge-based games for the Amiga. Putty had been one of the games in the cartridge development pipeline before the whole endeavour was scrapped. The game could well have gone down with the whole cartridge project, but was eventually released under the name 'Putty', abandoning the 'Silly Putty' license.

And we're fortunate the game did live to see the light of day, because it's pretty darned good. The stretching/morphing mechanics were really quite innovative for the time and were meshed with the overall design. It's also one of the first games I can think of which includes a formal tutorial explaining how to play the game.

As with so many games from this era, Putty can be fiendishly difficult at times, not least because of the infernal input lag the game seems to suffer from. However, with enough practice players will get used to the controls and should be able to overcome most of the challenges put in their way. The presentation is superb, boasting excellent artwork and animation for the time, and the Python-esque humour is one of the game's biggest draws. If you've never played Putty before, this is definitely one to check out.

Information & Trivia
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- Originally called 'Silly Putty', System 3 eventually dropped the license and released the game as 'Putty'
- System 3 intended to develop cartridge-based games for the Amiga, although this idea never came to fruition. Silly Putty had been one of the games earmarked for its cartridge scheme, before being scrapped and finally released on disk
- Official sequel Putty Squad was considered vapourware on Amiga until finally being released in 2013

Video Notes
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Related Longplays & Videos
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Chapters
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0:00:00 Intro & music
0:01:08 Tutorial level
0:04:57 Putty Moon Levels
13:46 Dazzledaze Villas Levels
21:50 Technofear Levels
0:33:08 Oriental Rooms Levels
0:42:26 Toytown Levels
0:52:30 Twilight Zone Levels
0:59:52 Ending

#putty
#amiga
#retrogaming