It's a vicious circle but that's how good games keep gamers playing.Įven though the level building utility in Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama is fun, it would be better if the levels began cleared of all balloons. If you fail again, you feel worse if you make it past the level, you want to see how tough the next level is. If you can't get through a level, you feel like an idiot so you play again. The game is not unlike Tetris where the action is so amazingly simple yet so addictive that it is hard to walk away. Although repetitive, the increasing difficulty in each level along with the hidden goodies in some balloons helps to keep the action fresh. Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama's action is quite exciting and I can't imagine too many children getting bored with it quickly. It's a good sound scheme and fits into the game's overall audiovisual style. The sound effects are simple cartoon noises, "boings" and "bonks" mostly, coupled with some light background music. In the area of audio, the dialogue is a bit sappy but, keep in mind, the game is targeted toward kids. The background images for each level are not spectacular but they fulfill their intended functions by not distracting from gameplay. The title characters are rendered nicely from both artistic and animation viewpoints and the diversity of the balloons to be popped is quite good. Graphically, Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama is very good. It is basically a Breakout clone with cute characters and, while the first several levels are quite simple, the game offers adult-sized challenges as play progresses. Even though Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama is part of Humongous Entertainment's Junior Arcade Collection, I found it to be a game many adults would enjoy along with younger gamers.