Garfield: Caught in the Act is a 1995 side-scrolling platform video game originally developed and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Versions for the Sega Game Gear and Microsoft Windows were also released. It is based upon Jim Davis' comic strip cat, Garfield, and draws inspiration from Davis' 1984 book Garfield: His 9 Lives.
Garfield: Caught in the Act was met with mixed reception from critics.
Plot[]
Garfield is watching TV in the Arbuckle household when Odie suddenly appears and startles him, causing him to fly into the TV and break it. Paranoid that Jon will be mad with them, he quickly “repairs” the TV and throws out supposed spare parts. These spare parts create the Glitch, who sucks Garfield into the TV. In order to get out, Garfield must defeat the Glitch.
Gameplay[]
Players control Garfield on a mission to escape the TV through 5 2D side-scrolling levels, each a parody of film and television genres, such as horror (Count Slobula’s Castle) or cavemen films (Cave Cat 3,000,000 BC). Levels are found by reaching doors in the game’s hub world Television Wasteland. Garfield can attack enemies by using a melee attack or throwing limited ammunition that can be found throughout levels. Each stage culminates in a boss battle. In between stages and Television Wasteland, Garfield is sent to a bonus game where he must get a certain number of Pookys for an extra life or continue. Another bonus game, a Whac-A-Mole game, grants a continue if letters spelling “Garfield” are collected.
Development[]
The idea for Caught in the Act was born with the rise of licensed games (such as Disney's Aladdin). Development began with Star Wars Arcade programmer Steven Lashower, but internal issues caused the work done on the current version of the to be scrapped around Christmas 1994. Michael Fernie (former Absolute Entertainment employee), Ala Diaz, and Pravin Wagh (previously hired by Lashower) were selected as the new programmers and production began once again.
Caught in the Act was mostly done by the same team as the previously mentioned Star Wars Arcade, simultaneously with the Game Gear port done by Novotrade. Fernie, Wagh, and artist Petra Evers recounted that a lot of the project had already been planned via design documents, but some parts still had to be scrapped as they were deemed unsatisfactory for the final release of the game.
Other stages were removed as well, such as Alien Landscape (which would become exclusive to the Windows version). The stage was created by Evers, who got the idea for the stage from a lava lamp. Fernie would recall that the marketing team at Sega requested “Count Slobula's Castle” be the first level in favor of “Cave Cat 3,000,000 BC”. Fernie regarded the former as the weaker of the two stages and believed it put players off from seeing the rest of the game.
Art[]
All sprites were hand-drawn by Jim Davis and his company Paws, Inc and then digitized by the teams at Sega InterActive. Fernie stated the person doing this was a subcontractor. Davis noted that the game’s inspiration, Garfield: His 9 Lives, allowed Garfield to be more kinetic than the strip. The book’s TV film adaptation’s premise would allow Garfield to effectively translate into the video game medium. Davis also did the game’s box art and intro sequence sprites.
The Lost Levels[]
Released exclusively for the Sega Channel in 1996, Garfield: The Lost Levels contained three levels originally planned for the final release of the game that were cut They were Bonehead the Barbarian, Alien Landscape, and a section of the “Catsablanca” level featuring a train. However, due to how the Sega Channel worked (wiping the ROM data after a reset), there was no way to physically preserve the Lost Levels. For nearly 30 years the game was considered lost media, until the Video Game History Foundation had announced they had found a playable build of the game in 2024. It was shown off at the 2024 Portland Retro Gaming Expo, and a dump of the ROM is planned.
Reception[]
Critical reception towards Caught in the Act was mixed. Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game’s animation, but 3 out of the 4 reviewers criticized the loose controls and large amount of mandatory hits. GamePro, likewise, praised the visuals but disliked Garfield’s slow movement speed and concluded that the game was only worthwhile for fans of the strip. Sega Saturn Magazine, unlike the previous two reviewers, found the backgrounds bland and scrutinized the sluggish control. AllGame gave praise to the graphics but found the game to be an “average and unimaginative action game”.
External links[]
- Garfield: Caught in the Act at Garfield Wiki
- Garfield: Caught in the Act at MobyGames
- Garfield: Caught in the Act at GameFAQs
- Garfield: Caught in the Act at Sega Retro
- Garfield: Caught in the Act at Sega-16
- Garfield: Caught in the Act at The Cutting Room Floor