Fatty Bear



Fatty Bear was a rather short-lived series of children's games made by Humongous Entertainment, which was later bought by Atari. Unlike most other franchises of the company, Fatty Bear lasted one adventure game and two spinoffs (though technically one since the other one was just an Updated Rerelease). His games consisted of Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise, Fatty Bear's Fun Pack, and Putt Putt & Fatty Bear's Activity Pack. He was also playable in Putt Putt Goes to the Moons minigame Bear Stormin (which received a standalone release at one point). After those games, he was reduced to being a simple cameo character for other Humongous games. According to one of the original workers, the person who owned the rights to him had no interest in making any further games. Due to this, he eventually faded into obscurity, but his games, despite there being so few of them, are still well-known by the fanbase.

The only main game in the series, Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise, centers around the titular character trying to prepare a birthday party for his owner. It goes well until he releases a puppy, who begins to cause trouble for everyone.

Tropes in the Fatty Bear games:

 * Crossover: Putt-Putt & Fatty Bear's Activity Pack is the only Humongous game to go further than simple cameos.
 * Executive Meddling: The reason the series didn't last.
 * Foreshadowing: Looking through the treehouse telescope will sometimes show Putt Putt on the moon. That corresponding game was released a few months after.
 * Heli Critter: Matilda Rabbit.
 * Living Toys
 * Mad Libs Dialogue: A rather strange case here; in the earliest versions of the DOS version, when blowing the balloons, Gretchen would say "That's...(x)...balloons, Fatty Bear...(y)...more to go." This was changed in later versions and the Windows port, where she said it in one sentence.
 * Milking the Giant Cow: Matilda Rabbit.
 * Minigame Game: Fun Pack and its Updated Rerelease Activity Pack.
 * Mister Muffykins: The puppy. He does nothing except cause trouble for everybody, running off with three lettters for the Happy Birthday sign, popping balloons, digging in the garden, and stealing Fatty Bear's chocolate chips.
 * Parental Bonus: The opening of the demo version is a parody of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
 * Password Save: The standalone version of Bear Stormin'.
 * Recycled Soundtrack: Fun Pack reuses music from Birthday Surprise, while its Updated Rerelease Putt Putt & Fatty Bear's Activity Pack reuses music from Putt Putt Joins the Parade.
 * Scooby Dooby Doors: If you pull the chocolate chips from the cupboard while the puppy is out, he'll snatch them and Fatty Bear will chase him while performing this gag.
 * Sequence Breaking: Averted, it is impossible to not let the puppy out of the box, even though it seems like it should be possible. Even if you do ignore it, Fatty Bear will eventually wonder for himself. And if you do finish the cake before letting him out, the plot will not advance until he runs off with the letters for the "Happy Birthday" sign.
 * Staggered Zoom: At the very beginning of the game, when zooming into Kayla's room. This may have been done because of animation limitations in that day.