Garfield Caught in the Act^[a] is a 1995 side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis and Game Gear. A Microsoft Windows version followed. It is based upon Jim Davis‘ comic strip cat, Garfield, and draws inspiration from Davis’ 1984 book Garfield Caught in the Act: His 9 Lives. Odie scares Garfield while they are watching television and they fall on the TV, breaking it. Both characters attempt to repair it before Jon Arbuckle catches them; however, the thrown spare parts become an electronic monster known as the Glitch, transporting Garfield into the TV, where he must defeat him in order to get out.

Garfield Caught in the Act was met with mixed reception from critics.

Gameplay – Garfield Caught in the Act

Garfield Caught in the Act is a side-scrolling platform game where players take control of the titular cat across levels of varying themes on the television in order to defeat an evil electronic being known as the Glitch and escape the TV.^[3][4]

The levels, though linear in nature, are large and populated with obstacles, enemies and environmental hazards, inviting the player to traverse the stage by running, jumping, climbing, swinging, throwing objects or dodging enemies. Later levels become more maze-like and exploratory, making the player take different routes to reach the end, where a boss must be fought to progress further. There are two types of bonus rounds, one of which resembles a Whac-A-Mole game. Each time the player defeats a boss, Garfield takes a commercial break where he rockets through the Television Wasteland, trying for an extra life or a continue.^[3][4]

Garfield Caught in the Act is able to attack enemies up close or throw objects at them (close-range weapons and objects thrown change between each level).^[3][4] Enemies consist of ghosts, piranhas, crabs, bulldogs and mummified mice, among others.^[3][4]

All levels also contain beneficial items and weapon ammunition to be collected for Garfield, among other secrets to be found. If Garfield is defeated, he respawns on the nearest checkpoint reached. Once all lives are lost, the game is over, though players have the option of resuming progress from the beginning of the last level reached by using continues or loading a saved game via password.^[3][4]

Plot – Garfield Caught in the Act

The general plot summary of Garfield Caught in the Act is shared between each version of the game.^[3][4] Odie scares Garfield while he is watching television, and he ends up falling on the television. In a rushed effort to repair the television before Jon catches them, Garfield Caught in the Act and Odie attempt to put the banged up and broken pieces together. Without so much as a screwdriver, Garfield quickly reassembles the television, minus a part or two. As Garfield throws away the spare pieces, they become an electronic monster known as the Glitch. The Glitch transports Garfield into the television and now he must defeat the Glitch to make his way out.

Development – Garfield Caught in the Act

Plans for a Garfield game on Sega Genesis came into existence with the rise of licensed platform titles such as Disney’s Aladdin by Virgin Games.^[6] Development on Garfield: Caught in the Act originally began with programmer Steven Lashower, who worked on the Sega 32Xconversion of Star Wars Arcade, but internal development issues led to the project being restarted during Christmas 1994 and months of work being scrapped as a result, with Michael Fernie now serving as lead programmer instead alongside Ala Diaz and Pravin Wagh.^[6][7]

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