QuackShot Starring Donald Duck (1991)

About the Game:

Like Castle of Illusion, Quackshot, starring Donald Duck, is another Disney-licensed game from the 16-bit generation.In it, you take the role of the titular duck in search of buried treasure, much like Scrooge did in Duck Tales on the NES.

I've never actually played any other Disney games on the Genesis or SNES aside from Castle of Illusion and Aladdin, because who hasn't played Aladdin?

Gameplay, Story and Value:

Quackshot feels a lot like Duck Tales in terms of style and design. The cutscenes are similar, the idea of moving back and forth between stages, you even go through stages collecting money bags. Unfortunately, the mechanical similarities end there. Gone is the airtight platforming and pogo-caning of Scrooge McDuck, replaced instead but the clunky handling and slow shooting of Donald.

While nothing feels particularly "wrong" about the game, it doesn't quite get anything right either. Donald always feels a tad slow to respond, and his attacks feel weighty and inaccurate. Throughout the game you'll find various weapons and items, as well as upgrades to existing weapons, which you can switch between and use through the pause menu. The level designs themselves are okay, but it starts to feel real cheap to reach the halfway point of a stage only to be told you can't progress further without an item you need to find elsewhere. To be fair, this is mitigated somewhat by the fact that you can often exit and re-enter stages at these blocked off points, though once you reach the proper end of a level you're still expected to backtrack all the way to said checkpoint.

Quackshot is not inherently a "bad game", but as far as platformers go it just lacks that polish and precision that makes the genre so enjoyable.

Presentation, Music and Sound:

Visually the game does the franchise justice. The Duck Tales cast and characters look fantastic as large detailed sprites, and the levels are distinct and fun. There's some great cameos strewn throughout the game, and some stages from the NES original are even brought back and updated for the 16-bit era, such as Transylvania.

The sounds are lifted from the same pool that Castle of Illusion took its sounds from, and are fine overall. The music is okay, though not particularly memorable.

Fun:

I went into this game expecting to have a great time, so my disappointment with it is even more, well, disappointing. Like I said, it's not necessarily bad, but it lacks the fun and fluidity that I've come to expect from platformers from this era, much less Disney platformers. As the game went on, stages became boring, almost channeling the feeling that comes with MMO style fetch quests, and I just didn't have to motivation to see it through to the end. Maybe I'll revisit it one day, maybe my kids will like it. For me, it just felt like a whiff.

Review:

Gameplay: