Monday 25 January 2010

Quackshot Mega Drive review

Introduction
Back in the late 1980's and early 1990's Nintendo were making deals with developers to make games exclusively for their consoles, in other words games like Mega man on Nintendo could not be ported to other systems, because of this Nintendo dominated the gaming industry and everyone else was left with a lack of must have games on their systems. Not wanting to fall behind Sega made similar deals, but instead of making deals with video game developers to make their games exclusive to Sega's system, Sega decided that they could do a better job themselves, so in the end they started making deals with Animation Company's like Disney and Toei Animation.
The result games like Castle of Illusion, Last Battle (Known in Japan as fist of the North Star), and Quackshot.


Single Player

Developed by SEGA AM7 Quackshot follows Donald Duck on his quest to find the lost treasure of King Garuzia, the old-time ruler of the Great Duck kingdom after he finds a map belonging to Scrooge McDuck, forgetting that he had a date with Daisy, Donald fly's off promising to get her something special. Join Donald along with his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie as they go on a world wide trip to find the lost treasure, just watch out for Pete and his gang of thugs.

Gameplay

Quackshot just like every other 16-bit Disney game is a side scrolling adventure game. The game has similar controls to other Disney games on the Mega Drive, prime examples being the Mickey Mouse games where the A button runs, the B button attacks, and the C button jumps. Just like the Mickey Mouse games you have a health bar that goes down when you take a hit, the health bar can be refilled by eating food, there are several foods in the game but only two refill your health bar (Ice cream fills one portion and the chicken fills the entire thing), I'll tell you about the others later. You also have ammo for your gun. You have three different weapons, a plunger gun, a popcorn gun (the third food), and a bubble gun. The plunger gun is the standard weapon for the game, it doesn't kill enemies, and it stuns them. The plunger gun is also upgradeable. You also have access to the popcorn gun from the start but that needs ammo to use, which is a problem because the popcorn gun eats up ammo, five bullets per shot so be carful how you use it.
The bubble gun is my least favourite out of the three guns, this one also uses ammo, that isn't a problem with this gun because each shot only takes one bullet, the problem is its use as a weapon, the gun is said to be the most powerful in the game but it is really slow so you have to shoot enemies at point blank range for it to always hit, besides that it is fairly useful for destroying obstacles.
Actually I lie the bubble gun isn't the biggest destructive force in your arsenal the peppers (the fourth food) are, you don't mess with Donald after he eats peppers, next to the health bar is Donald's temper bar, as you eat peppers Donald gets more and more angry, after you've ate five peppers Donald will become so pissed off that he will destroy all in his path in a blind rage, he even does his trade Terex syndrome tantrum, nice.
The game lets you visit several interesting places including Duckburg, Mexico, and the South Pole, all of the areas are varied, and none of them are the same.
Now on the games short comings, there isn't much to complain about in this game the only thing I see being a problem with this game is the many try and die moments that plague the game as it progresses. You will use up your three lives a lot, but then again the game gives you unlimited continues (questionable but not problematic) so this shouldn't be a problem, the only other problem is the lack of save/password feature so the game has to be played and completed in one go, also the game may seem a bit slow paced for some.
As you progress through the game you receive key items that are vital for unlocking new areas and getting closer to the treasure.
In all Quackshot is very good Mega Drive adventure that is full of ideas and moments that are taken straight out of the Indiana Jones movies (The costume and plot are dead giveaways, there's even a bit that rips-off the leap of faith out of the Last Crusade).
As for the games length, well that is entirely dependable on your skill, thanks to the unlimited continue and lack of save the game can take you hours to complete.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics on this game are exceptional for their time, it's almost like watching a Disney cartoon. You'd be surprised what can be done on a 4-Meg Mega Drive cart.
Just like the graphics the music is pretty good too, it flows well and is quite ear pleasing despite being on the Mega Drive (a console that wasn't famous for it's sound that's for sure) well the music is good it's no Duck Tales (in other words it doesn't stick in your head like a pike).

Conclusion
Just like every other Sega/Disney game Quackshot is good, as good as the film franchise it spoofs.

+ Great visuals
+ Good music
+ Good platforming gameplay
+ Good story
+ Can be played by anyone

- A lot of try and die
- No replay value

9/10

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