To be one of the most beloved Disney characters, it is surprising to see how little baggage he has had Donald Duck as a protagonist in the video game sector (compared to Mickey Mouse, of course), being that QuackShot 1991 his first star appearance in the historic Mega Drive.
With a few games named after him in the ’80s, this SEGA console-exclusive platformer in the early’ 90s was the quirky one. counterpart to the mythical Castle of Illusion from 1990, with a Donald who opted for other mechanics compared to Disney’s most famous mouse. It’s time to remember it.
QuackShot, SEGA’s most unusual platform
The first point of difference that most collided in Quackshot It is precisely how it got away from the basic concept of any platform: we did not “kill” the enemy by jumping on it, we did not even get rid of it; we just stunned him briefly by throwing a plunger at him
That shot posed another strategy “in passing”, that of stopping just in front of the rival, leaving him in birds for a few seconds to continue advancing. Now, there were more ways to finish them forever, but they were special cases.
On the one hand, we had limited ammo to collect, the first being the corn nuggets, which we fired in open bursts of five shots at a time. It was an extremely scarce ammunition and it was spent in a sigh, unlike the bubble gum balloons we needed for Transylvania. The last resort to eliminate enemies only occurred in a few phases with hot chili peppers, watching Donald shoot out until his heat lessened.
In any case, it was a game that based its main mechanics on the use of the plunger, especially after unlocking its first upgrade to stick it to the wall and be able to climb to reach high areas. And there was another extra improvement.
One of many Disney classics on Mega Drive
Graphically it was very beautiful for the time, although it was outmatched by other titles from the Disney factory
In fact, in QuackShot There were the nephews of the aforementioned Uncle Gilito, who helped us with their plane to travel between each region, something that had to be done a lot due to the backtracking of the game, forcing us to revisit areas when we got a special object with which to advance in other places.
His menu, with the pause button, was vaguely reminiscent of the The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants from that same 1991, another platform that made us hit the coconut to solve some puzzles. Now, SEGA created a more intuitive system, despite the fact that in certain situations we had to take several detours until we found the right path. Without going any further, in some phases, you even had to return to the starting point to be able to use the map later, which was a hassle.
It was not a platform with a good number of bosses, but rather with a fairly modest number, but the truth is that it stood out for moving away from the canons of games of its style to try to offer something different, without bragging. Already in 1995, Donald Duck would bet more on the platform action with the colorful Donald in Maui Mallard, his other great adventure as a solo protagonist.
Has it stood the test of time well?
Yes, but fair enough, as it happens with World of Illusion, for example, where he shared the limelight with Mickey Mouse. Today is shown as a slower and simpler adventure, far surpassed by other 16-bit classics.
QuackShot
| Platforms | Mega Drive y Saturn |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | No |
| Developer | SEGA |
| Company | SEGA |
| Launching | 1991 |
| Price | Not available |
The best
- A different platform. And with Donald
- Graphically it was very nice
- Plunger improvements
Worst
- He abused to revisit the regions
- Some actions were a bit clumsy
- Let SEGA always forget about QuackShot
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