For being one of the most beloved characters of Disney, it is surprising to see how little background Donald Duck has had as a protagonist in the video game sector ( compared to Mickey Mouse, of course ), with that 1991 QuackShot being his first stellar appearance on the historic Mega Drive.
With a few games named after him in the 80s, this exclusive SEGA console platform in the early nineties was the peculiar counterpart to the mythical Castle of Illusion of 1990, with a Donald who opted for different mechanics with respect to to the most famous mouse in Disney . It’s time to remember it.
QuackShot, SEGA’s most unusual platform
The first differentiating point that was most striking in Quackshot is precisely how it moved 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 , regardless of ammo.
That shot posed another “passing” strategy, that of stopping just in front of the rival, leaving him in little birds for a few seconds to continue advancing. Now, there were more ways to finish them off forever, but they were special cases.
On the one hand, we had limited ammunition to collect, the first being corn nuggets , which we fired in open bursts of five shots at a time. It was extremely scarce ammunition and wasted in a breeze, unlike the bubblegum balloons we needed for Transylvania. The last resort to eliminate the enemies was only given in a few phases with hot peppers , seeing how Donald shot out until his heat diminished.
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 surpassed by other titles from the Disney factory in later years, such as Aladdin. His story also showed us a Donald Duck a la Indiana Jones , in search of a lost treasure with which to become richer than Uncle Scrooge, whom we saw in Ducktales.
In fact, in QuackShot there were the nephews of the aforementioned Uncle Scrooge, 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 be able advance elsewhere.
Its menu, with the pause button, was vaguely reminiscent of The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants of 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 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 just enough, as with World of Illusion, for example, where he shared the limelight with Mickey Mouse. Today it is shown as a slower and simpler adventure, widely surpassed by other 16-bit classics .
QuackShot
| Platforms | Mega Drive and Saturn |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Not |
| Developer | SEGA |
| Company | SEGA |
| Launch | 1991 |
| Price | Not available |
The best
- A different platform. And with Donald
- Graphically it was very nice
- Plunger Upgrades
Worst
- He abused to revisit the regions
- Some actions were a bit clumsy
- Let SEGA always forget about QuackShot
