Disney's Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers

Donald has a chip on his shoulder in Ubi Soft's 2-½ action Pak. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Keeping Donald content is about as easy as herding cats, but everyone's favorite fusspot really goes off the deep end when malodorous magician Merlock duck-naps Daisy. To add insult to injury, Donald's uppity cousin, Gladstone Gander, vows to rescue Daisy. Thus begins Donald's great race to reach Daisy first and foil Merlock's nefarious plans.

Donald Duck follows the hallowed footsteps of Kirby 64 and Yoshi's Story in being a 2-½D side-scroller. For the most part, Donald can move left, right, up and down, but cannot move toward or away from the player. By restricting Donald's movements, the developers at Disney Interactive have been able to focus the N64's considerable graphics capabilities on generating gorgeous, richly detailed environments. An Expansion Pak makes the game look even grander.

Donald Duck breaks ranks with its esteemed predecessors, though, by offering many levels in which Donald can move toward and away from the screen, but not side to side. Disney's Tarzan had a few such levels, most notably in The Baboon Chase, but Donald Duck offers far more of this fresh perspective. While gauging jumps to moving platforms can be literally a matter of hit-or-miss, scads of extra lives and save points keep the frustration quotient low.

Donald can roam freely around the cramped quarters of Gyro Gearloose's lab. From this overworld he can teleport to the various stages, each of which has multiple levels.

As with most platformers, Donald Duck is mostly about hunting for the end of each level and gathering various items en route, including toys under Merlock's dreadful spell and stars that give Donald extra lives. Most importantly, he must find the missing pieces of a warp pad that will teleport him to the stage's boss.

Disney Interactive has packed the game with plenty of Donaldesque bits, including appearances by scampish nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and the bullying Beagle Boys. Trouble-brewing Magica DaSpell even gets her own mansion. You can also count on loads of sound effects when the game waddles onto store shelves this fall.

Fights with enemies generate cartoony little clouds. If forced to wait, happy Donald will dream of Daisy, but if he's taken damage, he'll put up his dukes to show that he's itching for a fight. And check out that sailor's cap. Whether falling, floating or spinning around, it seems to have a life of its own!

Source:

www.nintendo.com – Nintendo 64