Friday, March 26, 2010

Quackshot: 1HN Underrated Classic

When I was in high school, I remember hanging out with my friend Ed, who owned a Sega Genesis (before I eventually got mine in college). One of his brothers had rented a game called Quackshot, which was a side-scrolling adventure game starring Donald Duck. I remember playing the game and being impressed by the cartoonish graphics, the quirky background music, and, most importantly, the amusing and unique gameplay. Nineteen years later, I decided to buy the game used and include it as a retrogaming Christmas gift for my two sons, along with a Gen-X Dual Station and some other NES and Genesis games. Upon opening the gift, both of my sons were taken by the game and wanted to play it. Needless to say, like I was 19 years ago, they were impressed by the game.

Quackshot is one of those underrated classics that many gamers do not recognize, except for those Genesis gamers that are now active retrogamers. However, in what other game does the protagonist shoot a plunger gun that becomes more versatile as one acquires power-ups? Or, in what other game does a Disney character, vaguely dressed like Indiana Jones, travel from Duckburg to Mexico to Egypt to Transylvania to a haunted Viking ship? Not many other games but Quackshot. The unique gameplay not only involves using your plunger gun to stun foes, climb walls, and hitch rides attached to flying bird, but also involves the ability to slide as well as jump and duck -- most games did not have such versatility of control 19 years ago.

If you can, look for Quackshot on eBay or (if it's available) on Wii's Virtual Console. Because Donald wields a plunger gun and the game has that Saturday Disney cartoon look, it's a relatively innocuous game for young children, and it's a hoot for older kids who aren't averse to a good ol'-fashioned side-scroller that doesn't feature blood, guts, and explosions.

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