Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. And this week, I look at another major game I played as a kid. In fact I probably rented this more than any other NES title. Well, this or Tiny Toon Adventures, it’s hard to tell. But nonetheless, it’s time to look back at yet another classic team up from Disney and Capcom as we get dangerous with Darkwing Duck. Does this longtime favorite of mine hold up to the test of time, or is there a fowl odor lingering from it?
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1992
PUBLISHER: Capcom
GENRE: Action Platformer
Darkwing Duck was a 1991 animated series from Disney. It starred the adventures of the titular hero Darkwing Duck, as he would defend St. Canard from the forces of evil, with the help of his adopted daughter Gosalyn, and Launchpad from Ducktales. It was a solid mix of a straightforward superhero cartoon and a clear cut Batman parody. While Batman would try to keep in the shadows and would try to not get as much attention to himself, Darkwing craved the love and admiration of the people of St. Canard, however he rarely would ever get showered in the praise his ego felt he deserved.
I remember when the preview episodes of the show first aired earlier in 1991. I was instantly in love with this show. I also remember the massive buildup that they gave for the upcoming debut to the Disney Afternoon. How there’d be these ads literally counting down the weeks to the premiere. I miss those days when a show like this would get the hype of this level.
The show proved to be another big hit Disney animated cartoon show, and it was of course full of merchandise. Hell, I remember having damn near every action figure. Even the Ratcatcher motorcycle. Why did I get rid of those pieces of awesome? Anyways, as expected, the merchandise would soon lead to a game from Capcom just as the previous three Disney shows had. Darkwing Duck was released in mid-1992, just around the twilight days of the NES. The game sold decently enough. In fact, plans were originally made for a sequel, but it never saw the light of day. Possibly just a case of being too late in the NES life cycle for it to be a profitable idea. But we have the original.
COVER STORY
Again, another fine piece of Disney Art. But of all the covers, this one is my all time favorite. The big moon in the background, the iconic St. Canard bridge from the show, Darkwing and Launchpad in the Ratcatcher. It invokes so much of what I loved from the show, while wrapped in that sleek, sexy purple Capcom border. Definitely an eye catching cover in so many ways.
STORY
The city of St. Canard is in peril as the evil organization known as F.O.W.L is running amok and causing a crime spree. The nefarious leader Steelbeak has also sent five of Darkwing’s most legendary enemies (and some guy named Wereduck that was never on the cartoon), to cause even more problems. It’s up to Darkwing Duck to save the day. So, let’s get dangerous!
GAMEPLAY
Darkwing Duck is a one player action platformer. You control D.W as you go through 7 levels of St. Canard to take on some of his greatest foes. You move Darkwing with the D-pad, can jump with the A button, and shoot with the B button. By holding the up button on the D-pad, Darkwing can use his cape as a shield. It’s extremely useful against enemies that fire bullets. However, sometimes when jumping and shooting, you can accidentally press up and activate the shield, which is annoying.
Darkwing’s main weapon in the game is his infamous gas gun. It can be split into one of four different abilities. These include the basic projectile shot which you’ll use throughout the game. There’s the lightning gas which shoots lightning bolts diagonally. The heavy gas drops a ground shot that hits in both directions left and right. And finally the arrow gas, which shoots a sticky arrow on to walls. It’s useful when trying to get to a certain area with special goodies. Darkwing can only hold one of the three extra gasses at a time when picked up throughout the stage, and can be selected with the select button.
All gas abilities can be used multiple times so long as you have enough gas to use them. You can have up to 99 gas energy at one time. More can be collected through gas canisters, both big and small, as well as though collecting the icons for the specific gas ability. Other items in the game are first aid kits that restore all of Darkwing’s four hit points, health bottles that restore one point, Darkwing Dolls that give an extra life, and diamonds and gold that add to your score.
Another ability Darkwing possesses is the ability to cling to areas like lampposts, hooks, and certain pieces of scaffolding. It is essentially the bread and butter of gameplay, as most puzzles or strategies often rely on your ability to platform while hanging off objects. For example, in the sewer level, you’ll have to hang on a moving platform while dodging spiky hazards, so you have to be as quick as possible to survive.
The game is broken into seven levels as mentioned prior. Like Mega Man, you can select what level to begin on, but unlike Mega Man, you can only pick one of three at a time. The first three levels have you travel on the St. Canard bridge as you deal with the clownish lunatic Quackerjack. You”ll travel the rooftops until you face Wereduck. You’ll battle through sewers and face the Liquidator. Enter a dangerous forest to face an even more dangerous Bushroot. Enter a devastating construction site to battle Moliarty. Tavel in a lighthouse to deal with Megavolt. And finally you’ll make it to the floating fortress of F.O.W.L to face the leader Steelbeak. A good rogues gallery of the most infamous villains. However, no Negaduck? Maybe they were saving him for the scrapped sequel.
In each level there are two bonus stages. Similar to Talespin, these are found by shooting a certain area in each level. First you have to shoot falling capsules until time runs out. Each capsule will drop everything from gas cans to extra lives. The second level is similiar, but way different. This time you hang from hooks as you must use your cape to deflect capsules for Gosalyn and Launchpad to catch below. While fun, I do wish the bonus levels would have had you drive the Ratcatcher, or Darkwing’s plane instead.
The game controls quite well, and its difficulty is pretty average. Some levels are a breeze, while others like Liquidator’s level for example can be tricky. But if you’re decent enough it should take about an hour to beat. You have unlimited continues, and can earn plenty of lives as you go on through the game.
GRAPHICS
Graphically this game is top notch as is all of Capcom’s Disney titles. Levels have a great amount of detail and fit the cartoon perfectly. Sprites are well detailed and well animated, especially Darkwing who looks spot on. The caricatures of certain characters look just like they’ve been ripped straight from the show. It all makes for yet another perfect package from Capcom.
SOUND
Capcom delivers again with another awesome soundtrack. The game opens with Darkwing’s theme done almost perfectly in 8-bit, and what follows are great level tunes, maybe not to the super memorable level of Ducktales, but certainly close to it. One thing I like is how a lot of the levels seem to stick with this gumshoe style music vibe. Some levels deviate, but for the most part it really feels like something out of a detective story, which fits Darkwing perfectly.
TUNE OF THE GAME
This was a hard decision to make, but in the end I went with Quackerjack’s level. It’s one that’s so memorable to me, not to mention it really gives off the big gumshoe feel that the soundtrack has as I previously mentioned.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0KOooLdn9Q
FINAL THOUGHTS
This game is really one of those games I remember playing a lot as a kid. Being so big into Darkwing at the time, and really becoming more and more a fan of the NES and video gaming as well, it was a perfect mix. I even remember once when I was sick in school and had to be sent home early, when I got home I had it rented. I played it for hours. For that reason alone it sticks out as such an important childhood game for me.
And it really doesn’t hurt that this is a great game. From top to bottom it has great controls, great graphics, sound, and gameplay. And yes, I know it was made using the Mega Man 5 engine, I think it makes a much better use of that engine than what was a generally weak Mega Man game. But I’ll get to that one very soon. As it pertains to Darkwing Duck, this is a definite must have, and a great capper on four great NES Disney games. Yes, I know of the sequels to Rescue Rangers and Ducktales, but in terms of the four initial games, they are perfect in every way. If you can pick up Darkwing, give it a play. Let’s get dangerous!
RATING: Thumbs Up