Darkwing Duck review

Game: Darkwing Duck
Platform: Game Boy
Genre: Action (Platformer)
Developer: Capcom

Reader review by ratking

May 12, 2003

As all of you should know, Darkwing Duck was a duck who walked and talked like any human and wore a purple suit, and was supplied with various devices from his sidekick Launchpad McQuack and his neice Gosalyn. He had enemies galore, including the fearsome five, which spurred on this seven staged game in which seven of his greatest enemies lurked to stop Darkwing Duck himself. This was the premise for the creation of the NES game that was superb, so they ported it onto the gameboy, but to make it able to be played on such a lesser capable system, they took alot. That lead to Darkwing Duck just not living to its caliber.

STORY (4/5): It's got most of his famous villains including 4 out of the fearsome five. Thing is, for a reason I will never understand, his greatest nemesis is does not appear in the game, NegaDuck. While this really doesn't affect the game much, it does leave you desiring his presence.

GRAPHICS (5/10): Darkwing Duck just does not seem right in a black and white environment. Alot is missing and you feel like the purple avenger, needs to be that; purple. The enemies also do not have that same feeling, also due to the problems with the Gameboy system. Now, you can't fault the game because of system capabilities but it will leave alot to desire.

SOUND (9/10): All the great Darkwing Duck music is here. Can you believe it, and it's made into the great nintendo beep music. I love it so much, brings back the childhood memories. The music is nice and varied throughout the seven stages, plus boss music also.

GAMEPLAY (55/60): To make a fairly accurate comparison in many ways Darkwing Duck is like Megaman. It's a sidescroller in which you jump from location to location battling enemies by shooting them with your gun. You gain special abilities from defeating certain enemies like lightning bolts, gas bolts, and suction bolts. These have there own uses, whether more efficiently killing villains or reaching special areas with one ups available. You have a certain amount of these special bolts though, so you will likely run out.

The stages are set up as large spans of lands with various sections within it. Each level definitely has it's own feel, as some take you through an expansful forest, the mechanical world, the sewer system, and of course the boat. All with their own strategies and distinct feel. That means each new level is not the same thing as the one before giving it a new more enjoyable experience.

REPLAYABILITY (4/10): There is no special things to do in this game. While it is long for a one sitting game, once you completely beat it, all you can do is beat it again and again and again. This game is much quicker than the NES version of Darkwing Duck (because they weakened that mole drastically) and you should be able to defeat the fnial boss in a week or two of consistant gaming. You also will continue to play this game over and over again, because it is quick and fun, and you will love to have that darkwing duck feel again.

DIFFICULTY (5/5): The NES version of Darkwing Duck was very difficult for children, with the difficulties of the levels and bosses. Therefore they made the gameboy version much more children friendly, so that the littlekids would have a shot of winning. Now Darkwing Duck is not a walk in the park at all. It still requires alot of skill and dedicatoin, just not as much as the NES version.

OVERALL (82/100): Darkwing Duck is a great television show, and this game does it very well. While being a simple sidescroller in the tradition of Megaman, it is a purely entertaining experience for any fan of the show. If you do not own the NES version or plan on buying it, than the gameboy version is a pickup for any fan of the show... Now the NES version is better handsdown for any experienced gamer, but if you cannot get hands on that than the gameboy version is worth the pickup, cause Darkwing Duck is still a great game.

Rating: 8.2/10

More Reviews by ratking
	Star Fox Assault (GameCube) The Star Fox team first appeared on the Gamecube in a platform game, called Star Fox Adventures. While, many considered it a quality game (and others a subpar g...
	Jak 3 (PlayStation 2) Jak II was one of those experience that every gamer either absolutely loved or completely loathed. The game strayed from everything the first Jak game stood for...
	Jak II (PlayStation 2) Jak and Daxter was a platforming game based on exploration, simple fight patterns, cool minigames, and lush colorful scenery. All that has changed in Jak II, fo...

Feedback

If you enjoyed this Darkwing Duck review, you're encouraged to discuss it with the author and with other members of the site's community. If you don't already have an HonestGamers account, you can sign up for one right here. Thank you for reading!

You must be signed into an HonestGamers user account to leave feedback on this review.

© 1998-2013 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Darkwing Duck is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Darkwing Duck, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.