I used to have Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers on the Sony PlayStation when I was little (it was titled Donald Duck: Quack Attack! on that platform) and I remember loving it to death. Out of curiosity I decided to look this up in the Retro Game Room. And lo and behold, there was the Nintendo 64 version. While this isn’t necessarily the best game I’ve played in the Retro Game Room, this game did had me the most hooked out of any game on Vizzed.

The Graphics

The graphics aren’t the best on the Nintendo 64. The characters aren’t as rendered as they could’ve been, and don’t move as fluid as most objects in the game. Furthermore, the game can be a little too dark. Even though the environments are colourful, the game also has a lot of shadowy areas which just happen to contain a deep pit that kill you when you fall in it. But the resolution was quite high for its time, the visuals are very sharp. While there are better-looking games on the N64, the graphics are still quite alright.

The Sound

Even though the music isn’t really memorable, Donald has his quacky voice, so that makes up for all of it! When Donald is hurt, he’ll quack incomprehensible, when you do nothing for about three seconds he falls asleep again and dreams of Daisy, he’ll wake up saying “WOWWWWW!!” (and then he kisses his dream balloon. How adorable) The game lacks voice input here and there, and is devoid of memorable music (although it’s decent. There’s nothing wrong with it) Donald’s hilarious outbursts make the sound all worthwhile to me!

The Addictiveness

I’ll confess. I’ve never finished a single game in the Retro Game Room. While playing a game there could invoke a feeling of nostalgia, it just doesn’t feel the same as playing the same game on a TV. But that could just be me. Goin’ Quackers, however, is the first game I did finish here on Vizzed. So that’s saying something about the game’s addictiveness. Even though there’s quite a lot to this game to keep you entertained, completing it all is fairly simple, so for the completionists under us (me, for example) this game might keep you going for a while. It will certainly not bore you anytime soon, that’s for sure.

The Story

Donald, Gladstone and Prof. Gyro are watching Daisy’s news report on the evil wizard Murlock on the television. Daisy got discovered, and is taken captive. Donald and Gladstone go on an adventure in order to rescue their beloved Daisy. Not a lot of innovation here, it’s your typical Disney damsel-in-distress storyline. Easy to pick up for children. But there’s a lot of stuff added to the story, which I’ll talk about in the depth paragraph. In any case, these added things add to the game’s story, which all thickens the plot it a little bit.

The Depth

Apart from the simple plotline, there’s a couple of things Goin’ Quackers added to itself in order to make itself a bit stockier. The game consists of four areas, and each area of four levels, a boss stage and a bonus stage. Competing each level once unlocks a time trial of the same level, which has you pit against Gladstone to beat his time on the level. Beating his time on all four levels rewards you with an alternative costume. You’ll probably wonder how to access the bonus stages. In each level there are three toys you need to collect. You do this by smashing Murlock’s spell book, then grabbing the toy. When you’ve collected all three toys in all four levels, you’ll unlock the bonus stage. There’s also a requirement for unlocking the boss stage of each area. In each level, there’s a puzzle piece you need to find. Some or in plain sight, and some are pretty well hidden. Finding all four puzzle pieces will unlock the boss stage. Getting more to the game, now is there? There’s also another fun little thing. Everyone who grew up with Disney knows Donald Duck is a short-tempered hothead, and Goin’ Quackers nailed this character trait. You can take two hits, and you’ll lose a life. Whenever you’re hit for the first time, Donald goes into a rage, knocking everyone and everything aside, and then goes on irritated. His stance will be grumpy, his punches are more wild, and the double jump has him screaming in anger. Picking up a milkshake will heal you fully, making him happy again, along with giving you a speed boost. Also, you should collect as many stars as you can. Yellow stars equals 1 point, blue stars equal 5 points and red stars equal 10 points. Collecting 100 points grant you with an extra life. There’s more to this game than you might think at first.

The Difficulty

Remember back in the day when dying was still a thing that meant something? Remember when you could still get a Game Over in video games? Well, this is a game that has lives, and if you lose all three lives, your playtime has ended, and you gotta start from the last point where you saved your game. However, regarding that grinding for lives is easy in Goin’ Quackers by replaying a level you’re good at and taking as many stars as possible may just earn you three lives per level (providing you don’t screw up and fall down a pit or something) doesn’t make this game punishingly difficult as some Disney games of the past are. Just replay a couple of levels when you feel like you’re running low on lives.

Donald Duck: Goin’ Quackers is a really fun game, which I recommend you all to try it out, especially the Disney fans (such as me) on Vizzed. The game can be a challenge but isn’t downright unforgiving the levels are fun to play through, and I can vouch for the fact that this game may just be one of the most strangely addictive games here on Vizzed!

Pros:

-          Donald’s outbursts are hilarious, and you’ll see it regularly

-          There tons of things to this game

-          Just really fun in general for Disney fans

Cons:

-          Game is absent of memorable music

-          Some of the later levels might get frustrating