Platform Game Review: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was a platform game by Capcom. The Japanese video game developer proved that they could make an excellent game based on a Disney Afternoon series and they continued to prove that with the release of this game.

The plot sees the villainous Fat Cat kidnap Gadget so that she has to work for him. Up to two players, with Chip as player one and Dale as player two, take off to rescue her. They travel along a rodent-sized world picking up blocks and crates half their size and shooting them at enemies that they encounter.

They can also duck to hide inside of the crates to keep themselves unseen by enemies until they can get a chance to attack them from behind or merely avoid them altogether. Along the way, they will find hazards other than enemies such as electric surges from powerlines.

The chipmunks will sometimes get help from the other Rescue Rangers. Monterey Jack will break down some barricades, enabling the duo to get to places they otherwise couldn't. Finding and interacting with Zipper will grant temporary invincibility. Even Gadget, despite being held captive, will provide advice at the beginning of each area.

Capcom's Disney games always looked amazing, and this game is not an exception. The art staff was once again given art assets by the Disney animators so that the character sprites of both the heroes and the villains remained true to the series. As with DuckTales before it, this allowed the animations to be very expressive.

The music and sound effects are also up to the level of Capcom's other Disney output. The sound effects provided as memorable sounds as were possible with the NES audio hardware, while the music was fantastic. The Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers theme was faithfully translated to the trademark boops and beeps of the classic Nintendo 8-bit hardware, and each piece of stage music matched with the action well.

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was another Disney hit by Capcom, and it was well deserved. The level design, music, and sound effects were excellent. The sprite work, as supervised by actual Disney animators, was absolutely fantastic. The animations are very expressive, and stand up with the best of Capcom's output for the Nintendo Entertainment System. If you are a fan of Disney, platformers, either, or both, you should try this game.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Platform Game Review: DuckTales 2

DuckTales 2 was the sequel to the phenomenal DuckTales by Capcom. Because it was released late in the lifespan of the Nintendo Entertainment System, it didn't sell as well as the first game and is lesser known as a result. This is a shame because DuckTales adds in features that were not in the original.

The story is standard Disney duck universe fare. Huey finds a piece of a treasure map drawn by Scrooge's father Fergus McDuck. 'The pieces of the map are scattered all around the world, so Scrooge goes to each spot to find them. Scrooge's archenemy Flint Glomgold is searching for the treasure as well.

The memorable sound effects returned, and the music was of the same high quality as well. There's no moon level song with soaring motifs, but the music that is here certainly meets the standard of the other songs in the previous DuckTales game. There is also a map now for level selection, and the map screen music is quite enjoyable all on its own.

The levels are just as well laid out as in the previous game. Scrooge still has his usual skills. He can jump normally or jump higher with his cane. His cane can also allow him to jump on some surfaces that would normally hurt him. Scrooge can use his cane to whack items like treasure chests, but now he can swing while jumping. 

DuckTales 2 also adds in a new use for his trusty cane. It can be used to hook onto objects that Scrooge can hang on or to pull levers and objects. This gives the game more creative ways to conceal areas, put ledges out of reach of normal jumps, and hide treasure. The new hook abilities makes them more challenging, but not overly so. The hanging hook parts are a lot like Darkwing Duck, and they work as well in this game as they did in that one.

DuckTales 2 is a lesser-known sequel that suffered its fate due to its late release in the lifespan of the original Nintendo Entertainment System. It certainly didn't deserve to be underplayed. It's new jump swing and hoop grab and hanging abilities with Scrooge's cane adds a lot to the formula. It's level design, music, and sound effects are just as engaging as the first game. If you enjoyed Capcom's DuckTales, you owe it to yourself to try DuckTales 2.

Final Verdict: 

4½ out of 5

Animation Software Review: Disney Presents The Animation Studio

In the 1980s and 1990s, the animation department of The Walt Disney Company worked with video game developers to bring its animated films to the interactive industry. This led to video games with sprites, backgrounds, and cutscenes that impressively mimicked the art style of the big screen versions. When combined with satisfying game play, this brought about well-regarded video games such as the classic Virgin Games platformer, Aladdin, and the woefully forgotten Blue Sky Software puzzle game, Hare Raisin' Havoc.

In 1990, Disney partnered with Silent Software to bring things one step further with the release of The Animation Studio for Amiga and DOS.

This art and animation tool brought the techniques of hand-drawn animation that were employed by The Disney Animation Studio into the hands of consumers on standard home computer systems.

Disney animators worked hand-in-hand with the developers at Silent Software, even going as far as converting animations of classic Disney productions into TAS format, displaying pencil-style outlines of cartoons utilizing such techniques as squash-and-stretch with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from Alice in Wonderland, a fluid walking animation of Mickey Mouse's faithful pup Pluto, and even an animation of Mickey himself walking towards the camera.

My favorite of the bunch is a super-short cartoon that demonstrates a finished, fully colored animation of Donald Duck. The famous duck looks at a CRT screen of a computer displaying the face of Mickey Mouse, which leads Donald into one of his common temper tantrums.

As for the tools themselves, there is still a lot to like, even thirty-five years later. A black-and-white pencil test is created using frames, with a digital version of semi-transparent "onion paper" providing the means to see the difference between the current frame and the last. After the frames of the pencil test are adequately cleaned up, the frames are colorized using a 1990s art Interface that should be familiar to anyone who has ever used Microsoft Paint.

For computers with sound cards, or for versions of the game bundled with the Disney Sound Source branded version of the Covox Speech Thing, there is a library containing dozens of sound effects straight from the Disney sound archive.

There are many more sophisticated programs available today to create animations, and each one is capable of creating animations well above the 640x480 maximum resolution available in The Animation Studio. There is something to be said about using tools modeled after Disney's own process to create animations that use sound effects from Disney's own sound library. Like watching Disney's hand animated films today, it is like stepping back to a simpler time before three-dimensional presentations using millions of polygons in ultra high definition resolutions. Sometimes, simple can be satisfying.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Platform Game Review: DuckTales

DuckTales was a 1989 platform game based on the popular DuckTales animated adventure series that itself was based on the Disney duck universe created by Carl Barks and Don Rosa.

It was created by Capcom, a video game developer that was prolific during the 1980s and 1990s. The developers worked with Walt Disney Computer Software to keep the art style as close to the television series as possible. This is very evident, as the characters are instantly recognizable even in the low-resolution pixel art produced by the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The game starred Scrooge McDuck as he went around the world collecting diamonds, jewels, and lost treasures. It had a fun gameplay mechanic where he would use his cane as a pogo stick. This could be used to jump higher, take out enemies, and cross areas he couldn't cross with his own two webbed feet.

There are five levels to choose from, including African mines, the Amazon, the Himalayas, Transylvania, and the Moon. Each of these had unique enemies and an end boss. Not all of these enemies actually appeared in DuckTales. However, as they all were created in the art style that was an 8-bit approximation of the art style of the beloved 1980s cartoon, they certainly looked like they could have been.

On the subject of characters from the cartoon, some of McDuck's allies appear in cameos. Huey Dewey, Louie, and Webby give Scrooge advice. Launchpad McQuack flies Scrooge back to Duckburg. Mrs. Beakley gives Scrooge life-restoring ice cream cones. Gyro Gearloose drops diamonds for Scrooge to grab. Finally, Gizmoduck opens up access to a new area on the Moon.

Two of Scrooge's biggest nemeses, the sorceress Magica DeSpell and the second richest duck in the world, Flintheart Glomgold, are also here trying to stop Scrooge from getting his treasures.

The music is one of the most memorable things about the game. I still have tunes from the game that come to mind when I think about the game, such as the music from the Amazon level. However, none are as iconic as the music from the Moon level. This tune is so beloved that the creators of the 2017 reboot of DuckTales used it as the music for the lullaby that Della Duck, the mother of Huey, Duey, and Louie, used to sing to her triplets before she found herself stranded on the Moon. That reboot also had an episode where Scrooge was given a pogo stick cane.

The game was remade as DuckTales Remastered in 2013. The game remains the same, except there is an option for easier pogo stick use. Originally, the down button had to be held down when jumping. The new optional control method allows pogo stick jumping with the tap of a button.

At the time the remastered version was released, the cast members of the original 1987 series were still alive, so they reunited to voice the characters in new cutscenes that were created in the art style of the classic cartoon. They had a scene where the inventor Gyro Gearloose gave Scrooge oxygen taffy so that he could breathe on the moon. The creators of the 2017 reboot also used this plot device, as Della was able to breathe on the moon using gum that Gyro invented called Oxy-Chew.

The remastered version faithfully recreated the art from the game in high resolution. It both matched the art in the game as well as matched the art style of the 1987 series. The music in the remake was created in an orchestral arrangement that remained faithful to the chiptune music from Capcom's original game.

DuckTales is a classic video game by Capcom that is still a lot of fun today. The art style remains faithful to the 1987 series, the game is a blast to play, and the music is phenomenal. It doesn't matter if you are playing the original Nintendo Entertainment System version or the 2013 DuckTales Remastered remake, there is a whole lot of fun to be had with this fantastic platform game.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Puzzle Game Review: Hare Raising Havoc

Hare Raising Havoc is a classic puzzle game starring Roger Rabbit, the film version of the novel character that debuted in the 1989 Disney film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

The film opened with a supposed short film with animated characters that was directed by a real human director. Roger was supposed to protect Baby Herman, an adult man in a baby's body who plays the part of a real baby in the short film, until Baby Herman's mother got home.

The game has the same premise. Baby Herman sees a giant milk bottle on top of a bottle factory and leaves the house to get it. Roger has to chase after it by performing cartoony acts to get from one room to another. He goes through the living room, to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the backyard, to the street, to a construction site, and finally to the bottle factory.

Roger has to move quick as he has to make it all the way through to the bottle factory before time runs out. He can get more time, however, by doing the wrong thing, Roger will get hurt and the time still ticks down during his hurt animation. As the way through each area is not logical in terms of real-life, it is more likely than not that you will have to play each area several times as you learn both the correct way to get out of the area as well as which action gives Roger more time.

If you run out of time, you will be chewed out by the director and given the option to start all over again. If you get through it all, the director will be pleased and the cast, crew, and significant others, will be able to go home.

The selling point of the game, at the time, as well as now, is the Roger's excellent animated sprites that are full of expression. The full screen animation has few frames due to the limitations of the IBM PC compatibles running DOS and Amiga machines on which the game played. However, the animation of Baby Herman, and especially Roger, still looks good today.

The music in the opening screen is the same as that from the film, and the sound effects as well as Roger's voice clips, are suitably cartoonish. The voice actors from the film reprise their roles here, and sound as good as they did in the film.

Hare Raising Havoc is a hard-as-nails puzzle game. However, the game's presentation, animation, music, sound effects, and voices, make up somewhat for the difficulty. If you don't mind the tough difficulty level common in games in the 1990s, or use an Amiga or DOS emulator build with save state support, it's worth checking out.

Final Verdict:
3½ out of 5