Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers

"Possibly the most overlooked title on GameCube."

Usually, when you think of Disney, you think of an easy, kiddy game that's no fun. Surprisingly, Donald Duck Goin' Quackers only matches 2 of the descriptions. It may be kind of easy and short, and everything looks cutesy. However, it is actually more fun then it would seem.

Gameplay: The stages are simply linear. Usually, you are going forward in a straight path. Once in a while, you will also go to a side-scroller. Other times, you are going backward through the level while at the same time, being chased by a giant hand. The stages are very simple and short. There is little challenge, except for a few big gaps with strategically placed platforms combined with enemies. In the later levels, it gets unusually tougher as you must use good use of the jump button and bouncing on various things. The health meter in this game is more of a mood change thing. For example, you start the game with Donald happy. Sometimes, he will become surprised and become hyper-Donald, which can break through various barriers. When you are hit by an enemy, then you become angry Donald. Basically, by getting hit again, you will die. You can become happy Donald again by grabbing a milkshake. There are about 3 or 4 stages in each world. At the end of each world, you will come across a unique boss. While, this game is short, it will be fun while it lasted. Also, whenever you collect all letters of the word, special, then you will get a new combo move, courtesy of Donald's nephews. However, the catch is that you can only perform them after jumping on three enemies consecutively. So they're not easy to pull off.

Rating: 6/10

Graphics: The graphics are cutesy and once you kill an enemy, they just go in a puff of smoke. Nothing real fancy, this game just shows what it has to show and gives it a cartoon style. The graphics also seem to be improved from the older versions of this game on other systems.

Rating: 8/10

Story: Some wizard named Merlock captures Daisy. Donald Duck has to save her, but to get in Merlock's temple, he needs to find 3 weather vanes and post it on the 3 highest summits in the world. The storyline is pretty average, but still gives you a reason to play.

Rating: 6/10

Sound: The best part about the sound are the voices. Each character talks in various cutscenes during the game. You can even make Donald Duck talk with the X and Y Buttons, even though he just utters random stuff. The sound effects, are okay for this game. They make it sound as if it really were a Donald Duck cartoon.

Rating: 8/10

Music: The music is nothing special. They're just tunes that would match the mood of the stage you're in. You probably won't mind the music anyway.

Rating: 4/10

Replayability: Although by going though all the stages again and collecting the special new items, you can unlock hidden stuff. You probably won't. This is mostly a one-time play type of game. For those interested in unlocking everything, this game will last for a few more hours or so. Each stage only takes about 2-4 minutes and there are very few of them.

Rating: 3/10

Rent or Buy? This is probably a title that you would want to rent, as it wouldn't last very long to go through the whole game. Even if you wanted the hidden stuff, it would only last you about as long as a regular rental period. At least give this game a try though and rent it. It's actually pretty good for a Disney-type game.

Final Rating: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/06/02, Updated 08/06/02