Darkwing Duck

"I am Darkwing Duck!"

Darkwing Duck. Boy does this cartoon take me back. Darkwing Duck was one of my favorite childhood cartoons. I couldn't get enough of that show. I have videos, I had toys and I had the NES game (and still do have it, actually).

Gameplay 9/10

Now, I'm fully aware that Darkwing Duck is ineed, in essence, a Mega Man clone. The game is basically a Mega Man game starring Darkwing Duck characters instead. Now this isn't a bad this, per say. For example, Diddy Kong Racing was kind of a Mario Kart imitator but plenty of people loved it. The gameplay of this game is pretty much like the gameplay of a Mega Man game, only it's much more simple.

The enemies are easy to kill and predictable and most of the bosses are easy with the right weapon. Sort of like how in Mega Man certain Master Robots are easy to kill with the right weapon. Even though the gameplay is pretty much Mega Man in disguise, it's still enjoyable.

Story 7/10

Pretty much, the plot of the game was Darkwing Duck went around stopping the most popular villains from his show. Quackerjack, Liquidator, Booshroot, Mega Volt, Moliarty, Steelbeak and Wolf Duck. (Wolf Duck I don't remember ever being in the series, though).

Basically Darkwing's job is to take care of the villain where they are causing havoc. Quackerjack is causing trouble at the bridge, Mega Volt and warehouse, Booshroot in the forest and Liquidator in the sewers. Sure, it's not the best story , but's simplistic and true to the cartoon series.

Graphics 9/10

Considering when it was made and the graphical capabilities of the NES, Darkwing Duck looks pretty good. For an NES game the backgrounds of the city in the bridge level are pretty nice looking. The characters themselves are recognizable so any Darkwing Duck veteran would be able to tell who's who.

Sound 7/10

Well, the sound effects mainly consist of blips and bleeps. However, I find the music in the game to be quite catchy. Sure, it's not the greatest soundtrack for a game and it's far from it, but when you've played the game as much as I did the music would get stuck in your head too.

The forest, the bridge, the city, the sewer… if you asked me to hum any tune from this game there's a 99% chance that I could remember it.

Replayability 8/10

When I was a kid this game had me keep coming back for more all the time. Even today I find myself playing every now and then. Yeah, the NES doesn't work as well as it used too and sometimes a game like Darkwing Duck just isn't worth all the blowing and turning on and off just to have the game freeze up on you, but it's still plenty fun.

Rent or buy?

If you don't already own the game, you're pretty much out of luck. If you really want to find it nowadays the best place to search would probably be eBay.

Overall 8/10
The game has it's flaws ands it's fairly easy and it's a clone of Mega Man, but all in all it's a fun and enjoyable game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/15/04