Donald Duck: Quack Attack (UK Version)

Requires: Pentium 166 MHz+, Win 95/98/SE, 12xCD-ROM, 32 Mb RAM, DirectX compatible

Description:

Famous reporter Daisy has been captured by the terrible Merlock the Magician. Play (in English, French, Spanish, Italian or German) as Donald Duck, who rushes quacking to the rescue. Start Donald in Gyro's lab. He has 24 levels to go through in four 3D regions, before he can teleport to the world's summit and rescue Daisy. There are controls (keyboard or gamepad) to move Donald in 4 directions, to make him attack, jump and double jump.

This plays very much like a video game, in which you move Donald through the levels dealing with obstacles by fighting them or jumping over them. Obstacles include skunks and traps, duck catchers, construction drillers and ninjas. There are the usual prizes (stars that yield extra lives) and power-ups (in the form of milk shakes), as well as tasks to be completed.

One task is to collect all of Donald's nephews' toys, taken by Merlock. Donald must beat a minor boss (Merlock's magic book) and then get to each toy quickly with a clock ticking. He must also gather the 4 pieces of the Boss Warp Pad and put them back together. In some levels, Donald gets chased, e.g. by a bear, a truck and a boulder. He has to run fast to avoid being squashed or mauled.

Features:

• 4 3D regions
• 24 levels
• 5 languages
• Keyboard & Gamepad controls
• 3 saved game slots
• 19 page User's Manual in jewel case

Technical Aspects:

A few times on exit, an error message came up saying 'Donald caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL' but I was able to start again after this happened. In some levels the camera view tilted so that Donald was not in view. This makes it hard to play as he falls down chasms or into traps. There is also a typo in the manual, where it states use "Q" to jump, it really means "A".

The program could be played by someone with auditory difficulty as conversations and instructions are written as well as spoken.

Report and Conclusions:

I especially enjoyed touches like the teleporters, in which a giant hand dunks Donald down the hole upside down and another pulls him out the other end by the scruff of his neck - squawking all the way, of course. The giant stomping chicken was equally amusing. You definitely do not want to let her sit on Donald; the eggs that she drops are hard enough for him to handle when they hatch.

The game can be played by children 8 and up, though younger ones will find it challenging, as even my own (10 and 12 year old) arcade pros did at times. Donald is a character that young and old can enjoy and, though there is nothing especially innovative about this game, it is one that will provide hours of fun for fans of Disney and arcade games.