NES – Duck Hunt
October 22, 2008 - 9:43 am - Posted by Sean
Few video games are as distinctive and memorable as this old favorite, with its goofy fluttering ducks and that wacky dog hiding in the hedges.
As one of the original NES “pack-in” games, there’s not much substance to Duck Hunt, but its simple gameplay and comical graphics make it likeable nonetheless.
The first variation challenges you to shoot one duck at a time, and you get three shots per duck. If you make the quota, you’ll advance to a slightly harder round.
A cartoon dog adds comic relief by holding up ducks you shoot down or laughing at you when you miss.
Although the instructions claim the NES light gun has a range of up to six feet from the TV, the optimal distance seems more like three or four feet.
The first variation (one duck at a time) bored me to tears, but the second variation is better, tossing out two ducks at a time.
A two-player option lets the second player control the ducks, but there’s really no point to that.
The best variation is the clay shooting, where you take aim at pairs of small gray disks launched into the sky.
Duck Hunt hasn’t aged particularly well, but it’s just the ticket if you’re looking for some simple shooting action, or maybe just a stroll down memory lane.
If you want a nice step up from Duck Hunt, check out Hogan’s Alley. This is by far a better Zapper light gun game.
I have played this game quite a bit and liked it. But I never spent too much time on it because Super Mario Bros was with it. When I was a kid, I remember getting right up on the screen with the gun, so I didn’t miss.
@Brandon: Duct Hunt is an OK Zapper game but as I mentioned, I prefer Hogan’s Alley or Freedom Force. I do wish you could shoot that dog… always coming up and laughing when you miss. Dumb dog
Do you still have a working NES with a Zapper? If so, let me know and I can tell you how to make your light gun Zapper work better so you don’t have to be up close and personal with your TV to zap the ducks.