Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers! is a platform game based on the Donald Duck cartoons and comics. Dedicated to the memory of Carl Barks, it was developed and published by Ubi Soft Entertainment for various consoles and Windows-based personal computers. A completely different game with the same title was released for the Game Boy Color, as well as on Game Boy Advance, the latter being given the title Donald Duck Advance.
Gameplay is similar to Crash Bandicoot. The levels alternate between a 2D and a 3D perspective. The story focuses on Donald Duck and his quest to save Daisy Duck from the evil magician Merlock.
The game's reception has been overall mixed, with reviewers praising the music, backgrounds, and animations, but criticizing the short length and the fact that it is mostly for the younger audience.
Gameplay[]
Goin' Quackers’s gameplay is very similar to that of Crash Bandicoot, and requires the player to move through various settings in 24 levels in 4 warp rooms. The four level themes are a forest theme of Duckie Mountain, a city theme of Duckburg, a haunted house theme of Magica like Halloween, and an Aztec temple theme of Merlock. Donald Duck has to dodge various enemies and obstacles throughout the levels and defeat bosses at the end of each warp room. There are also bonus levels where Donald Duck has to outrun a bear, a car, a dismembered hand, and a Moai statue, respectively. The viewpoint of the levels change from a 2D side-scrolling perspective to a 3D perspective. Re-doing the levels in order to defeat Gladstone's time in same, gives the player advantages in the game.
The player has a limited number of lives that can increase by finding special items. Each live gives Donald two opportunities to be touched by the enemy, the first time is touched he became angry and throws berserk to the enemies, the second time, he loses a life. Donald also can get suits to move around the scenes and also some animations can be done if the player stops moving Donald (such as Donald taking photos of the place if he is dressed like a tourist).
Plot[]
Goin' Quackers begins with Donald Duck, Gladstone Gander, and Gyro Gearloose watching television reporter Daisy Duck discovering the mysterious temple of the evil magician Merlock. As she tells the story, Merlock discovers Daisy and kidnaps her. His arch rival Gladstone sets out to find her before Donald, who decides to use Gyro's new invention, the "Tubal Teleport System", to track down Merlock and Daisy. However, a piece of Gyro's device is missing, and to get the machine working again, Donald must go on a journey to recover it. Along the way, he must compete with Gladstone, reverse the spells that Merlock put on Huey, Dewey, and Louie's toys, and defeat several bosses, including the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell. In the end, Donald is able to locate Merlock; he defeats him and rescues Daisy. The temple collapses, but Gyro is able to teleport them back to his lab, where Donald receives a kiss from Daisy for saving her.
Voice cast[]
- Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
- Corey Burton as Merlock the Magician and Gladstone Gander
- June Foray as Magica De Spell
- Tress MacNeille as Daisy Duck
- Russi Taylor as Huey, Dewey, and Louie
- Frank Welker as Gyro Gearloose and a Beagle Boy
Development[]
The game was developed in 2000 by Ubisoft Montreal in a collaboration with Disney Interactive as an homage to Carl Barks, who died the same year. The Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, PC, and PS1 versions of the game are built on an optimized Rayman 2 engine.
The score for Goin' Quackers for the Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast and PC versions was composed by Daniel Masson, while the score for the PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube versions was composed by Shawn K. Clement.
Worlds[]
Donald Duck has to explore four worlds to defeat Merlock and rescue Daisy:
- Duckie Mountain:
- Boss: Bernadette the Chicken,
- Bonus Chase Stage: Humphrey the Bear
- Duckburg:
- Boss: Beagle Boys,
- Bonus Chase Stage: Beagle Boys' Delivery Truck
- Magica De Spell's Manor:
- Boss: Magica De Spell,
- Bonus Chase Stage: Ghostly Glove
- Merlock's Temple:
- Boss: Merlock,
- Bonus Chase Stage: Falling Stone
Challenges[]
There are three main challenges that Donald has to do to successfully finish the game:
- Obtain Glowing Orb/Boss Warp Piece: Collect these in each level to increase the power of the warp pads to reach every boss stage, move to the next world and Rescue Daisy.
- Nephews' Toys: Merlock created a horrible spell making Huey, Dewey, and Louie's toys transparent. Donald must find the spell books to make them visible again within a certain time limit. There are three to collect in each level apart from the Boss level. If successful, each Nephew will open up a bonus level for him.
- Gladstone's time trial: Stopwatches are left when you enter each level a second time, apart from the Boss and Secret levels. Grab it and you will be given a countdown time limit that you must be by reaching the end of the level. If successful, Donald will be rewarded by a new outfit that appears in Gyro's outfit swapper.
Donald Duck Advance[]
Donald Duck Advance is a re-release of the original game for Game Boy Advance. The game was also developed and published by Disney Interactive and Ubisoft, respectively. It was released December 15, 2001 in North America; November 16, 2001 in the PAL region; and December 21, 2001 in Japan. The game received an ESRB rating of E for Everyone and an ELSPA rating of ages 3 and up.
In 2013[]
Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers is now on iOS and Android devices with Disney Mobile that gameplay with running away of Ghostly Glove like in PS2 or GameCube.
Version differences[]
N64/PC/Dreamcast version[]
- The soundtrack is Daniel Masson's version.
- The PC/Dreamcast versions are nearly identical to the N64 version though with improved graphics and sound and the original HQ music. It also uses FMV cutscenes which N64 lacks and instead uses cutscenes with the in-game models.
- The only real difference between N64, PC, and Dreamcast versions is that the Nintendo 64 version uses midi-renditions of the music with some new songs, which aren't, however, played correctly by the game due to the developer's faulty conversion of the midis and instrument data. It is therefore incorrectly pitched much higher and many instruments aren't properly audible.
- A repair patch by fans to fix the midi-music is scheduled for release in 2023.
- The PC and Dreamcast versions lacks of invincibility music when Donald picks up those milkshakes.
- The three versions were lacking in special moves.
PS1 version[]
- A completely different soundtrack unlike N64/PC/Dreamcast versions compound now by Shawn K. Clement; though has fewer songs in total, emphasizing that music sometimes becomes a bit out of context compared to what's going on in the game itself.
- Whereas in the N64/PC/Dreamcast versions the stages are split between either 3D or 2D, the PS1 version combine them often in the same level.
- This version has differences in levels and bosses unlike others versions.
- Unlike other versions, this game suffers animations and it is inferior to the others.
- This version lacks in special moves.
- The maximum percentage in this version is 112% which obtains collected all toys and beat a Time Trial on every levels.
PS2/GameCube version[]
- Uses the PS1 soundtrack. These versions lacks Gyro Labs and World themes.
- Similar to N64, PC and Dreamcast versions, the stages are entirely either 3D and 2D.
- Unlike other home console versions, now each chase level has a Hand sent by Merlock chasing Donald, except for Magica's Manor, which doesn't have a chase level.
- These versions lacks one level both in Duckburg and Magica’s Manor worlds.
- They also had differences in levels and bosses unlike N64/PC/Dreamcast and PS1 version.
- In these versions, the stages (except boss battles) have a certain time to complete them.
- These versions are the unique that have special moves, that are 14.
- The Chase Theme (Magica’s Manor), only plays in GameCube and PS2 versions during the credits, unlike in the PS1 version where it is unused.
- Even the PS2 and GameCube version are pretty much the same version. They are a few different things between these two. The levels have a little different in GC version like some platforms are completely gone, making this version a little harder to beat. On the other hand, some text font was changed and the Donald icon in life counter was smaller in GC version.
Reception[]
Goin' Quackers has received mixed reviews. Jon Thompson of Allgame reviewed the PlayStation 2 version and commented that although "it's an easy, competent game, it won't bother you while you're playing it because everything is so darned fun."
Gerald Villoria of GameSpot praised the Nintendo GameCube version's music, saying it was of solid quality with "uplifting" and "upbeat" melodies, but he criticized the game's short length. IGN's Craig Harris lauded the Game Boy Color version's graphics, citing "stunning" character motions and "beautiful" backgrounds, although he also was dissatisfied with the length of the game.
Villoria also reviewed the Dreamcast version; he felt the CG sequences were "great", and that the character animations were "fluid" and "seamless". He also commented that the level designs were much more interesting than in the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 versions. Although Villoria thought the Dreamcast and PlayStation versions were very similar, he felt the Dreamcast version suffered in terms of gameplay since it did not feature special moves.
Cory D. Lewis of IGN reviewed the Nintendo 64 version, commenting that the game is better suited for younger players and will bore older gamers. He also stated that despite the Nintendo 64 version reusing the optimized Rayman 2 engine, the visuals in Goin' Quackers could not compare to the same level of quality the engine provided a year ago. Moreover, he praised the "bright-colored" cartoon objects and animations.
The PlayStation version was reviewed by Adam Cleveland on IGN, who found the game to be "a lot of fun". He commented that the bosses were creative and fun, but that they were extremely simple and provided little challenge. He summed up the review by stating "Although it may be on the quick and easy side, it's got all the right stuff."
Glitches[]
PS2[]
- During the chase with a giant hand in Duckburg, when Donald goes front of the crate, gets damaged by the giant hand and gets a milkshake, then he will get pushed farther and the camera will move strangely.
- The music during the boss fight with Magica will suddenly sometimes mute.
Trivia[]
- In the Japanese box art for the PS2 and Gameboy Color versions, Donald has a happy face instead of a furious face.
- The game was dedicated to the memory of Carl Barks, who died two months before the game's initial release.
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Box art and ads[]
Artwork[]
Screenshots[]
.jpg "Donald Quack Attack - Duckie Mountain (PS2).jpg (128 KB)")
.jpg "Donald Quack Attack - Duckburg (PS2).jpg (129 KB)")
.jpg "Donald Quack Attack - Magica's Manor (PS2).jpg (84 KB)")
.jpg "Donald Quack Attack - Merlock's Temple (PS2).jpg (115 KB)")
References[]
