Retro Review: Duck Hunt

Reviewed Platform: NES

Release Year: 1984

Originally released in Japanese arcades in 1984, and later into US and EU homes in 1985 and 1987 respectively, Duck Hunt tasks the player – armed with the NES Zapper – with shooting on-screen ducks and clay pigeons for points. It was also later released in a multicart alongside Super Mario Bros.

The gamplay of Duck Hunt is relatively simple, and just consists of shooting ducks to gain points. There are three main game modes to choose from: the first is a one duck mode, the second being a two duck mode and the third is for clay pigeon shooting. The one duck mode gives the player only a single duck to shoot each time, where the two duck mode, surprising, gives you two ducks to shoot at once and requires faster reaction time and a keener eye. Clay pigeon shooting does what it says on the tin, and allows you to shoot clay pigeons instead of ducks. The main difference in this mode is that they’re much smaller and a lot harder to hit because of their trajectory, and thus require much faster reflexes.

To keep you company in your duck hunting is your trusty sidekick dog, who sniffs out the ducks for you at the beginning of each level. A duck will fly up and you’re given a certain amount of chances to hit it; if you successfully hit it then the dog will pop up holding the duck, but if you fail, either through taking too longer or missing too many times, the little beggar will pop up out of the grass and start laughing at you. Successfully completing a level allows you to progress onto the next, which become increasingly difficult. The main issue here is that every level is essentially the same as every other level, just with different duck speeds and patterns, meaning that there is severe repetition.

The NES Zapper is a real joy to use with the game due to the sheer simplicity. You won’t be complaining about the gun not being in line with a receiver or because it’s incompatible with your TV, it just functions. There are issues with faulty guns in some cases because they’re mostly over 20 years old now, but find one that works and you’ll have no other issues. In the one duck mode, you can even plug in a normal NES controller into the second port, allowing your friend to control the duck whilst you try to hit it.

Pleasing on the eye and never distracting from duck-spotting, Duck Hunt has some nice, vibrant visuals to go along with your murderous activities. Green and blue are the main colours used throughout the game, due to the outdoor setting. There aren’t that many effects to speak of, although the sprites used for the ducks when they’ve just been shot are fairly funny. If you’re a bad shot then you should also get used to the laughing dog animation.

Simple audio for a simple game, but no less effective. All the tunes and sound effects are suitable jolly to fit in with the general style of the game, although most of them aren’t as memorable as some other Nintendo classics. There is one sound, though, which haunts everyone who has ever played Duck Hunt, which is the noise of the dog laughing when you fail to hit any ducks. You never forget it, and it will haunt your dreams.

All in all, Duck hunt is a a very good light gun game, and probably the best that was available for the NES. The beauty is in the simplicity, because the game has no unnecessary bells and whistles. It’s just simple, mindless fun which is just great for kicking back and relaxing , or relieving some stress. With only three extremely similar game modes the main downfall is the repetition, meaning you could get bored easily after a few rounds. Other than that, it’s something that shouldn’t be missing from your NES library. Just beware of the dog.