Episode 633: Donald Duck
Added 2024-08-19 11:52:18 +0000 UTCStuart: He’s angry, dresses in a sailor suit with no pants, and is best friends with a mouse. Yes, that’s right – it’s Stuart Gipp, and he’s back with an episode about Donald Duck games. There’s a whole quacktastic spectrum of duck tales across multiple generations of gaming, though we’re not here to talk about either DuckTales or the Spectrum. For once. No, this is all Donald, that beloved duck whose name is in no way sullied by association to anybody else.
We’ve got stuff going all the way from the Atari years through the PlayStation 2, with both Sega and Nintendo getting attention en route. Indeed, Donald’s likely best-known by us retrosods for his Sega outings, a trilogy of exclusive platformers across the Master System and Mega Drive, none of which have much in common besides jumping. It’s duck diversity like this which made a podcast examining the beaky bastard so necessary, and I hope with 99% sincerity and 1% cool detachment that you will enjoy it. We’ve also taken a look at a strange but rather wonderful SNES title that bafflingly didn’t see a Western release, and got to grips with the unusually widespread Qu@ck Att@ck?/Goin’ Qu@ckers multi-console release. Not to mention Donald Duck’s Italian superhero alter ego, Paperinik. Or, if you’re British (I am!), the very creative “Superduck”. Quackeroonie!
Perhaps you have some thoughts about the entertainment in question? By all means, waddle into the comments section. You’ll be hearing some more episodes about your cartoon favourites from me in the near future, with a handful already recorded. That said, it’s the 30th anniversary of Sonic 3 & Knuckles this year, isn’t it? Better do something about that.
Art by Salem Sloane; edits by Greg Leahy.
15:13 - Donald Duck (FC): Pogo
21:23 - Donald Duck (FC): Sack Race | QuackShot: Duckburg
37:18 - QuackShot: Egypt
49:08 - The Lucky Dime Caper (GG): Ending | Deep Duck Trouble: Savanna
58:41 - Deep Duck Trouble: Ice Cavern
1:10:20 - Donald Duck no Mahō no Bōshi: Rescue Mission
1:20:06 - Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow (MD): Mojo Stronghold | Continue
1:29:20 - Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers (N64): Duckburg Rooftops
1:39:26 - Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers (PS2): Forest Edge
1:47:54 - PK: Out of the Shadows: Main Menu
Closing - QuackShot: Staff Roll
Comments
Disney brought back an actual personality for Mickey in the newer shorts, they're actually pretty funny. They kind of made him neurotic
Michael Castleberry
2024-08-26 19:06:32 +0000 UTCPass. (DF)
Retronauts
2024-08-24 11:53:05 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed this one! Paperinik is a name that just doesn’t translate well at all into English. Donald Duck’s Italian name is Paperino (meaning “duckie”), so adding the -ik from “Diabolik” makes sense in Italy. But it totally gets lost in translation. A bit more localization could have really helped here when they brought the character over.
BlueWeaselBreath
2024-08-20 15:23:02 +0000 UTCBeing mostly a Nintendo gamer as a kid, wish there were more Donald games as a kid on those systems (not sure why I didn't get either of the Game Gear games though). Oh well, maybe we will finally get a collection of these games one of these days.
Patrick McClafferty
2024-08-20 14:01:04 +0000 UTCThe "enters the TV theory" is sound. I did the same thing to my grandad's with a Jammie Dodger (British snack biscuit) as a toddler because I "wanted to watch it". Even wrangled it through a child lock, I hear. Destroyed instantly.
Shrunken Shrine
2024-08-20 12:11:47 +0000 UTCImaginary listener here. Crazy Castle 4 was the first videogame I ever owned to my name. However, even I, someone who as a child made a 'treasure map' that listed the password for every level and dabbed it with a teabag for that aged look, am not going to defend it. Indeed, no-one cares about Crazy Castle. Great Aero the Acrobat episode!
Shrunken Shrine
2024-08-20 12:09:42 +0000 UTCQuack Attack/Goin’ Quackers perhaps provide me with some of the most vivid memories of my childhood in gaming. I believe I played the Dreamcast version first at my childminder's, then got the PS1 version at home, but the differences were minor but marked, and that stood out to me. Also, Spyro 2 and 3 aside, I believe this was one of my earliest 'Any%' game completions, and completing it (at age of 10) brought me to tears of joy.
TheLupineOne
2024-08-20 12:09:02 +0000 UTCOh, you’re lovely Stu! I’m eagerly awaiting both the continuation of your epic Sonic 3 series and the Asterix coverage.
Kormakur Gardarsson
2024-08-20 07:37:11 +0000 UTCBefore I started this podcast I went on eBay to see how much copies of Quackshot (a game I've always been curious about) were and I was quickly reminded why I never buy retro games anymore.
littleterr0r
2024-08-20 04:40:36 +0000 UTCMickey was legitimately interesting back in the '20s and '30s (particularly in the Floyd Gottfredson comic strip) but he's long since had all his rough edges sanded down to Bland Corporate Mascot. Donald, on the other hand, is *interesting*. He's flawed; he's lazy, he's angry, he's greedy, he's impulsive, he's barely coherent. He's a much better protagonist (and still only the second-best Disney Duck).
Thad Boyd
2024-08-19 23:23:32 +0000 UTCYes, shame about that Gipp fellow.
Stuart Gipp
2024-08-19 22:33:27 +0000 UTCI love every episode with John and Thomas.
Kormakur Gardarsson
2024-08-19 21:35:41 +0000 UTCI had ChatGPT translate my comment as if Donald Duck said it: "Gwate Ret-wah-nawts epih-sode! Thwanks, Stu-wart!" (Challenge you guys to attempt to read this in his voice during the monthly lol)
Andrew O.
2024-08-19 19:12:40 +0000 UTCAlways loved Donald more than Mickey. He was just cooler.
Normallyretro
2024-08-19 15:01:43 +0000 UTCMy 4 year old mind was like “Donald enters the tv through the VCR.” He sure did. It did not work. Unless the goal was to ruin a 400 dollar piece of equipment. In which it did work.
Craig
2024-08-19 12:07:01 +0000 UTCActually, more pertinently: did it work?
Stuart Gipp
2024-08-19 12:00:16 +0000 UTCI'd like to know the rational behind this move. You loved Donald Duck, so... you put him into a VCR? Did you think it would make the TV play Donald Duck cartoons?
Stuart Gipp
2024-08-19 11:59:58 +0000 UTCI loved Donald Duck so much that I shoved a stuffed Donald into my parents brand new VCR in 1988. Ruined it before they could even use it. That’s my Donald Duck story.
Craig
2024-08-19 11:57:18 +0000 UTC
