Duck Dodgers: Staring Daffy Duck

Man, did this game bring back so many memories. I remember renting this for my Nintendo 64 at least 3 times in a row when I was younger, but never got a chance to buy it until a few weeks ago at the local flea market. I was sure nostalgia had made this game completely unable to live up to my expectations, but its actually still pretty good. As the title suggests, the game stars Daffy Duck (my all time favorite cartoon character) and is largely based on his "Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a Half Century" cartoon.

The game is a platformer in the vain of Mario 64, if only in the sense that you have to collect a number of atoms to access other areas of the game. From there, the game is pretty straightforward. The planets that Daffy will explore include a desolate Martian planet, a bustling city planet (yes a planet that is just giant city), Yosemite Sam's spaceship, an ice world, and Marvin's homeworld. The level design is fairly decent and easy to follow. Some of the levels progress into lots of little levels which can become a little tedious at times, but its quite manageable. One of the few disappointing aspects of the game is the mini games, most of which are located on the city planet. There's a basketball game and an arcade game that both suffer from horrific controls. Although Daffy has a bunch of weapons at his disposal in the cartoon, in the game he can jump and kick and sometimes gain access to a ray gun. Most of the enemies in the game can only be defeated by the gun which you never have during regular gameplay.

As the game was one of the last N64 games released, it makes since that its also one of the better looking games. Although nothing in the visual department is outstanding, there are some very nice effects in places that other developers might just not bother with the N64 hardware. There are also typically Looney toons-ish things throughout the game, like Daffy holding up an 'Epp!' sign before falling down to his death. The music also fits the WB style along with some pretty good voice actually that made up of classic clips and new recorded dialogue. The game doesn't break down any new barriers but it is a fine platformer that run through in an afternoon.