| Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers | |
| Developer: | Ubi Soft Casablanca (N64 / PC / Dreamcast) Ubi Soft Shanghai (PS1 / Advance) Ubi Soft Montreal (PS2 / GC) Ubi Soft Milan (GBC) |
| Publisher: | Ubi Soft |
| Designer: | Patrice Désilets (Original Game Design, PS2 / GC Lead) Jason Arsenault (N64 / PC / Dreamcast Lead) Yuan Pei Sheng (PS1 Lead) Marc D'Souza (GBC Lead) Sun Wei (Advance Lead) |
| Composer: | Daniel Masson (N64 / PC / Dreamcast / GBC) Shawn K. Clement (PS1 / PS2 / GC / Advance) |
| Engine: | Rayman 2 (N64 / Dreamcast / PC / PS1) |
| Released: | Game Boy ColorPlayStationMicrosoft WindowsNintendo 64DreamcastPlayStation 2Game Boy AdvanceGameCube |
| Genre: | Platform |
| Modes: | Single-player |
Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers (known as Donald Duck: Quack Attack in Europe) is a platform video game developed and published by Ubi Soft for various consoles and Windows-based personal computers. A version with the same title was first released for the Game Boy Color, as well as on Game Boy Advance, the latter being given the title Donald Duck Advance.
The game's reception was mixed, with reviewers praising the music, backgrounds and animations, but criticizing the short length and its aim to be played by a younger demographic.
Goin' Quackerss gameplay is very similar to that of Crash Bandicoot and requires the player to move through various settings in 24 levels in four warp rooms. The four level themes are Duckie Mountain, Duckburg, Magica DeSpell's Manor and Merlock's Temple. 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, the Beagle Boys' truck, a ghost hand and a statue head, respectively (in PS2 and Gamecube versions, it replaced by the ghost hand). The viewpoint of the levels can change between a 2D side-scrolling perspective and a 3D perspective. Re-doing the levels to defeat Gladstone's time in same, gives the player advantages in the game.
The player has four lives that can increase by finding special items. Each life gives Donald two opportunities to be touched by the enemy, the first time is touched, he becomes angry and throws berserk to the enemies, the second time, he loses a life. Donald can also unlock new outfits, which alter cutscenes and idle animations (such as Donald taking photos of the place if he is dressed like a tourist).
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, she is kidnapped by Merlock. 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, the machine doesn't have enough power to get there and for it to reach Merlock's lair, Donald must go on a journey to plant an antenna at certain locations to boost the machine's power. 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 good kiss from Daisy for rescuing her.
This game features the returning voice talents of Tony Anselmo, Tress MacNeille, June Foray, Corey Burton and Russi Taylor.
The game was conceptualized by Ubi Soft Montreal in a collaboration with Disney Interactive as an homage to Disney comic book artist Carl Barks, who died in 2000.[1]
Different Ubisoft studios developed different versions for multiple consoles. These versions differ with their own levels and music.
Ubi Soft Casablanca developed a version for Windows, Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 on an optimized Rayman 2 engine[2] and includes music composed by Daniel Masson, while Ubi Soft Montreal developed the PlayStation 2 version, which was later released for the GameCube, and features music composed by Shawn K. Clement. Both versions also contain completely different levels.
The PlayStation version was developed by Ubi Soft Shanghai and includes extremely adapted levels from Ubi Soft Casablanca's version as well as custom ones.
A 2D platformer for the Gameboy Color that ditches the original 3D segments for a complete 2D approach to the game, not unlike Ubisoft's original Rayman game, was released by Ubi Soft Milan, developed on the same engine as Rayman 2's Gameboy Color version. This version later got remade with the title Donald Duck Advance for Game Boy Advance.[3] This version was developed by Ubi Soft Shanghai, who were responsible for developing the PS1 version. It was released in 2001 (November 15 in North America and November 16 in the PAL region).
Ubi Soft Casablanca's versions are also characterized by the fact that it was developed in Casablanca (Morocco), making it the first console video game made on the African continent.
The score for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions was composed by Shawn K. Clement, while the music for the PC, Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 versions was composed by Daniel Masson. The Game Boy Color version contains a modified, downgraded version of Daniel Masson's composition.
The Nintendo 64 version contains a midi-adapted version of the PC and Dreamcast version with fewer, different instruments as well as an extremely different style, slight melody differences, as well as some new songs. However, the music in this version is played incorrectly by the game and thus plays many instruments incorrectly or not at all. Among other things, the music is in a higher octave due to incorrect sample rates.[4]
A repair patch by fans is in the works and is scheduled for release in 2023.
Goin' Quackers has received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. 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 didn't 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 couldn't 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".