Mike’s Gameboy Game of the Week: Tailspin

Let it be known throughout all of the internet that I was a child of the late 90’s and I watched many an awful cartoon show, one of which was Disneys “Tailspin” which is a show in which Baloo from The Jungle Book is an airplane pilot where he clearly isn’t paid enough for the trouble he routinely deals with. Some other recurring characters were Shere Khan who is a big business dude and Louie who is… the owner of a bar? This show apparently garnered enough popularity to merit several games two of which are by Capcom for the Gameboy and NES and the others are by both Sega and NEC for the Genesis, GameGear and Turbografx-16 respectively.

This is the greatest marketing decision by Disney ever.

So my first impression of this game when I picked it up at my local gamestore for a dollar was that it would most likely be an awful game due to it being based off a television show and it being on the Gameboy which was notorious for it’s massive amount of mediocre and bad games. I spied on the cart that it was developed by Capcom which honestly gave me mixed feelings as Capcom did produce Darkwing Duck, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, and Ducktales games that were all amazing. Upon getting home I popped the game into my Super Gameboy and started it up and much to my surprise it was a port of the NES Tailspin game.

Even on the Gameboy people don’t know how to use inside voices.

Playing the game was a different story, the controls weren’t as responsive as they were on the NES but once I adjusted to them (took about 20 minutes at most) I didn’t have much of a problem. If you have not played the NES version of this game then let me explain what the point of it is:

You are Baloo the cargo pilot for “Higher for Hire” and you are being sent to deliver cargo to nondescript destinations.

Pretty simple right? Well for a game with only six levels you can bet your boots that it works just fine for the game as a premise. The game plays like a space shooter where you pilot the “Sea Duck” which can only fire one round at a time and cannot fire again until the shot either leaves the screen or connects with something (you can increase the amount of shots with upgrades later on). Shot direction is also determined by up and down movement as the plane tilts in each direction respectively when you are moving. Firing shots can be awkward at first and in my opinion is incredibly annoying but you can get used to it after a while. Aside from just shooting things you can grab up cargo crates which according to the intro are remnants of other cargo planes which have been shot down, also you can flip the plane upside down and head backwards same rules apply with all movement and shooting.

Seems legit. :/

Something unique to the game is the addition of bonus stages hidden in each level where you switch from playing as Baloo to playing as Kit Cloudkicker his spunky sidekick where you pop balloons while surfing on clouds. The balloons give out a decent amount of points and generally can give you the push you need for an extra life.

COOLEST. THING. EVER.

At the end of each stage is a boss fight, the boss fights weren’t exactly challenging but were interesting. The designs for each boss are neat and if the battles didn’t shoot by so quickly I would have liked to have seen them do more then their two or three standard attacks. Once you’ve beaten the boss you get a brief reprieve where you can buy power-ups for the plane with the money you earned by collecting cargo strewn throughout the level, this I didn’t know my first time through as I avoided many pieces of cargo and lost some easy money.

I swear this had best be the best engine I’ve ever invested my blood money in.

In my opinion this game is worth a look if you can’t get ahold of the NES version the animations are not nearly as nice as they are on the NES, the only reason I would recommend this game is if you want a portable version of the game or if you want to give the bonus stages a try. Tailspin for the Gameboy isn’t spectacular but for the price I paid I’d say it was more then worth it, if you can get this game for a couple of bucks I’d recommend you get it.

You can’t argue with a tagline like that.

Ducktales (NES)

Capcom is a video game company that is well known for its exceptional games. The Mega Man Series, Bionic Commando, The Street Figher series, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Little Nemo and more. Heck, even their lesser games such as Street Fighter 2010, the so-so shooter Legendary Wings, and the Dominos Pizza tie-in Yo! Noid are still better than at least 80 or 90 of the worst games for the Nintendo. At the same time, movie and television tie-in games have a long and storied history full of rancid garbage-like stinkers. Many gamers are well versed in the history of games like E.T. for the Atari 2600 - complete with rumors of a landfill where truckloads of carts were dropped off and buried due to horrific consumer backlash. How about the Incredible Crash Test Dummies for the NES? Or Superman 64? Cutthroat Island? The list is a mile long and includes consoles from Atari until the current-gen systems. Truth be told, it seems that the newer systems (Wii, 360, and PS3) are plagued by the onslaught of craptastic comic/movie shovelware coming out on a regular basis.

So with all of that being said, what would happen if Capcom signed on to release a handful of games based on Disney tv and movie licenses? As it turns out - a pretty large amount of awesomeness across the board. One of the most popular of this selection of games - and the one that is absolutely essential for your NES collection, is 1989's Ducktales.

Uncle Scrooge has a "Duck Cave?" Awesome!

For those who may or may not be old enough to remember, Ducktales is a game based on the popular Disney animated series that ran from 1987 until 1990. It starred Scrooge McDuck, the greedy, rich uncle of Huey, Dewey, and Louie and uncle of popular Disney icon Donald Duck. He is tasked with raising the three little ducklings when their father - Donald Duck goes into the Navy. The show was clever and the humor was funny enough that it even cracked up my folks when I was younger. Plus, it had one of the best/catchiest theme songs ever outside of maybe David The Gnome. Uncle Scrooge lives up to his name as he is filthy rich and loves to jump into big piles of his own money - often on the lookout for valuable treasures, and on occasion stomping out bad guys. It is these last two tasks that make up the bulk of the plot for the Ducktales video game.

You control Uncle Scrooge as he treks through 5 levels (Amazon, Himalayas, African Mines, Transylvania, and the Moon) on the lookout for hidden treasure and defeating baddies like Magica De Spell and his rival-in-greed, Flintheart Glomgold. You can play these 5 stages in any order you like (ala Rockin' Kats, Mega Man, and some of the other Capcom/Disney collaborations.) Along the way you'll receive help and hints from Huey, Dewey, and Louie, as well as your pilot buddy Launchpad McQuack.

Sometimes you need special items from one stage to advance in another.

One of the things that Capcom is well known for is the playability of their games. The gameplay is very similar to Capcom's big franchise Mega Man. Your main weapon in the game is your cane, which you can pogo-jump with onto enemy heads as well as smack rocks into baddies. The cane is a really effective weapon/tool in this game, as you can pull and push blocks in order to jump onto high platforms and the pogo stick jump can help you reach tight spots. The controls are tight and easy to manage. Holding down while holding B to Pogo-jump can be just a touch tedious but this was simplified by the time the sequel "Ducktales 2" rolled around requiring you only to hold the action button.

Ok. Maybe pogo jump doesn't work EVERYWHERE...

The music and sound presentation are as fantastic here as in many of the best Capcom games. The graphics are exceptional for a game made in 1989. It feels like you're playing an episode of the show - the character sprites are detailed, the colors are vibrant and the stage layouts are great. Background graphics remind me of Capcom's great Little Nemo: Dream Master. Also, comparisons to Capcom's darling Megaman don't stop with controls and stage selection - the game presentation is of a similar caliber - great graphics and catchy 80's-tastic background music. Listen to that funky tune in the Moon stage! It sounds like a Megaman outtake. The tune in the Amazon is very Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle-esque. The show's super catchy theme song is also reproduced with startling accuracy at the beginning of the game. I DARE YOU not to sing/hum along with the theme in all of its 8-bit bleepy-bloopy glory! It's impossible.

Heck, even Roboduck looks a little Megaman-esque

The challenge level is relatively low. As with most NES games - I was a lot better at this thing 15 years ago than I am now. The stages are relatively short, the bosses usually take just a few hits to kill, and the fact that there are only 5 stages means it wont take you all weekend to beat it. The biggest problem you'll have with making it to the end of this game is the kind of problem you'll have with any good platformer - goofy mistakes. I've pulled my hair out several times screaming "I should have KNOWN that the boulder was coming - I've played this game 1,000 times!" That being said, once you get the stage patterns down - you'll blow through it without much challenge.

Ducktales is an absolutely essential NES platformer. Fans of Capcom's most popular titles such as Mega Man and Little Nemo will dig it, and fans of the cartoon will absolutely love it. It's worth it at almost any price - and Lukie Games has it right now for an amazing deal. It's one of the more popular games What are you waiting for? Get your copy today!