Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers is an above-average Crash Bandicoot clone starring everyone's favorite pantsless waterfowl Donald Duck. The gameplay is identical to the PS1 era Crash games, right down to the iconic "run towards the screen while a giant enemy/thing tries to squish you" levels. But while the game is derivative, it makes the smart choice to keep the fun of early Crash Bandicoot and leave out the frustration. I'd go so far as to say it plays better than the first Crash Bandicoot game.
Goin' Quackers is the rare game both kids and adults can play on an equal level. While there is some trial and error and a few difficulty spikes, the experience is mostly breezy and enjoyable. Running down corridors while bopping and punching enemies feels great and the music & sound are above average for a licensed game. While the voice acting is limited, I was very impressed they made the effort to recruit A-List VO talent like Clarence Nash, Tress MacNeille, June Foray and Frank Welker. It really felt like the creators were fans of Donald Duck cartoons and comics, with lots of references to his past misadventures in the background.
My main criticisms are twofold; Goin' Quackers limited lives system forces the player to save after every level or risk losing all their progress if they get a Game Over. This would be forgivable if you didn't have to backtrack to the hub lab and sit through 2 animations and a loading screen to get there. Also the graphics are rough, blurry even by N64 standards. This game was ported to a lot of different consoles during its release, and I'm sure they had to cut a few graphical corners to get it running on a cartridge based system. Still a very fun game for platformer fans and Donald Duck enthusiasts alike.
Goin' Quackers is the rare game both kids and adults can play on an equal level. While there is some trial and error and a few difficulty spikes, the experience is mostly breezy and enjoyable. Running down corridors while bopping and punching enemies feels great and the music & sound are above average for a licensed game. While the voice acting is limited, I was very impressed they made the effort to recruit A-List VO talent like Clarence Nash, Tress MacNeille, June Foray and Frank Welker. It really felt like the creators were fans of Donald Duck cartoons and comics, with lots of references to his past misadventures in the background.
My main criticisms are twofold; Goin' Quackers limited lives system forces the player to save after every level or risk losing all their progress if they get a Game Over. This would be forgivable if you didn't have to backtrack to the hub lab and sit through 2 animations and a loading screen to get there. Also the graphics are rough, blurry even by N64 standards. This game was ported to a lot of different consoles during its release, and I'm sure they had to cut a few graphical corners to get it running on a cartridge based system. Still a very fun game for platformer fans and Donald Duck enthusiasts alike.
The presentation is spectacular but mechanically it fails to have any identity beyond a Crash Bandicoot clone. It's also very on the easy side and it doesn't quite recreate Crash's controls the best. The Dreamcast version is visually a bit better than the N64 version but both are very serviceable for its cartoony aesthetic.