“Black Cloak” on Dendy: why Darkwing Duck is still working

If you had Dendy or its numerous analogues as a child, the chance of encountering a cartridge with “Black Cloak” was quite high.

For many, this game was remembered even before we even knew the name Darkwing Duck.

Purple cloak.Huge hat.Gas pistol.Familiar villains from the animated series.

And it quickly became clear: there would be no walking here.

Capcom released Darkwing Duck for the NES in 1992.A year later, a version for Game Boy appeared.And more than thirty years later, the game still feels like a solid platformer, and not just an occasion to remember your childhood.

When a game based on a cartoon was not a cheap craft

Today, the phrase “game based on a cartoon” does not say anything in itself.

In the early 90s the situation was more complicated.There have been quite a few passable games based on famous films and animated series.

But Disney had Capcom back then.

The company has already made DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin.Darkwing Duck continued this series.

The game did not try to retell a specific episode of the cartoon.The plot here is simple: the criminal organization F.O.W.L.causes problems in Saint-Canard, and Black Cloak goes to investigate.

At the end, of course, Steelbeak awaits.

No long videos.A few screens of text and off you go.

The relationship with Mega Man is immediately obvious

Playing for five minutes is enough to remind you of another Capcom series.

Mega Man.

The similarity is very noticeable.Black Cloak runs through two-dimensional levels, shoots in front of him, fights enemies with clear behavior patterns, and at the end meets the boss.

After the first stages, you can even choose where to go next.

According to GameFAQs, the game uses a modified version of the Mega Man 5 engine. But even without the technical details, the origins are immediately felt.

At the same time, it cannot be called a simple copy of Mega Man.

Black Cloak has his own tricks.

It clings to hooks and edges of platforms.Can be covered with a cloak from some attacks.A gas pistol uses several types of ammunition.

Some shots help you get to places you can't reach with a regular jump.

Because of this, platform areas work a little differently.

The game quickly explained who was in charge here

The first minutes usually pass calmly.

And then precise jumps begin, enemies in awkward places and attacks from behind the edge of the screen.

There are few lives.A mistake easily ends in loss of health.

This is especially well remembered by those who played without saves, rewinding and walkthrough videos at hand.

Didn't work out?Start again.And more, more.Until the site is remembered.

Today, this approach is sometimes called outdated.But it had one useful property: you gradually begin to pass the level almost automatically.

You already know where the enemy will come from.Where to stop.Which hook to jump on?

And the next attempt becomes a little better than the previous one.

The villains here were almost more important than ordinary enemies

Capcom made good use of the characters from the animated series.

The game features Quackerjack, Megavolt, Bushroot, Liquidator, Moliarty and other opponents.

The final boss is Steelbeak.

For a child who watched the cartoon, this was already enough.

You didn't fight the nameless monster at the end of the level.You got to the character you saw on TV.

And each boss required a slightly different approach.Somewhere you need to constantly change the height.Somewhere to monitor attacks and platforms.Somewhere it is more important just not to panic and not to shoot without stopping.

In total, the game leads through six main opponents, after which it sends the hero to Steel Beak.

The game brought together many famous villains from the animated series.

Why is she so well remembered

Darkwing Duck wasn't the biggest game on the NES.

It didn't offer dozens of hours of playthrough or a huge world.

But she had character.

City rooftops, sewers, forests, factories and other levels were well differentiated from each other.Black Cloak himself was recognizable even in a small 8-bit sprite.

Plus music.

The main theme of the animated series in the 8-bit version instantly returns to the time when to start the game you just had to insert the cartridge and press Power.

Without patch for 40 gigabytes.

No registration.

Sometimes I had to rearrange the cartridge several times.

But that's another story.

Today the shortcomings are also visible

Nostalgia easily makes old games seem better than they actually were.

Therefore, Darkwing Duck is worth evaluating without the childhood discount.

Place management is tight.Black Cloak cannot move normally while shooting.Sometimes enemies stand in such a way that you get the first blow almost immediately after the jump.

Some special ammunition is rarely used.

The game is short.

And some sections are built around the fact that you will first make a mistake and then remember the right path.

Retro reviews of the game also noted these problems.

But the foundation did not fall apart.

It's still fun to jump.The bosses are still working.Levels are completed quickly.And it is almost always clear why you lost.

For a game from 1992, this is a good result.

“Black Cloak” could have had a sequel

There is another interesting story.

In 2018, Headcannon, the studio behind Sonic Mania, pitched a new Darkwing Duck game to Capcom.

The idea was close to the original, but with graphics in the spirit of the 16-bit era and new capabilities of the hero.

The project did not receive the green light.

Later, the developers showed a working prototype.In it you could see what a modern successor to that same NES game might look like.

It's a pity.

Because Darkwing Duck is almost perfect for such a comeback.

You can play it today

And for this you don’t have to look for a working NES.

In 2017, Capcom included Darkwing Duck in The Disney Afternoon Collection, along with DuckTales, TaleSpin, and two Chip 'n Dale games.

The collection was released on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.It added time rewind, boss mode, speed tests and archival materials.(Capcom News)

For the first acquaintance it is more convenient than the original.

But if you want to understand how the game felt back then, it’s better not to turn on rewind at first.

A couple of bad jumps will quickly explain the difference between 1992 and 2026.

Is it worth coming back

Yes.

Not because everything was better before.

There wasn't.

Darkwing Duck is a small and sometimes uneven game.Capcom made platformers stronger.

But the era itself has been well preserved here.

Clear rules.Several buttons.Bright levels.A familiar hero.The boss is at the end.

Launched it and within a minute you were already playing.

Sometimes that's enough.

And if the words “Black Cloak” still automatically starts playing music from the animated series in your head, most likely, this game doesn’t need to be imagined at all.

Did you go through Black Cloak as a child?And what level or boss do you remember the most?