Gaming Memories: Duck Hunt

(Doing one of these as I'm still getting this month's reviews finished!)

Wham, bam! If I could shoot that damn dog I would too!

One of the release titles for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Duck Hunt is also the most famous NES game using the NES Zapper. When the trigger of that device shaped like a firearm was pulled in front of a CRT screen, the game would show a split-second screen where it detected roughly the location shot, compared it to the locations of possible targets on the screen, and applied results afterwards.

In Duck Hunt, there are three games modes, though the first two are repeats. You and your dog go out in the field and shoot at ducks. They fly around the screen, and if you manage to shoot one, your dog holds it up triumphantly. If you fail, the little shit laughs at you instead. In Game A, only one duck appears in each round of a level; in Game B, it's two. Game C swaps it all out for clay pigeons instead. In every level, you have to successfully hit a certain number of targets in order to gain access to the next. Like many games at the time, there was a limit; after Level 99, the game rolled back to Level 0 and broke shortly afterwards.

Even putting aside its fame as "the Zapper game", Duck Hunt is perhaps also well-known for having editions where it was packaged on the same cartridge as another game; on my personal copy, Duck Hunt came second, and the other game on it was Super Mario Bros. 1 (which I therefore had twice).

This is "Gaming Memories" for a reason; it's less a review proper of the game, and more a chance for me to reminisce on my experience with it, however far back in time that was. The reason I remember Duck Hunt so well is that, unlike pretty much every single other NES game I owned, it was super easy to teach to my parents. Almost like a precursor to Wii Sports Bowling, there wasn't much to explain, and then we could all have fun together. Just aim at the bird and shoot! Works for me. My parents were never big on gaming (well, aside from casual stuff and the aforementioned Wii Sports), so having even one video game to play with them was great.

On the plus side, Duck Hunt reentered public consciousness when the dog, aided by a duck, made it into Smash, of all things. Hey, every dog has his day. It was good practice for Banjo & Kazooie.