Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context VideoGame / DuckHunt

Go To

1%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1353554489003320200
2%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
3%%
4[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duck_hunt_cover.jpg]]
5
6->''"'''OUCH!! SHOOT THE DUCKS, NOT ME!!'''"''
7-->-- '''The Dog''' in ''Vs. Duck Hunt''; the only time the dog speaks after the only time you actually get to shoot him
8
9''Duck Hunt'' is a shooting game for the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem; it came either on its own or as a twofer with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' (or as a threefer with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' and ''World Class Track Meet'', though that version is rarer than the others.) The game's concept actually began with a [[http://blog.beforemario.com/2012/09/nintendo-kousenjuu-duck-hunt-1976.html projector-and-light-gun toy]] produced by Creator/{{Nintendo}} before their video game-making days. Eight years later, it was made into the NES game as it's known today.
10
11It's a fairly simple game. You have two options. One was going to the target range and shooting at clay pigeons to improve your aim. You could shoot at one or two at a time, and could keep going until you didn't hit as many as the round target required. Almost nobody remembers, or cares, about this part.
12
13No, the main attraction, as you can imagine, is hunting ducks with your trusty hunting dog. Depending on the mode, he would flush out one or two ducks at a time, and you had three shots to nail the ducks before they got away. Later rounds introduced faster ducks that tried to escape more quickly. Until, of course, they wouldn't even appear on the screen, resulting in a KillScreen.
14
15This game overall is widely remembered for a few reasons. One of the most prominent is that it was a pack-in for most releases of the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, for even more versions than ''Super Mario Bros''. Eventually the two were combined into one cartridge to be the pack-in game. It was also remembered for the Zapper Light Gun that was required to play, being perhaps the most popular light gun created. It set the standard for making home light gun games for ages.
16
17But most of all, it is remembered to this day because of the dog, who would [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duckhuntdog.jpg snigger at you]] whenever you ''didn't'' manage to hit a duck. And it would repeat said sniggering when ([[EndlessGame not if]], ''[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption when]]'') you didn't take out enough ducks to advance to the next level and it was a GameOver. However, the reactions that followed when people found out that he's a SecretCharacter in the fourth ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' game indicated [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap a better future for him]].
18
19Like many early NES games, it had an expanded arcade version called ''Vs. Duck Hunt'' that played a bit differently. For one, you don't have a quota to meet for each level. Instead, you have a number of lives, and failing to shoot one of the ducks results in a lost life. The stages also alternate between ducks and clay pigeons, and the game featured a bonus stage where you had unlimited bullets and simply had to shoot as many ducks as possible. The dog would occasionally appear as well and shooting him would prematurely end the stage (though most players shot him as soon as he appeared anyway).
20
21Was announced for the Wii U's Virtual Console in a November 2014 Nintendo Direct after the unveiling of Duck Hunt's ''Super Smash Bros.'' trailer. The port requires use of the Wii Remote to simulate the Zapper.
22
23See also ''VideoGame/DuckSeason'', a game that takes ''heavy'' inspiration from this game, with a heavy dose of horror.
24----
25!!This game has examples of:
26
27* AmusingInjuries: Should you shoot the ''dog'' instead of the ducks, he'll end up on crutches and will exclaim, '''''"OUCH!! SHOOT THE DUCKS, NOT ME!!"'''''
28* AnthropomorphicShift: The dog goes through this where when first starting ''Duck Hunt'', you see him on all fours while sniffing around for ducks. After you miss a duck, he will snicker at you by standing on his hind paws while putting his front paws to his mouth, and if you shoot the ducks, he also stands on his hind legs while holding the ducks in his paws. And, later in ''Vs. Duck Hunt'', during the bonus game, he hops around like Luigi from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' and after you shoot him, he walks and stands on one hind leg while using crutches like a human would, and [[WhatTheHellPlayer gives you an earful for it]].
29* AshFace: The dog has this after you shoot him in ''Vs. Duck Hunt''.
30* AsymmetricMultiplayer: In "Game A", the first player shoots ducks with the light gun and the second player can control the ducks with the normal controller. The second player can either make the game easier or [[MisbegottenMultiplayerMode completely fuck with the player holding the gun.]]
31* BullyingADragon: The dog doesn't seem to realize that he is mocking the player who holds a gun that can take down ducks. In ''Vs. Duck Hunt'', he will hop around while you shoot ducks and the temptation to shoot him is very strong.
32* {{Cap}}: The score will wrap around at 999999 back to 0. This will generally be hit around round 60, well before the kill screen.
33* TheComputerShallTauntYou: The dog laughs at you whenever you miss a duck.
34* CrosshairAware: In the Wii U Virtual Console version. The Wii Remote works differently to the NES Zapper, the former requiring a sensor bar, which makes gameplay nearly impossible without a visible reticle.
35* DifficultyByAcceleration: The ducks fly faster every level.
36* TheDogBitesBack: Well, not the dog, but you, when you finally get to shoot him for all the times he's laughed at you in the bonus stage of ''Vs. Duck Hunt''.
37* DuelBoss: Game B has you shooting down two ducks at a time. Game C has two clay pigeons.
38* EvenTheDogIsAshamed: Well, maybe "ashamed" isn't quite the right word...
39* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The dog doesn't have a name, so most people just refer to him as the "Duck Hunt Dog".
40* GameplayAllyImmortality: The dog is apparently bulletproof, to the disappointment of many a player. In ''Vs. Duck Hunt'', however, [[SubvertedTrope you are able to shoot him.]]
41* HollywoodHealing: If you shoot the dog in ''vs'', he will be given an AshFace and wind up hobbling on crutches, but he's fully healed afterward.
42* JerkAss: The dog, who laughs at you if you miss the ducks.
43* KarmaHoudini: In the original game, the dog gets no comeuppance for laughing at you.
44* KillScreen: At Level 100 (displayed by the game as "ROUND 0") in Game A, the ducks glitch around the screen; they're impossible to hit. And the dog thinks it's funny. Sometimes the ducks don't even show up and the dog laughs three or four times in a row.
45** Subverted in Game B; reaching Level 100 makes the ducks ''extremely slow.''
46** Zig-Zagged in the Clay Pigeon mode; reaching Level 100 makes the clay pigeons extremely slow, but also makes them disappear very quickly.
47* LesserStar: Aside from the dog, this game is largely remembered for being the ''other'' game that came bundled with the NES, with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' being the main star. Usually in the same cart.
48* LightGunGame: One of the most iconic NES Zapper games.
49* NoAntagonist: The only thing close to an antagonist is the dog.
50* NoSympathy: The dog's mocking laughter casts serious doubt on the title of [[WithFriendsLikeThese "Man's Best Friend"]].
51* ScoringPoints: But of course, the aim of the game is to get as many points as possible.
52* SitcomArchNemesis: Many players have vowed vengeance against the dog who simply laughs at your mistakes.
53* ShaggyDogStory: Not the dog, but YOU. Keep on shooting ducks, but you will always meet a Game Over, with the dog laughing at you in the end. ALWAYS.
54* ShootTheDog: Literally in ''Vs. Duck Hunt'' during the bonus game.
55* ShoutOut: The Dog, a canine sidekick with an annoying laugh, is an allusion to [[WesternAnimation/WackyRaces Muttley]] from the Hanna Barbera cartoons.
56* TechDemoGame: For the NES Zapper peripheral.
57* {{Troll}}: The dog always laughs at you whenever you fail a level.
58* TooDumbToLive: The dog doesn't seem too bright by mocking the gun-wielding player and later hopping around among the ducks in ''Vs. Duck Hunt''.
59* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: It's a game revolved around shooting and hunting ducks but you can give the dog what's coming to him in ''Vs. Duck Hunt''.
60* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Unfortunately, shooting the dog in ''vs'' costs you big. Many players think it's WorthIt though.
61* WhatTheHellPlayer: If you [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential shoot the dog]] in the bonus round of ''Vs. Duck Hunt'', the round will end immediately, and the dog will appear [[InstantBandages on crutches]] and chew you out for it. Of course, [[TooDumbToLive if he wasn't hopping around while you were shooting the ducks]], he probably wouldn't have gotten shot.
62* WildTake: Look at the ducks' eyes bug out when you shoot them.

Top