Snes - Maui Mallard Review

Maui Mallard is a Disney character and you may have never heard of him, which is okay because this is probably the first time you have. He is normally called Donald Duck but since he can turn into a Ninja type fighter in this game they just had to give him a new name too.

Gameplay: 6/10

The gameplay for this game is slightly above average. Donald or Maui can run, jump and duck with great ease and smoothness. As far as it goes there are no complaints there. The problem sets in when you start shooting and realise he can only fire in seven directions while the enemies can approach from any angle. This is a common mistake in platform games but considering that the game comes from along line of other Disney platform games the programmers should have corrected this problem by now.

Perhaps this is where the Ninja mode comes in. As a Ninja, Maui has an attack which "covers" his head and allow him to protect himself from those pesky flying creatures. Unfortunately while the Ninja is pretty smooth and has an awesome somersault it still fails because its attack are too short and are redundant against stronger enemies. To kill those enemies you have to get close, real close and chances are you'll get hit before killing him with your four hit combo. That's a big problem, so what if he can move fast? He still can't attack right. Also, the Ninja has the ability to whirl around like well, a whirl wind but this proves surprisingly ineffective against just about everything as it attacks only at the waist level and leaves you vulnerable to enemy attacks thanks to the delay between stopping and regaining control.

Graphics: 5/5

The graphics for Maui Mallard are undisputably good for the SNES, the movements are fast and cartoonish and there is even a 3-D effect where the background scrolls as you travel through the foreground. Not only that but there are a variety of locations for example a mansion, a temple and even a sunken boat which are all different and unique. Exciting stuff.

Sound and Music: 2.5/5

The sound and music is mediocre at best. While high in clarity and output quality the actual scores are not really that well-written and tend to be somewhat slow. Probably the best songs are the introduction and the Ninja Training grounds.

You do get some sounds like Donald Duck's famous yell but none of them are exciting or worth mentioning.

Game design: 2/5

While the normal platform levels are fair the other levels like the rising lava and the underwater levels are hard to overcome, as are most of these "other levels" are in other Disney games. You have to basically memorise the routes and avoid them before they even appear leading to much frustration.

What is worse the password system where you have to collect a certain amout of treasure before you can go to a bonus level to hopefully win the password. At this point of time you realise this could take a while longer than you anticipated. This is poor design in my opinion.

Longevity: 1.5/5

Maui Mallard is a tough game no doubt as most Disney games are. You'll probably play it but get terribly annoyed by the difficultly. Eventually you'll finish it and walk away and never return because the game just isn't that good. This game is a one-timer and has no replay value.

For: Good graphics, smooth animation and movement.

Against: Limiting gameplay, levels are just too tough at times, average music.

Genre: Action

Produced by: Disney Interactive

Year: 1996

Platform: SNES

Run on: Snes 9x, Zsnes

Scoring Summary

Gameplay: 6/10

Graphics: 5/5

Sound and Music: 2.5/5

Game design: 2/5

Longevity: 1.5/5

Total: 17/30

Rating:

57%

-Reviewed by Barnabas