Dance 'till you drop, do the LoboCop - A 1UP classic from December 15, 2010

As I'm going through the old comics to share with the little gal I can't help but wonder where the fun went in comic books. Sometimes the storylines and characters take themselves too seriously.

I stumbled across one of the best parodies of film-meets-comic book characters ever. Featuring two unlikely but very complimentary sources. The "Main Man" Lobo getting put into the titanium body of a Robocop. The result of which was a crazy send up of law enforcement gone too far.

With fun designs and lots of violence I'm wondering why DC didn't bother revisiting the character. LoboCop would make for a fun videogame. Perhaps the arcade mechanics of Robocop, plus the comedic timing of Sunset Riders. It would certainly much better than the Lobo videogame that never came out.

I guess there was the good and bad in the 90's now that I think about it. Comics were fun but every quick-buck videogame was a fighter. It's a darn shame too.

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A good dream. A 1UP classic...

About 20% of my dreams are about videogames. Some of them classic, many on the arcade, some of them new, but the majority are about games that have never existed. Two nights ago I had one of the most vivid game dreams I've had in a while. Now you have to use your imagination because I can only draw in 2D. The game in my dream was all in 3D and high definition I might add! It all started out with these soldiers running up a hill in a quiet suburban neighborhood. There were few houses, a great mountain range and nothing but wide open spaces.

I don't play RTS games and especially not war games. My older brother loves RTS games and his favorites have been Advance Wars, and he's looking at getting Batallion Wars now.

The character designs of the soldiers were stylized. Somewhere in between the Advance Wars and Metal Slug designs. Are you starting to visualize my game a little better? Great. Now back to my dream.

As I pan the camera back I notice that the soldiers are advancing to something way in the background. The draw distance in my dreams is always exceptional! The ground was shaking and about 3 miles away Godzilla was fighting with Rodan!

In my dreams I have about 4 seconds to figure out the control scheme before the game ends. I pushed some buttons and noticed that I could zoom into the troops, select them and move them around with a few button presses. I guessed that my job was to slow down the advance of Godzilla and keep him from wandering into residential neighborhoods. It seemed easy enough since Rodan was keeping him busy and we were fighting way out in the boonies.

I clicked on the soldiers and noticed that there were specialists mixed in with the infantry. These are the characters I remembered. A demolitions specialist, a medic, machine gunner, flame thrower and general.

As the game progressed (there was no loading time). Godzilla and a different monster would begin a new fight and they'd drop the troops in the middle of the action. Way off in the distance I could see the lights from the city. I figured that sooner or later the harder levels would be taking me closer and closer into the city.

I would get to call in air strikes and artillery against the rampaging monsters. As the levels progressed I was able to get more special weapons to use such as the electric cannons on the beds of diesel trucks and even the flying Super-X.

The units under my command became more and more advanced the closer Godzilla got to the city. Eventually I got to use G-Force members, the elite task force called in when everything seems hopeless. They had access to special weapons that regular army folks didn't have, such as phaser rifles, the Super-X and even Godzilla's son Minya.

There was even a way to control the alien invaders that had brought some of the monsters to Earth. If you've ever seen the old Godzilla movies you'll remember the aliens were the people with curly toe shoes and razor thin sunglasses. With access to their UFO's, lightning rifles and ability to move some monsters around they added a whole new dynamic to the game.

Right before I woke up one of the last levels was starting up. King Ghidora flew into Tokyo to challenge Godzilla. Right away buildings were being toppled as monsters were being tossed through them. Too bad I woke up because the camera angles and particle effects of the buildings collapsing were great.

I can trace where most of the concepts in my dream came from. Aside from Godzilla movies, Metal Slug and Advance Wars I was a big fan of the King of the Monsters games from SNK - Neo Geo. I liked the first one more because it was a wrestling game, the second was more of a side scrolling brawler like Final Fight.

The second game that influenced my dream must have been War of the Monsters by Incognito. I've played that game backwards and forward and have unlocked everything and figured out all of the combos by myself. So there's no way I could give you and exact amount of hours spent playing that title. Needless to say the scale and scope of my dream was much bigger than what ended up in any other game. Ah, too bad I couldn't have recorded it!

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Remaking an icon, Maui Mallard, part 2

Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow had a specific theme that was evident as soon as the game started. The fonts and colors used in the menus and story screens harkened back to classic Hollywood. The art deco movement was punctuated by crisp lines, sharp angles and stylized lettering.

The cool blue and black color motifs featured in the menu and story screens helped create a noir feel. The addition of an island setting and related theming added a tiki atmosphere over the entire title. The combination of noir and tiki gave the game a unique style, possibly one that will never be matched. This blog will cover the various versions of the game including the PC, Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive (the name for the Genesis console in Japan and the UK) versions but not the horrid GameBoy version.

The game set the tone right away, the opening story and all cut scenes were hosted by a detective named Maui Mallard. The laid-back private investigator was working on a case of a missing idol named Shabuhm Shabuhm. The natives believed that the idol was sacred and without it the entire island would destroy itself within a day. The set up was typical of most adventure games, recover an item, avoid some traps, fight some bosses and save the day. It was the levels and supporting cast that made the experience memorable. The design of Maui for example, the red Hawaiian shirt and blue baseball cap were based very much on the popular Magnum PI, the TV detective played by Tom Selleck.

Since Maui was a detective working a case against mysterious forces then he had to be armed. Yet giving a Disney icon a gun in a game would not have been acceptable to audiences. Thankfully this was not Donald but some distant cousin named Maui. But even then it was not enough to appease worried parents. There had been a precedence for having Disney hero with a firearm previously. The character Darkwing Duck had a gun that shot sleeping gas. It seemed to be an acceptable firearm for afternoon TV cartoons.

Disney Interactive gave Maui a gun that shot bugs instead of bullets. Since Maui did not have any melee attacks then the gun had to have to be good up close as well as at range. Plus this weapon had to be accessible while climbing, jumping or even swimming underwater! Animators did a great job at allowing Maui to move freely across the levels, climb and drop while still being able to shoot from his pistol. The oversized gun would not be mistaken for a real firearm because the proportions and even color were over-the-top. Moreover the speed of the bug bullets were slowed for player to track them across the screen.

In the Genesis and PC versions the player could shoot the weapon with an unlimited supply of regular bug ammo. The SNES version would recharge if all 50 default shots had been expired. The bugs themselves, giant beetles, became a unique ammunition type that helped expand the gameplay. In addition to unlimited bug shots the player could find fire, lightning and exploding bugs hidden in the stages. These bugs could deal more damage or even seek out opponents. These bug types could also be combined for different results; a fire and lightning bug would cause a homing electric spark, an exploding bug with a fire bug would yield a multiple burst flame shot. If all three additional bug ammo types were used then a flash would wipe out all the opponents on the screen.

A rare fourth bug, a light bug, could not be fired from the gun but could illuminate dark corridors or hidden paths on certain levels. It was a unique effect that was featured more in the early stages of the SNES version of the game than the PC and Genesis builds. It made the macabre first level of the game, the Mojo Mansion, even creepier.

There were some similarities between the versions aside from the bug gun. Our hero had a health meter that could be built above 100% by collecting magical talismans as well as by drinking Power Punch. To keep things consistent with the island theme there were glasses and pitchers of a bright red tropical punch located all over the island.

The game was lighthearted but it also had a creepy tone to it. The artistic direction was far more mature for a Disney title than the usual kid-fare. The design was gothic but not too grotesque, at least everything prior to the zombie parts. The main characters had more of the irreverence of the classic Disney park attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.

Maui might have taken a cue from Magnum PI but the design of the character and this universe had more in common with the tone, humor and style of Quack Pack than the classic Duck Tales. Even the color and design of the Hawaiian shirt was an opposite of the shirt Donald wore in the Quack Pack series. Maui Mallard could be considered the book-end to the classic Capcom side scroller Duck Tales. It was one of the greatest 8-bit console games ever made. The game, animation and music all helped shape the memories of an entire generation. Although it lacked the same impact Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow was one of the greatest 16-bit games ever created. It had advanced music, animation and level designs that reflected the changing tastes of the audience as well as the technology.

Not convinced that there could be such a thing as an adventurous and macabre adventure for Maui? Then perhaps the reader should listen intently at the music featured in the first level, the Mojo Mansion, written by Michael Giacchino (yes the Academy Award-winning movie composer) and Patrick J. Collins. The trail of the idol Shabuhm Shabuhm lead players to the first level in the game, an enormous mansion layered with atmosphere, secret panels, statues, ghastly butlers, poltergeists and giant spiders. In the song players can hear all sorts of fun sound effects and clever musical ideas. There were many differences between the console and PC versions of the game. The only way to truly appreciate the vision that the team at Disney Interactive was going for would be to try both console builds (and if possible the PC version) and see what elements each preserved.

The SNES version had brighter and more contrasting colors on the sprites whereas the Genesis version had more animations and details which made it closer to the PC version. For example hidden monsters inside the butler's serving tray, while hinted at in the cinemas on the SNES side, only appeared in the Genesis and PC versions. Poltergeists in the walls, ectoplasm spitting tiki masks and other minor details also appeared in the Genesis and PC versions but not the SNES build. It was not known if this was to tone down the creepiness or because the publisher didn't have time to put those details into the Nintendo cartridges. Each console version had a scaled-down soundtrack with a few digitized voices but by far the PC soundtrack was the best of the three versions.

Each version of the game was unique and had many themes which balanced the elements featured across the title. The Mojo Mansion layout and puzzles were slightly different between the Genesis and the SNES but neither could really be called superior.

Where the Genesis and PC builds were vastly different were in the animation and especially with the often darker bosses. The boss character for the Mojo Mansion was a giant mechanical spider. It looked menacing in the SNES version but was downright scary in the Genesis build. It moved faster and provided much more of a challenge.

Gamers that defeated the boss and did well on a level got a chance to do a bonus game titled Babaluau Baby. This level allowed players the chance to gain an extra life, a continue or magical properties for Maui's alter ego. The SNES version required players to get a certain percentage of hidden treasure before being whisked away to a giant theater stage.

Players had to collect all the hidden dancing tiki idols before time ran out in the bonus level. Grimacing suns and goofy moons hanging from the rafters provided the platform for gamers to jump on. A successful play through of each Babaluau level could only be achieved if players were careful with each leap. Otherwise they would end up falling to the floor and have to start climbing through the stage again. Players had to launch fireworks attached to the suns and moons within two minutes or else all of the bonus items they collected would be forfeit. Afterward the gamers would be rewarded with a level code which allowed them to restart a stage with all their saved items.

Reaching the Genesis and PC versions of the Babaluau stages had a completely different requirement. Instead of tracking down all the treasure in the regular stages players had to shoot a specific villain before it could run away. This character would drop a golden ticket. If gamers didn't catch the ticket as it fell then the game would skip past the Babaluau level at the end of the stage.

The Genesis / PC version of the bonus stage had a completely different gameplay mechanic. The level was still based on a giant theater stage and the cloud, sun and moon props were everywhere. Maui was not timed while searching for bonus items and there were no fireworks to launch. The lack of a time clock was a blessing. Instead Maui was given four different bonus items, small golden tiki idols of different shapes right at the start. Players had to avoid getting hit while navigating to the exit in order to keep these bonus items.

To make things interesting Maui was riding a unicycle on a bamboo roller coaster track and could only go left, right and jump. He lost one item for each time he was hit and the level ended if he fell through a platform before reaching the end of the track. It was undoubtedly one of the hardest but most memorable bonus stages in console history.

The Genesis and PC versions of this level had characters mentioned in the SNES material but which never actually appeared in the game. These were the Amazon Ducks and Fire Juggling Drakes. The Amazons could knock Maui around with a slap from a large wooden shield. They would send him to different tracks but not take any items, if Maui got hit with a torch however he would lose a bonus item.

As the story progressed Maui decided that the secrets within the Mojo Mansion were hiding something far more sinister, it was time to take off the gloves. He went to explore the mystery of Shabuhm Shabuhm in the ruins of a lost city dubbed the Ninja Training Grounds. After the first bonus level the game changed pace. Maui’s alter ego, Cold Shadow was finally allowed to take center stage. While exploring the ruins of the Training Grounds Maui came across an evil Witch Doctor. This point in the game was the second time that the weather became an important background detail. In the Mojo Mansion some gale force winds made it difficult for Maui to advance outside of the mansion. In the Training Grounds the sky was blue and sunny while as Maui but as soon as the Witch Doctor showed up storm clouds appeared and lighting cascaded in the distance. Environmental effects were not a new thing in console gaming but were rarely seen. In a few points through the game the weather set the mood and increased the challenge for players.

The tiki-masked Witch Doctor striped the ninja spirits out of Maui. At some point in his past Maui had been trained in the martial arts but had given up his fighting ancestry to pursue a new life as a detective. What a great back story! Anyhow the evil with doctor scattered the ancient ninja spirits across the levels. Maui would now have to collect Yin Yang Coins in order to have enough energy to summon his alter ego. When players accomplished this they would trigger his transformation with a button combination. Maui spun in place and changed his clothes, stance and personality. The ninja Cold Shadow ran on spirit coins and had a countdown meter in the Genesis / PC builds. Once out of energy Cold Shadow reverted back to Mallard. In the SNES version the coins did not count down except for when the player performed a combo attack.

The Ninja Training grounds served as a playground to give gamers a chance to explore the full range of attacks and abilities as Cold Shadow. It was a different experience altogether from playing as Maui Mallard. The stages in the game were designed to offer each character a unique challenge, neither Maui nor Cold Shadow could complete a level without the aid of all of the others' character moves.

Players had to defeat the various ninja ducks scattered across the island, each one representing a spirit that Maui was stripped of. The other ninja ducks could perform almost the same attacks as Shadow. They tiptoed across the levels with bo-staff in hand and struck as fast as the player could. Some had different colored belts and others different colored outfits.

An interesting detail missing in the Genesis build was the color-changing belt on Shadow. In the SNES version Cold Shadow’s belt changed color with the more yin yang coins he got. Like traditional martial arts belt-ranking systems, the belt changed colors from white to yellow to red and brown until he reached black belt status.

As if having two distinct character options for our hero wasn't enough there was a third option that could be played as in certain stages. If Maui defeated a series of straw-built sparring partners then he could command a gigantic stone duck monument. The juggernaut was slow and unstoppable, plowing through walls and allowing our hero to get to places previously blocked off. Unfortunately the player could not keep this character for long, once he walked to the other sides of the level the statue would stop and spit out our hero.

Cold Shadow fought in a completely different way than Maui. He had only melee attacks and had to be relatively close to opponents in order to beat them. The other ninja ducks seem impervious to the bug bullets of Maui so players were forced to get up close and fight them. The staff attacks could do much more damage than the bug ammo in any regard. From this point forward Maui could transform back and forth into Cold Shadow on almost every stage with the exception of the bonus levels.

Cold Shadow could navigate the levels in unique ways. He could leap further and run faster than Maui. There were also idols scattered around the Training Grounds that he could grapple onto and swing from using his staff. This allowed players to avoid spike pits and bottomless chasms. It also allowed Cold Shadow to swing into higher platforms and locate hidden items. The best 16-bit games allowed for more than one gameplay mechanic. Earthworm Jim was not only about the running and gunning. The game also allowed the hero to swing from location to location in a seamless fashion. The SNES swinging mechanic for Cold Shadow was far more forgiving than the Genesis build and almost as good as the Earthworm Jim one.

Where Disney Interactive exploited a new mechanic for a platform game was where Cold Shadow could climb vertically using his bo and some well timed jumps. The “Salmon Ladder” climbs were unique and not entirely easy to perform. Timing was important when climbing. Players could accidentally let go before leaping and end up dropping, or wait too long to extend the pole after a jump and end up staying in place. Additionally some of the walls would break away and cause our hero to tumble back down a shaft. Timing became very important in order to progress through the game. Thankfully the team at Disney Interactive made sure the use of the climbing mechanic never felt labored. A little bit of practice went a long way in the game and the Ninja Training Grounds made sure that audiences memorized the moves of Cold Shadow before the boss battle.

The bo staff as a weapon and means of navigation was something that helped keep the stages unique and made the character memorable. Navigating a level in unique ways was a staple for the best titles. The triple jump, wall jump and grappling hook were some ways that other developers beat the old run and jump titles.

At the end of the Ninja Training Grounds our hero had to fight waves of ninjas in front of a large statue. The altar of an ancestral fighting duck released explosives, ninjas and tropical punch in equal measure.

Once the ninjas were defeated Maui was confronted by a large floating orange globe. It released a leggy duck named Herneae in a flash of magical energy. It was the "dame" that Maui mentioned in the game manual and the person that put Maui on the trail of Shabuhm Shabuhm.

She was more than just another pretty face. The High Mojo Sorceress told Maui that there was a legend that foretold of a great warrior that would help save the natives. She assumed it was not Cold Shadow so he was warned him to stay out of the way. She disappeared back into the magical orb and flew away. Our hero was not dissuaded and followed the trail of Shabuhm Shabuhm deeper into the jungle.

The next level took our hero into the middle of the Muddrake village. These tiny native ducks, called the Muddrakes, were equal parts fearsome warrior and comedic classics. Easily the scene stealers in the game the natives leapt at Maui with reckless abandon. They would scream “There he is!” and “Get him” at the top of their lungs. They attacked Maui with an arsenal of weapons. Blow darts, boomerangs and buzz saw yo-yos. They would use these when they weren’t trying to dog pile on Maui. If Maui could get a shot on them then they might lose their shorts, leaving the tiny natives feeling rather embarrassed.

Our hero was allowed to explore levels made up of straw huts, muddy slopes, piranha infested waters. The leader of the Muddrakes, a shaman wearing a skeleton headdress delighted in turning our hero into a miniature version of himself. The magic was even powerful enough to shrink down the Bug Gun. This diminutive Maui was scaled smaller than even the already short Muddrakes. In this form however he could enter their huts and even fight through the tunnels left by giant wasp larvae.

In the Genesis / PC versions our hero could fight the worms but they were nonexistent in the SNES version. Also Maui could not turn into Cold Shadow when in miniature format. For those keeping score this was the fourth unique type of character that Maui could turn into. The gameplay and level design changed based on which element was applied to the character.

These constant changes to the gameplay helped keep the overall experience fresh and unique. Disney Interactive was demonstrating to gamers that it understood the diversity of gameplay styles that appealed to audiences. Platformers had expanded greatly since the days of the Mario Bros. Earthworm Jim was considered the peak of the format to most console players but by the second stage in this game Disney was giving Shiny Entertainment a run for their money. Maui Mallard played up the elements of great design and control while injecting a good deal of the irreverence and comedy that made Earthworm Jim work so well.

The boss battle in Muddrake Mayhem was located inside or a tiki coliseum. Maui found himself surrounded by Muddrakes cheering on the spectacle. A half dozen Muddrakes hiding behind gigantic mask would throw spears and use blow darts against our hero. Attendants would throw out bonus ammo or even Power Punch to help even the odds. The SNES version of this level was very minimalistic, with just one row of Muddrakes cheering or doing the “wave” whereas the Genesis / PC build had multiple rows of spectators cheering and bringing up sign cards taunting Maui.

If players survived several waves of the Muddrakes then he would be rewarded for proving his bravery. In traditional format the bravest warrior was thrown into a live volcano as a sacrifice. The challenges and levels would only get harder and more unique as the game progressed. We shall explore these in the next blog. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Remaking an Icon, Maui Mallard, part 1

Every few years, almost a decade really, the executives at Disney have a crisis on their hands. They discover that their mascot characters are no longer as relevant with audiences as they once were. They put their heads together and try to find ways to reconnect the Disney "brand" with the next generation. Of course they never bother to admit to themselves that they were responsible for causing audiences to grow apart from the mascots in the first place. You see it's tough to keep characters that were born before the Great Depression completely in tune with audiences. The villainous Pegleg Pete, and heroic Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse were almost 90-years-old. The rest of the "Fab Five" Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Goofy were created in time to pull the USA and the rest of the world out of that Great Depression. The generation born during that time became lifelong fans. They learned to smile and laugh even when things weren't so great economically or domestically. As they got older the Disney mascots were there to entertain them. From the first cartoons with sound to the first use of multi-plane cameras the mascots evolved with pop culture. Every following generation grew up with the mascots as well. Cartoons, comic strips and comic books remained a steady way for Disney to remain connected with audiences.

At some point, a few years after Walt Disney passed away, the executives began looking for ways to "leverage" their "IP" and get a maximum return of profit on the minimum amount of work. The mascots sold well in toy stores and theme parks so management did not see a need to keep publishing comics and cartoons. Little by little they began dismantling animation wings and publishing houses. Over the next few decades they let licenses expire and made it difficult for die-hard mascot fans to find anything with the characters in it aside from merchandise. Only the Europeans, and specifically the Italians, never lost the connection to the Disney comics.

You would be hard pressed to find an Italian fan that did not know their Disney icons. Every major and obscure character that has ever existed in the Disney universe still enjoyed exposure in the pages of the Topolino comic books. Moreover the Topolino comics were constantly finding new ways of keeping the classic characters new and unique. In the US this was not the case. As comic books and cartoons began waning in popularity the Disney management looked for reason to cut off those branches of the company. Of course without those comics and cartoons the company found it hard to keep the characters relevant.

It the early days of the company fans flocked to everything with the name Mickey Mouse on it. He was a fresh character that was mischievous and fun-loving. Songs mentioning the character became chart-busters in the early days of radio. Each of Mickey's friends became memorable in their own right as well. Yet the executives and marketing people were worried that the changing landscape of pop culture was making the mascots forgettable. They tried to fight the trend by following the trend. Mickey was and always would be an icon but every few years somebody at the company would convince management that dressing up a character in period-era clothes was the way to reconnect him to the public. The only thing that it did was instantly date the character. Pop music releases featuring the mascots became a feeble attempt at updating fan-favorite characters.

Pop culture was constantly changing. By the time Disney caught a trend then it had usually passed. Thanks to social media today the company could respond faster to trends than ever before. There was a flipside however, social media also helped trends die out faster For example featuring Donald Duck as the "Original Angry Bird" on a tee shirt was witty a few years ago but today was a tired joke. The stack of unsold Donald shirts in the theme park stores demonstrated how conscious the consumers were when it came to rehashing an old joke.

There was something more pressing that the Disney executives became aware of through the '80s. The video game market was growing fast. In fact it was growing exponentially faster than theme parks or animation. For the first time in the 20th century characters like Pac Man, Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog meant more than the Disney mascots to audiences. Millions and billions of dollars were being made by the gaming industry and Disney was missing a cut of the profit. The executives knew that they would have to begin releasing games as well. At first there were just licensed games based on popular movies and television shows. Some were well done but most were middle-of-the-road experiences. The gaming audience wanted something more than a sanitized mascot prancing around a simplistic title. As the market evolved the executives learned that the best selling titles were original franchises and Disney would have to make a serious effort to get in the market or be left behind.

Mickey Mouse was the biggest cartoon star in the world and his appearance in Sega's Castle of Illusion in 1990 gave many reason to think that Disney was finally in the market. The rumors were that Sega would use Mickey as the mascot character for the Genesis / Mega Drive platform. It would certainly have humbled Nintendo's Mario. Of course that would not be the case. Sonic the Hedgehog appeared soon after as Sega's official mascot. Disney had to recover and do so quickly. Of course being the largest entertainment company in the world meant that nothing they did was quick. They evaluated and re-evaluated their position and decided the best course of action. Mickey Mouse was the crown jewel and failing to live up to the audience expectation for a Triple-A title was out of the question. They looked elsewhere and found a way to introduce a new character into canon that audiences would accept. When Disney went in with this new character they went "all in." It was understood that this would become a franchise character.

Maui Mallard was created as an alternate version of Donald Duck, similar to the spy Double Duck or super agent Paperinik. Unlike the aliases created by European comic book artists Maui was created by Disney Interactive (DI) in the USA. After all, the Disney artists and animators working in the US were very familiar with the duck template from the DuckTales and Darkwing Duck cartoons. Maui was designed to be the console mascot for the parent company. Released in 1995 the game Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow was an attempt at taking DI away from the licensed titles and into completely original IP. It was a bold move and something that the parent company was not used to doing, especially in gaming or with the mascots.

Donald had already played second-fiddle to Mickey in Sega’s 1992 classic World of Illusion. He had a starring role in the 1995 Japanese release and decidedly kid-friendly Donald Duck Mahou no Boushi (Donald Duck in the Magic Cap). The earlier game was of course a landmark title and the second rarely known to even the most die-hard Disney enthusiasts. Both highlighted a trend from Disney. The games all played the gaming formula very safe and that had sterilized the reputation of the company and the characters among gamers.

In order to appeal to die-hard gamers and set itself apart from typical kid-friendly Disney fare Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow had to meet the best and most original games of that era. In order to be taken seriously as a game publisher Disney had to break from tradition and push the envelope considerably. This was new ground that the company was treading on so you can imagine that there was some pressure to perform. Aside from being a soft-boiled detective (sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun) Maui had a special ability, he possessed the spirits of hundreds of warriors and could become a ninja duck known as Cold Shadow.

The Maui and Cold Shadow art featured above was done by the legendary Drew Struzan. Disney had nothing but big plans for the character and it was obvious when they commissioned the artist responsible for the Indiana Jones and Star Wars posters to create a promotional piece for Maui Mallard. Failure would not be an option for the developers. Yet having a well designed cartoon character was a world away from creating a great game. In order to be the best the team at Disney Interactive had to beat the best.

From a design standpoint Maui Mallard was a response to Earthworm Jim. Many consider Earthworm Jim as the undisputed king of animated 2D titles. In character and level design, gameplay mechanics, themes, story, music and originality Maui Mallard met all of the benchmarks laid out in Earthworm Jim. Yet it was not enough to show that Disney could follow in producer Dave Perry and developer Shiny’s footsteps. For some gamers the house of Mouse was pandering to the audience, making a “me too” title filled with odd animated antics and characters that were very much unlike the traditional characters. Many members of the team that developed the game said they had nothing but great memories from it. Despite having worked on dozens of other projects after Maui Mallard they said that no other group was tighter. Almost 20 years after the game was published many of the team members remained friends! It was a magical experience behind the scenes and I would argue that a lot of that magic made its way to the screen.

Maui Mallard and Cold Shadow had all of the insight that the Italian storytellers and artists had used to redesign comic and cartoon icons for the modern audience. The core personality of Maui retained the temperament and strong will of Donald Duck but without being a carbon copy. Maui was a seasoned detective. His internal monologue was written in the game manual and he thought and acted very different to the classic Donald character. This Mallard was perhaps a distant relative of Donald considering how unique he spoke and acted. The addition of martial arts prowess through Cold Shadow made the character even more intriguing, yet not disrespectful of the classic character.

Despite all of the hard work by Disney Interactive none of the great elements were remembered by audiences. This was for a variety of reasons but none because the game was bad. Behind the scenes the game was mired by second guesses from marketing types and last-minute changes from people lacking any creative insight. Disney Interactive, just like the main company, was filled with pools of talented people but they were not allowed to act independently and create their own original titles. They had to wait for projects to pass down from marketing types. Audiences and the market had shifted quickly by the time the game had finally arrived. The 16-bit consoles, including the Genesis and Super Nintendo had the largest installed base but the 32-bit platforms from Sony and Sega had also just debuted. Disney had to make the call to scrub the project and make a 3D game with an inexperienced team or stick to what was tried-and-true and release it on the older consoles. Because of the slow decision making process at Disney Maui Mallard debuted years after Earthworm Jim. The peak of 16-bit gaming would be reached and forgotten.

Audiences were gravitating towards groundbreaking 3D mechanics like those featured in NiGHTS into dreams… or mature themes like those featured in Twisted Metal respectively on the new Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation consoles. Donald Duck and Disney Interactive would find it difficult to compete against the new breed of mascots and games. The N64 was just around the corner and would be yet another nail in the coffin for Maui Mallard. The game would be forgotten before it gained and sort of critical attention. Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow was one of the few examples of Disney taking a creative risk on an original idea and allowing a team the leeway to explore their vision through to completion. Bad timing on the genre, format and market undid Maui Mallard rather than content. This blog will introduce the game to audiences and show the reader why this game deserved a second look. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!