Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nostalgia Factor:
As a kid, my experience with Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was probably similar to many kids across the USA. I rented it from Blockbuster. I played it. I beat it. I thought: "oh okay. That was a decent game." I took it back to Blockbuster. And then I moved on with my life and never played the game again. Honestly, I haven't given the game much thought since.
Over 30 years have now passed since I last played this game. I don't remember much aside from the fact that I know I played it and I know I beat it. I can vaguely recall the game being pretty short and pretty easy, but that's about all I remember about the game itself.
What I do remember about the game is that on the weekend I rented it, our family finally got a cat: Misty. That's my main memory regarding this game: I associate it with the day we got our cat. That's probably why I don't remember much about the game itself. It was overshadowed by a fairly large event taking place in the life of a ten year old.
Since I have been having such a hard time remembering the game, I've been wanting to come back and play it again. I'm in between longer games at the moment, so I figured this would be a good chance to hop in and play through something short and quick. So that's what I did.
And here is my review.
Story:
The events of the game play out like an episode of the cartoon series. Chip and Dale, along with help from their friends, go looking for a missing kitten. Turns out this was just a distraction. The evil Fat Cat (the villain from the show) sneaks away with Gadget while our heroes are distracted. Chip and Dale must then rescue Gadget. After doing do, she builds a rocket that our heroes use to access the final three levels. At the end of the game, you defeat Fat Cat and save the day.
Gameplay:
This is a fairly standard 2D platformer. Controlling one of the Rescue Rangers, you must progress through a series of stages, most of which end with a boss battle. You can run and jump but there is no attack button. The main mechanic of the game involves picking up items and throwing them. You'll notice things like boxes and apples all over the place. Pick these items up and throw them to damage your enemies. You can't jump on their heads and, like I said, there is no attack button. You want to beat an enemy? You've gotta throw something at 'em.
The platforming action is very straightforward. This game doesn't get too fancy with an extensive skill set. The most challenging thing you'll experience is jumping over some bottomless pits. In some of the later stages, there are environmental hazards like rushing water and rolling boulders to avoid. Simply throw a box at a switch to turn them off.
Picking up boxes occasionally uncovers things like flowers and stars. After beating the game, I still don't understand the purpose of collecting these things. They didn't seem to do anything. They don't even contribute to a high score, as there is no points or scoring system in the game. The only items that seemed to do anything were the flashing acorns (which fill your health) and 1-ups.
Boss battles are the highlight of the game for me. They are all pretty much the same (pick up an item on the ground and throw it at the boss repeatedly), but I still liked them. The enemies are fairly creative looking, and they all have their own unique attack patterns.
The game is fairly easy. That's probably why I don't remember playing it when I was a kid. There's little challenge to be found here. The game is generous with its health items, 1-ups, and continues. There is little danger of running out of lives. If you do happen to die, the game is not very long - so it should not take you long to catch up to where you left off. There are even a few skippable levels which you can avoid on the overhead map when you are deciding which level to play next. If you look at the map below, you can skip B and E entirely. I played them all for this review, but if I was pressed for time or if I had died and was looking to catch up to where I left off, I would have skipped over those extra levels entirely.
Graphics:
There's not really anything about this game that stands out graphically, aside from some of the boss battles. Fat Cat looks pretty awesome, to be honest with you. Chip and Dale look good, too. But everything else is "just okay." Very basic and uninspired. It's certainly not the worst looking NES game I've ever seen, but it is certainly not the best either. It is completely middle of the road to me.
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Sound:
The 8-bit rendition of the Rescue Rangers theme song is pretty fun. Aside from that, there's not much to get excited about regarding this game's sound. The stage music can get repetitive. The "talking" noise you hear during cutscenes is painful to the ears.
Just like the game's graphics, its music and sound effects are pretty middle of the road, too.
Overall:
I'm glad I came back and played this game again. It's not great, but I didn't hate it either. It's a perfectly serviceable NES platformer. That said, if you aren't a Rescue Rangers fan and you don't really care about retro gaming, you will miss absolutely NOTHING if you choose to skip over this one. It's nowhere near as good as Ducktales or some of the other 80s/90s cartoon based video games. It's just very average.
This game does everything "okay." The graphics, the music, the gameplay, pretty much everything. I'm failing to think of one category where this game stands out from the crowd. No wonder I had such a hard time remembering it from when I was younger. That said, I still had fun playing it. I was leaning towards giving it a C because it is so average, but I think I'll go just a smidge higher than that, since it is so easy to pick up and play. The difference between this game earning a C+ instead of a C might be infinitesimal, but it is there. This is more enjoyable than a lot of games I've given a C before, so I think it deserves that distinction.
Will I ever come back to this game again? Hard to say. Probably not. But I know that if I do, I will be in store for a perfectly fun and enjoyable platformer that will keep me entertained for an hour or two. And I think that, coming from a game like this, that's really all you can ask for.
THE GRADE:
C+
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