 Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers Back in the 80s and early 90s, Capcom and Disney teamed up and made some good games for the ol’ NES. Most of these were promotional items to cartoon series shown in syndication on weekday afternoons, all of which would usually last two or three years before being canceled or ended. Some of the shows that got this treatment were Darkwing Duck, Duck Tales, TaleSpin, and the game that I’m going to talk about right now: Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers. It was a cartoon that I fell in love with when I watched it as a five-year-old kid back in 1991, and have not lost any fanatic fervor of since.
The graphics are what you’d expect from a Capcom game. They’re crisp, colorful and clear, and you can tell what the characters and enemies are supposed to be. Even the scenery of each level is well detailed, whether you’re brawling through a restaurant, a garden, or Fat Cat’s casino.
Of course, the game looks and sounds excellent, but how does it play? Actually, the game control is just right, especially since this is a game that was marketed towards gamers between the ages of seven and ten. You can pick up crates and throw them at enemies, but you can also hide under a crate to stop an enemy charging towards you as well. Jumping isn’t much of a chore in this game, and reaching ledges and platforms isn’t hard to do.
The game is pretty fun, and you might play it again just for that one or two stages that catch your eye. I liked the game a lot, since I played it as a little kid back in the 90s yet could never get past Zone I for some reason. Now I’ve beaten the game, and I can honestly say that I’ve had an enjoyable experience with this game. So if you need a Capcom/Disney game but don’t know where to look, or if you just want a game that you can spend some time with to relax from some of the harder games out there, you might want to get this game first.
English (Plot and Storyline): 3.00 (B) GPA (overall): 3.583 (A-)
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The plot is simple and typical of Disney’s late 80s/early 90s cartoon series, but it gets the job done. The Rescue Rangers get a distress call from a little girl who has lost her kitten and the Rescue Rangers, doing what they do best in small cases like this one, decide to search for the kitten. Unfortunately, the distress call was just a set-up for Fat Cat to kidnap Gadget, one of the members of the Rescue Rangers! Now it’s up to Chip and Dale to get her back and stop Fat Cat once and for all!
The music in the game not only sounds good, but is also well-detailed. Some of the songs, such as those for the first level and the boss fights, have that tinge of Disney zaniness in them. Other songs, such as those for the garden and the restaurant, sound good as well. The music from the last level sounds like it was originally made for a Mega Man game but later rejected.
The game is just about perfect, but there could have been a password system, since there are some points in the game that can be challenging for first-time gamers or younger kids; the number one offenders for this are the last level and the caterpillar boss. Remember, this is a Capcom game, so expect it to be a little challenging for a kids‘ game. Also, the game is a bit too short and there could have been two or three more levels added, but that is almost completely nullified by the fact that the obstacles in the game are a critical nod towards the TV show. There are many everyday objects in the game that become big obstacles in the path between you and Fat Cat, such as sharp cactus plants, frayed electrical wires, water taps, electric fans, and more. Even the stages themselves, such as an office room, a toy store, and a sewer are depicted as humongous compared to the size of the Rescue Rangers, which almost makes it feel like an episode of the TV show and makes it worth playing.