Does anyone remember the game Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow (called Donald Duck in Maui Mallard in Europe)?
I consider this game a hidden gem that not many people seem to know about. It's a 2D platformer that takes place in a really unique tropical Polynesian island setting. It stars a character named Maui Mallard, who appears to be Donald Duck "acting" in the role of this character. He's a detective with a gun that shoot bugs as ammo and can transform into a ninja named Cold Shadow. You investigate a case of a magical idol that has gone missing, and the island will be destroyed if it's not returned.
It was a really interesting game with some compelling level design. It does have some flaws, such as the controls being somewhat stiff and tricky to get a handle on. But the game has a distinct feeling of classic 80s or 90s Eisner-era Disney Afternoon quality to it. The tropical island is a great setting with great atmosphere (voodoo, haunted mansions, sunken pirate ships, tropical jungles, volcanoes, bayous and tiki villages. In addition, while colorful and cartoonish, the game is dark and even disturbing at times, especially the final few levels that have some surprisingly creepy and intense segments for the intended audience.
I grew up with this game, and I recommend it as a hidden gem for people into that era of 16 bit retro gaming and Disney. It was released on the Sega Mega Drive in Europe originally, and later brought over to the Super Nintendo and PC. The PC version is an exact conversion of the Sega version, but with high quality music recorded with real instruments. The SNES version is very similar and adapts most of the level design from the Sega version, but some of the levels are actually very different. I'd actually recommend playing both, I grew up with the PC version but have grown partial to the SNES version. But they're both unique enough to have their pros and cons over one another. Avoid the Gameboy version though.
I really love the art in this game. I think it could have made a really interesting Disney Afternoon cartoon series. Some of the original character designs are really cool. I used some of the art here to practice image editing.
