Disney's TaleSpin (NES) Playthrough

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Published on November 10, 2023 7:22:02 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDIMrRbD_nM

Game:

TaleSpin (1991)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 35:12

3,991 views

162

A playthrough of Capcom's 1991 license-based action game for the NES, Disney's TaleSpin.

Disney's TaleSpin, the popular The Jungle Book spin-off cartoon that played during The Disney Channel's afternoon block, saw the release of five official video game adaptations in the early 1990s. This, Capcom's NES game, was the first, and the rest followed on the Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy (https://youtu.be/JYWtbLMqdE4), and TurboGrafx-16 (https://youtu.be/6PA-XHesgHQ) throughout 1991 and 1992.

Baloo is a bush pilot who flies for a small cargo hauling business based in the city of Cape Suzette. Rebecca Cunningham, his boss, has assigned him several jobs in and around the city, but Don Karnage and his band of air pirates are prepared to do everything in their power to stop him.

Joined by his orphan sidekick Kit, Baloo must successfully navigate the Sea Duck through eight stages of unfriendly skies in this family-friendly 8-bit shoot 'em up.

The game's main gameplay gimmick lies in how you can freely reverse the direction the screen autoscrolls in by flipping the plane upside down, allowing Baloo to backtrack for missed items and to ease the difficulty of flying through narrow passages.

The Sea Duck starts off weak, but Wildcat, Rebecca's mechanic, can upgrade the plane's maneuverability and firepower if Baloo collects enough cargo and cash strewn throughout the levels.

The NES game is the best game to carry the TaleSpin license, but it's often viewed as a rare misfire in Capcom's Disney line-up. Given that it was following behind such classics as DuckTales (https://youtu.be/sKyspid6bNE), Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (https://youtu.be/k5E_c4hI83k), and The Little Mermaid (https://youtu.be/jZKposx2gFM), expectations were high, and while it's not a bad game, it was a disappointing one.

The biggest problem is that the game doesn't do enough with its license. The stage and enemy designs are lifeless and generic, there's little attempt made to establish any sort of overarching plot, and the graphics and sound aren't up to Capcom's usual standard.

The plodding pace of the gameplay doesn’t help matters much, either. The Sea Duck is pathetically underpowered at the beginning, and even once you've bought a few upgrades, the action still feels awkward and slow despite the game generally being too easy.

TaleSpin is fun once you get a handle on the controls, but it lacks the substance, the polish, the attention to detail, and the charm of Capcom's better Disney games.
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