Game is okay. No one likes the dog.
Most people who played Duck Hunt likely did so because it came as a pack-in title along with Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was created as a showcase for the Zapper, the console’s light gun peripheral. You are an unnamed hunter who is out for a day of duck hunting with your less than faithful dog companion. He’ll help you out by jumping in the bushes to flush the ducks out, but enjoys laughing at you when you miss. The dog’s taunting made him the first game character many young players came to hate.
Duck Hunt features modes where you can try to shoot one duck before time runs out or two ducks before time runs out. There’s also a clay target mode where you have to try to shoot down two clay pigeons before they hit the ground. The Zapper does not grant perfect aim, but it’s easy to hit anything and everything in this game by basically putting the tip of the gun right up to the TV screen.
Ultimately, Duck Hunt is more important for being a pack-in with the NES (and everyone remembering how much they hate the dog) than a super high quality game on its own. It’s short and okay. Many better options for gun style gaming have come about since, particularly with the rise of motion controls thanks to Nintendo’s 2007 Wii console. The changeover from CRT televisions with curved screens to flat screen televisions and computer monitors also makes the Zapper’s style of light gun technology no longer work, so actually playing this game as the years go on is a challenge in and of itself.
