Donald Duck Quack Attack - Hands-On

Donald Duck, easily the most interesting and realistic of Disney's cartoon characters, has to rescue his love interest from a villainous wizard in Ubi Soft's new platformer, Donald Duck Quack Attack. Instead of a health meter, Donald's got his explosive temper - get him too irritated and he blows his top, and you've got to start that level again.

The first thing you'll notice when you sit down to play Donald Duck Quack Attack is simply how nice it looks. The game runs on an enhanced version of the Rayman 2 engine and has some fairly solid graphics at this point. The levels are actually more reminiscent of Crash Bandicoot or Super Magnetic Neo, as they are slim and long and don't really let you do a whole lot of exploring. Ubi Soft probably designed the game this way because of the game's young audience - so younger players won't get lost in a huge 3D world.

Donald must make his way through each level by jumping over dangerous objects and dealing with enemies. He's got two standard attacks - he can dispose of enemies either by jumping on top of them or by delivering a swift kick into their midsection. At this point in the game Donald has no long-range attacks, and his kick needs a lot of work, as sometimes it simply fails to connect with enemies. I had the best results when I simply stuck to having Donald jump on things. As you progress through the levels, you'll have to avoid pitfalls and other dangerous objects, collect various power-ups including magical storybooks and hidden teddy bears, and deal with some rather ridiculous enemies.

Although it's a bit simplistic, Donald Duck Quack Attack seems to be a pretty solid platformer. If the final game looks as good as Rayman 2 and plays like Crash Bandicoot, Ubi Soft will definitely have a hit on its hands.