They can’t all be winners. I absolutely love the TaleSpin cartoon. It had a different flavor from the rest of the Disney afternoon lineup and was truly unique with its art deco design. Coming off the back of a string of successful Disney games it would be easy to assume that TaleSpin would be another hit. However a series of baffling design decisions keep it being the great game it should have been. There’s fun to be had if you stick with it but there are better alternatives.
Unlike its Sega and Turbo Grafx counterparts this NES game is an actual shooter. To an extent I can understand why those games are platformers. In the show the Sea Duck is infamous for its lack of any weapons and instead relies on Baloo’s expert piloting skills to avoid danger. Making a general shooter would almost seem like a betrayal of that theme. There were many ways to go about it but this is not the ideal. There is a significant amount of ramp up time before you can begin to enjoy the game. Whether you will stick around long enough to reach that point is another issue entirely.
TaleSpin turns a few shooter conventions on its head. You have a life bar for one, and can replenish health frequently throughout the levels. Colliding with objects causes no damage and in fact is often required to find secrets. You can still be crushed behind objects however. Unlike most shooters you can attack backwards by flipping your ship upside down. It’s a strange ability but one that comes in handy as the game scrolls in every direction.
For every convention it breaks there are few that were unnecessary. Initially the Sea Duck can only fire a single shot. The bullet must disappear before you can let off another shot. If that sounds ridiculous it is. This is a slower paced shooter but it is still an incredibly stupid design choice that hurts the early parts of the game.
The main goal of every level is to collect as much cargo and extra points as possible to earn more cash. This currency is used in the shop between levels to buy upgrades. You can extend the life bar, buy a speed boost, and even purchase extra lives and continues. These items are permanent but prohibitively expensive. Some of these upgrades are critical: there are two rapid fire upgrades, one that enables two shots and another for as many as you like. Both of these upgrades are expensive and will require a few levels to purchase. Their impact is immediate and while satisfying I question why the game wasn’t designed like this from the beginning. You shouldn’t have to wait until the latter half of the game for it to feel like the shooter it was meant to be.
This creates an odd sense of pacing within the game. The early stages are a bit brutal in their difficulty. That single shot is a detriment and if it misses you are more or less screwed. The Construction level boss in particular is a nightmare for so early on. Once you’ve upgraded your ship the game becomes incredibly easy. It makes me think it was designed this way to bolster its already short length. It’s a shame; once you have a few upgrades TaleSpin is generally enjoyable, with plenty of secrets to find and good level design. But you can feel the lack of passion for the project overall.
Capcom generally did an excellent job mimicking the look of each Disney show in their games. In this regard they fall far short. TaleSpin was essentially a period piece set in the 1930s and influenced by the art deco period. It was visually distinct from its contemporaries but sadly you won’t find any of that here. Most of the game is comprised of single flat color backgrounds lacking in any detail. Rather than the interesting locations the show would visit the game opts for the standard tropes such as a jungle, icy mountaintop, and a haunted mansion (?). There are occasional flashes of brilliance such as the few large bosses but none that redeem the presentation.
In Closing
TaleSpin should have been great. All the elements are there but the fact that you have to wait until midway through to really enjoy it kills it. Sometimes being different just for the sake of it is a bad thing. In this case it makes TaleSpin an average game.
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