Vs. Duck Hunt (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Nintendo's 1985 light-gun arcade game, Vs. Duck Hunt.

The game has no ending, so I played until I got a game over on Round 13.

What kid in the late 80s didn't dream of being able to shoot the dog in Duck Hunt? His smug face just begged to be rearranged with a piping hot serving of lead, if for no other reason than to permanently silence that infuriating laugh.

Or maybe I'm just a bit off-kilter. But I'd be willing to bet that I'm not the only one.

But more to the point, it was completely possible to shoot that damned mutt, though you would've never experienced the joy of doing so unless you played Vs. Duck Hunt. Originally appearing in arcades in 1984 (Japan)/1985 (America), its US release actually led the American launch of the NES by about five months. It was also featured in Nintendo's famous line of candy red Playchoice-10 arcade machines.

Well, alright. You could shoot the dog in Barker Bill's Trick Shooting on the NES (see it here:    • Barker Bill's Trick Shooting (NES) Pl...   ), but really, most of us didn't play that back in the day. Duck Hunt came with the console, but how many people knew about, let alone rented or bought, Barker Bill?

Vs. Duck Hunt's basic gameplay is the pretty much the same as what you'll find in the NES version. I mean, it's Duck Hunt. What else are you going to do but shoot at ducks with a light gun? There are a few neat differences that would've been cool to see at home, though.

Instead of giving you the option to shoot at ducks or clay pigeons, the game alternates between them. You play a duck stage and a clay pigeon stage, a bonus round, and then play another duck stage, followed by another clay pigeon stage, topped off with yet another bonus round. Each second time through this three stage game loop, you'll get to see an amusing cutscene featuring the dog chasing the duck. (Until the duck turns the tables, that is!). Everything then repeats at a slightly harder level of difficulty, and will continue to do so until you get a game over.

You might only be able to shoot the dog in the bonus stages, but for all of us that cut our gaming teeth on the NES, it's every bit as cathartic as you'd imagined it to be.

If you'd like to see the NES version, you can find my recording of it here:    • Duck Hunt (NES) Playthrough - Nintend...  
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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