Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (video game)
A cooperative platformer based on the Disney animated series.
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers is a platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System, based on the Disney animated series of the same name. Released in North America and Japan in 1990 and in Europe in 1991, it sold approximately 1.2 million copies worldwide. The game was later included in The Disney Afternoon Collection compilation for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in April 2017.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Capcom
- Publisher
- Capcom; Nintendo (arcade)
- Producer
- Tokuro Fujiwara; Darlene Waddington
- Designer
- Masayoshi Kurokawa
- Artist
- Keiji Inafune
- Composer
- Harumi Fujita
- Genre
- Platform
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
In this game, one or two players guide Chip and Dale through side-scrolling stages chosen from a city map. The chipmunks can walk, jump, duck, and hurl found objects like acorns, crates, barrels, and balls at foes and bosses. Each character survives only three hits before losing a life, with no password system. In cooperative play, the first controller handles Chip and the second controls Dale. Other Rescue Rangers lend a hand: Monterey Jack smashes certain barriers, Zipper bestows brief invincibility, and the captive Gadget offers stage-by-stage advice.
Plot
The Rescue Rangers set out to retrieve a missing kitten for a girl named Mandy. Gadget scouts ahead while Monterey Jack and Zipper investigate sightings of mechanical dogs. Chip and Dale proceed through streets and a laboratory, where they defeat a crazed robot. Fat Cat then reveals the kitten was a distraction to kidnap Gadget and force her to work for him. Gadget builds a wireless phone and sends a map via carrier pigeon, guiding the chipmunks through treacherous terrain to Fat Cat's casino. After rescuing her, Gadget provides a rocket that takes them to Fat Cat's hideout for the final confrontation.
Development
Rescue Rangers was Capcom's second Disney-developed game after 1989's DuckTales, produced by Tokuro Fujiwara, who had worked on Ghosts'n Goblins. Disney game producer Darlene Lacey described it as one of the least troublesome Capcom projects for meeting family-friendly ethics standards, with few changes during development. The Japanese and European versions fix minor graphical glitches in the opening cutscene seen in the North American release. A leaked prototype cartridge shows that at one point the player needed only half as many flowers and stars for extra lives, though the original amounts remained in the North American manual.
Reception
Rescue Rangers was a commercial success, selling about 1.2 million copies and becoming Capcom's fourth highest-selling NES game. Electronic Gaming Monthly praised its graphics, gameplay, two-player option, and cartoon visuals, but criticized its lack of difficulty, stating it ended too quickly. European Mean Machines called it tough and enjoyable, highlighting the speed and challenge. The game received the Parents' Choice Foundation's 1990 Parents' Choice Award. Nintendo Power ranked it 79th in their 1997 list of the top 100 greatest Nintendo games, noting Capcom's reputation for superior play control and graphics. In 2009, IGN placed it 71st on their list of the 100 greatest NES games, calling it an addictive platforming masterpiece. GamesRadar ranked it sixth among the seven best Disney games, saying it was still worth playing nearly 20 years later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (video game)?
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was designed by Masayoshi Kurokawa.
Who composed the music for Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (video game)?
The music for Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was composed by Harumi Fujita.
More in Capcom Games of the 1990s
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