Fire Emblem Video Games Codexery

Duck Hunt

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The game became a major commercial success with over 28 million copies sold worldwide.[1] Released in 1984, the light gun shooter Duck Hunt was created and distributed by Nintendo for the NES console.[2]

Making and release

The game was inspired by a 1976 electronic toy version titled Beam Gun: Duck Hunt, designed by Gunpei Yokoi and Masayuki Uemura.[3] The music was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka.[4] The NES Zapper and the NES edition of Duck Hunt were both created by Nintendo Research & Development 1.[3] Takehiro Izushi acted as supervisor for the game, and Gunpei Yokoi served as its producer.[5]

Duck Hunt was sold as a standalone title and also appeared in multi-game ROM cartridges; for instance, the Action Set bundle paired it with Super Mario Bros. on one cartridge.[6]

What the cited sources add

The Zapper works by briefly flashing a black screen with a large white targeting box drawn over valid targets like the ducks.[7] Without the specific timing provided by a CRT, Duck Hunt will not work.[7] The Retro and Contemporary Gaming Archives account notes that the player's dog scares ducks out of the swamp, causing them to fly about.[8] As rounds progress, ducks fly faster and fewer misses are allowed.[8]

The same source states that Mode C features target practice on clay pigeons rather than ducks.[8] Duck Hunt has a kill screen: if the player exceeds 99 rounds, the 100th round shows glitched duck sprites and the targeting algorithm fails, making progress impossible.[8] The Zapper's detection algorithm uses the CRT display's line-by-line refresh to achieve hit detection within 500 milliseconds.[7]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Duck Hunt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Adlum, "The Replay Years: Reflections from Eddie Adlum", November 1985, p. 134-175 (170-1); "Duck Hunt Overview", Allgame; "Duck Hunt", GameSpot; "Nintendo Duck Hunt (1976)" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Duck Hunt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fitzpatrick, "How the Nintendo NES Zapper Worked, and Why It Doesn't Work On HDTVs", www.howtogeek.com, October 6, 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Duck Hunt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kohler, "Video: 1976 Duck Hunt", Wired, February 27, 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Duck Hunt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Discography", Sporadic Vacuum; "The Ground Breaking Video Games Live Hits UK Shores", Video Games Live; "Duck Hunt: Primal Pleasure", Nintendo Classics, 14 January 2021; "We Were Drawing Pixel Art With A Famicom Controller", Famicom Disk System: The More You Play It, the More You'll Want to Play! [Disk 1]; Bevan, "100 Nintendo Games to Play Before You Die – Nintendo Consoles Edition", Future plc, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Duck Hunt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pioneers of the Renaissance", N-Sider (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Duck Hunt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt", Console Classix (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Fitzpatrick, "How the Nintendo NES Zapper Worked, and Why It Doesn't Work On HDTVs", www.howtogeek.com, October 6, 2018. facts only, no text reused. howtogeek.com
  8. "Top 100 NES/Famicom Games List #100-90", Retro and Contemporary Gaming Archives, August 17, 2011. facts only, no text reused. satoshimatrix.wordpress.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Duck Hunt (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Mario Bros., Video game

Also in the Codexery

Duck Hunt · Fire Emblem

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was "Duck Hunt" first released?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1984.

2. Who directed "Duck Hunt"?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Shigeru Miyamoto.

3. Which company published "Duck Hunt"?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Nintendo.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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