Wii U eShop Spotlight – Duck Hunt
Who did it?
Nintendo R&D1 and intelligent systems.
What is the premise?
You originally used the NES Zapper to film 8-bit ducks on your CRT TV as they run away from your dog.
It’s been a bundled game for many NES consoles, and will get some callbacks in Wii Play’s pointer-based shooting minigames – and the dog and duck duo will appear in Smash Ultimate, of course – but Duck Hunt has officially been re-elected. – only released once on non-8-bit hardware, for reasons we’ll explore below.
Why should you play it?
Because outside of OG NES/Famicom hardware connected to a CRT TV, this is the only official way to play it. The NES Zapper only paired with a CRT screen and does not work on modern displays.
On the Wii U release, the VC Duck Hunt is converted to work with the Wii Remote’s pointer, with a cursor displayed to assist in aiming. Of course, this is a trade-off – the always-visible cursor makes shooting ducks much easier than it was with the Zapper – but for a game that is not only otherwise “stuck” on original hardware, but also relies on display technology that the vast majority of gamers no longer have access, this edition is for many the easiest way to play Duck Hunt in the 21st century.
How much does it cost?
$4.99 / £3.49 / €4.99.
We’ll be back soon with another 3DS or Wii U eShop recommendation as part of This episode is “Countdown”. Let us know below if you already have this in your collection and share your thoughts.
