____ __ __ __ __
/ __ \__ _______/ /__ / / / /_ ______ / /_
/ / / / / / / ___/ //_/ / /_/ / / / / __ \/ __/
/ /_/ / /_/ / /__/ ,< / __ / /_/ / / / / /_
/_____/\__,_/\___/_/|_| /_/ /_/\__,_/_/ /_/\__/
==================================================
===============================================================================
Duck Hunt (NES)
FAQ
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 1.00
Last Updated: 14 July 2013
Author: Ryan Harrison
Email: rjhgamefaqs[at]gmail.com
This document is Copyright (C)2013-2014 Ryan Harrison. All rights reserved.
===============================================================================
Version History
---------------
Version 1.00 | 14 July 2013
* The first, complete posted version of this FAQ.
===============================================================================
Table of Contents
===============================================================================
NAVIGATING THIS FAQ: For ease of browsing through this FAQ, all major sections
have a search code listed on the right-hand side of the ToC. Press Ctrl + F on
your keyboard and this will bring up a search box in your web browser. Type or
copy in the search code for the section you wish to navigate to, press Enter,
and this will take you to the beginning of that section.
---------------------------------------
i. Introduction
1. STORY ....................................................... [0100]
2. GAME OVERVIEW ............................................... [0200]
2.1. Controls .............................................. [0201]
2.2. Basics ................................................ [0202]
3. CHEATS ...................................................... [0300]
ii. Credits
iii. Legal Disclaimer/Contacting Me
===============================================================================
i. Introduction
===============================================================================
Hello and welcome to my FAQ for Duck Hunt on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
For this very simple but enjoyable Light Gun game, this FAQ will include all
information and basics to know and understand about playing this game.
Originally first released in arcades in 1984, Duck Hunt was ported over to the
NES as part of the Black Box launch title series in the mid-80s and is pretty
much the ideal game to own if you have an NES Zapper. It can also be found as
part of a multi-game cart that comes with the classic Super Mario Bros. game as
well. A simple game yet good to take a few minutes off your hands, if you have
by any chance not given this one a try, for little more than a pittance it is
very much worth buying a copy and checking out!
===============================================================================
1. STORY [0100]
===============================================================================
This fast action target game takes you into the marshes with your trusted
hunting dog at your side. He'll flush out your prey, then it's split second
timing and sharp shooting accuracy to bag these ducks. Take on one duck or two
at a time, and then as a true test of marksmanship, try clay shooting -- the
ultimate challenge!
===============================================================================
2. GAME OVERVIEW [0200]
===============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1. Controls [0201]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: To play this game, an NES Controller is required to be plugged into Port
1 of your NES system, and the NES Zapper must be plugged into Port 2.
NES Controller
--------------
D-Pad: Control movement of ducks in Game A mode
Select: Move the cursor on the title screen to select between game types
Start: Begin highlighted game from the title screen
Pause the game during play; resume when paused
NES Zapper
----------
Trigger: Shoot
Choose between game types on the title screen (must have Zapper
pointing away from televison)
Begin highlighted game from the title screen (must have Zapper
pointing at television)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2. Basics [0202]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
o--------------o
| Title Screen |
o--------------o
Upon starting up the game, you will be taken to the Title Screen, on which you
will see the game logo, and three different game types to choose from. Here is
what it looks like, and a quick overview of the three main modes:
+------------------------------------------------------+
| ______ ___ _ ____ ___ __ |
| | _ `. | | | | ,` _ `. | |/ | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |_| | ` < |
| | |_| | | |_| | | | _ | |`. | |
| | | | | | `-' | | | | | |
| |______,' `._____,' `,____,' |___| |_| |
| _______________________________________________ |
| ----------------------------------------------- |
| ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ _______ |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |_ _| |
| | |_| | | | | | | `' | | | |
| | _ | | |_| | | . | | | |
| | | | | | | | |`. | | | |
| |___| |_| `._____,' |___| |_| |___| |
| |
| |
| -> G A M E A 1 D U C K |
| |
| G A M E B 2 D U C K S |
| |
| G A M E C C L A Y S H O O T I N G |
| |
| |
| T O P S C O R E = 1 2 0 0 0 |
| |
| (C)1 9 8 4 N I N T E N D O C O .,L T D. |
| |
+------------------------------------------------------+
GAME A - 1 DUCK: The original Duck Hunt game, in which you and your dog take to
the thicket. The dog flushes out one duck at a time and you
have three shots with which to hit the duck. Ten ducks are
flushed out and the aim is to shoot down the amount needed as
shown by the bar underneath the 'HIT' meter in order to
advance through the round. As you get further on, the amount
of ducks required to be shot gradually increases, and ducks of
different colours will also begin flying out that can award
you with various amounts of points when you shoot them.
GAME B - 2 DUCKS: This is the same as Game A, however this time round, while
you still have ten ducks per round, two will be flushed out
at a time, therefore there are five parts to a round. You
still also only get three shots, so you can only make one
miss for every two ducks flushed out, if you are aiming for
that perfect score.
GAME C - CLAY SHOOTING: In this mode, you start out in an open field and in
each part of the round, you will hear two beeps before
two clay pigeons are fired out into the distance. With
a maximum allowance of three shots per two clay pigeons
fired, you simply have to try and shoot them down, and
by surpassing the amount required as indicated by the
bar underneath the 'HIT' meter, you progress onto the
next round.
TOP SCORE = XXXXXX: This is the top score that has been achieved in the
highlighted game type, in your current sitting of Duck Hunt
(i.e. since you have had the game switched on). The default
is 12000 for all three game types.
o------------------o
| General Gameplay |
o------------------o
Game A/Game B - Duck Hunting
----------------------------
Upon starting this mode, the scene begins with your canine companion leaping
into the thicket and flushing out the ducks. In Game A mode, one duck will fly
out at a time, whereas in Game B two ducks fly out. For each set of one or two
ducks that fly out, you will have a few seconds to shoot them with the use of
the Zapper Gun. You get a total of three shots per set of ducks. If you fail to
hit any ducks with your three shots, or wait too long, the background will
change colour and the message 'FLY AWAY' pops up on-screen as the ducks will
escape to freedom. The dog then pops up and laughs comically at you for your
inept shooting skills.
When a duck appears, it flies around the screen. The patterns are random, yet
the colour of the duck usually indicates how easy it is to shoot down. Black
ducks, the most common, usually fly left and right slowly, occasionally going
up and down. Blue ducks tend to fly up, down, left and right as well as
changing directions more often and much quicker. Red ducks are the trickiest to
get; they tend to move around in quick diagonal spurts and often fly behind the
tree and bush to make aiming for them more difficult.
At the bottom of the screen is the 'HIT' meter. For every duck you successfully
shoot, one of the duck icons will be filled in red, while any that are missed
or fly way due to taking too long to shoot, remain white. After ten ducks have
been flushed out, the round finishes and if you have shot enough ducks to go
past the Pass Line (shown underneath the duck icons at the bottom) you win the
round and go onto the next one. As you beat more and more rounds, the amount of
ducks needed to be shot down increases. This will start at 6, but eventually
after getting so far you will need to hit all 10 ducks to win a round.
Game C - Clay Shooting
----------------------
When this mode starts, you will hear two beeps. Two clay pigeons will then
spring out towards the distance. Quickly aim carefully and shoot for them. Much
like the A and B game modes, 10 clay pigeons are sprung out in total per round,
with two being fired at a single time (i.e. five sets of two clay pigeons being
fired). Again, you must shoot the reqired amount to meet or exceed the Pass
Line, shown beneath the 'HIT' meter at the bottom of the screen. Clay pigeons
that are successfully blasted out of the sky will have an icon coloured in red
at the bottom of the screen.
Remember, clay pigeons get smaller and trickier to hit as they fly off further
into the distance. Try to be as quick as you can when you shoot for them. The
ideal way of doing this would be to hold the Zapper in your dominant hand, and
hold it in front of your eye on the same side while keeping your other eye
closed (e.g. for right-handed people, hold the Zapper in your right hand, close
your left eye and hold the Zapper out directly in front of your right eye).
Line the small raised part at the end of the Zapper barrel so that it appears
directly between the two raised parts that are at the back of the Zapper. You
should line the front ridge at the same height and angle as the clay pigeon,
and by pulling the trigger, you should nail it.
o-------------o
| Game Screen |
o-------------o
Here's what you'll see on the screen, and what each thing means:
Game A/Game B
-------------
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| ____ |
| / \ |
| \____/ |
| \| ____ |
| _| / \ |
| | \____/ |
| /|___/ |
| ___/ \ |
| / \---' _____ |
| \___/|/ / \ |
| `\ || \_____/ |
| \|| .' |
| ||| ,' ` |
| |||,' ,--. |
| ||| ) `. |
| ||| | | |
| ||||\ | | |
|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|
| |
| |
|``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````|
| |
| [R=X] |
| |
| .-----. .-------------------------. .------. |
| |@ @ @| |HIT 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2| |000000| |
| | SHOT| | ||||||||||| | | SCORE| |
| '-----' '-------------------------' '------' |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Game C
------
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| ,`-. , |
| ,-' `,,`. , ' `, |
| / ` , ' `, ,`'-,_ |
| ,-` `--` `,_,` `,_ |
| ,-` `. `,_.|
|,-`` `. |
|__________________________________________________________|
|==========================================================|
| # # # # # # # # # # # |
| # # # # # # ' ' ' ' ' |
| | | | ' | | |
|_____________ _____________|
| [R=X] \______________________________/ |
| |
| .-----. .-------------------------. .------. |
| |@ @ @| |HIT O O O O O O O O O O| |000000| |
| | SHOT| | ||||||||||| | | SCORE| |
| '-----' '-------------------------' '------' |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Round ([R=X]): Seen at the lower-left corner of the screen above the Remaining
Shots box. The round in which you are currently playing (denoted
by X in this example) appears to the right of the letter 'R'
(which as you'd guess, stands for 'ROUND'. This starts at 1 and
goes up by one every time you successfully beat a round (i.e.
shoot the amount of ducks/clay pigeons required).
Remaining Shots ( @@@): The amount of bullets you have remaining to shoot down
(SHOT) the set of ducks/clay pigeons. You get three for every
set that appears, meaning you can afford to miss up to
twice in Game A, or once in Game B and Game C modes.
Hit/Pass Meter (HIT ##########): Shown in the bottom centre of the screen. Any
( |||||| ) ducks or clay pigeons successfully shot will
have one of the ten icons coloured in red,
while any missed (didn't shoot or flew away)
remain white. The bar made of vertical lines
beneath the Hit Meter is the Pass Line; this
shows how many targets must be hit in order to
win the round. In this example it is six, but
as you beat more rounds, this gradually goes
up until it reaches the maximum of all 10
targets needing to be hit in order to pass on
to the next round.
Score (000000): Your current score, shown in the bottom-right corner of the
( SCORE) screen. Like any other basic arcade-style game, this goes up by
shooting targets and you can also get a Perfect bonus for
hitting every target in a round.
o---------o
| Scoring |
o---------o
Game A/Game B Scoring
---------------------
This table outlines the points value for the different types of duck that you
shoot. When you shoot a duck in Game A or B mode, a number will appear at the
spot where you shot it, which is the points gained. These all vary between duck
colours, as well as how far into the game you are.
.---------------------.
| DUCK COLOUR |
---------+=======+======+======:
| ROUND # | BLACK | BLUE | RED |
:=========+=======+======+======:
| 1 - 5 | 500 | 1000 | 1500 |
|---------+-------+------+------|
| 6 - 10 | 800 | 1600 | 2400 |
|---------+-------+------+------|
| 11+ | 1000 | 2000 | 3000 |
'---------'-------'------'------'
Game C Scoring
--------------
The number of points awarded for each single clay pigeon you shoot in Game C
mode. These go up a couple of times as you get further on into the game.
---------.-------------.
| ROUND # | CLAY PIGEON |
:=========+=============:
| 1 - 5 | 1000 |
|---------+-------------|
| 6 - 10 | 1500 |
|---------+-------------|
| 11+ | 2000 |
'---------'-------------'
Perfect Round
-------------
If you manage to shoot every duck or clay pigeon successfully in a single
round, a box appears at the top of the screen at the end of the round, which
says 'PERFECT!! #####' (##### being the amount of points awarded). This table
outlines the amount of points you score for a perfect round, depending on how
far into the game you are.
---------.-----------.
| ROUND # | PERFECT!! |
:=========+===========:
| 1 - 10 | 10000 |
|---------+-----------|
| 11 - 15 | 15000 |
|---------+-----------|
| 16 - 20 | 20000 |
|---------+-----------|
| 21+ | 30000 |
'---------'-----------'
o-----------------------------o
| Hits Required to Pass Round |
o-----------------------------o
These are how many targets must be hit in order to win a round (applies to all
three game modes).
---------.---------------.
| ROUND # | HITS REQUIRED |
:=========+===============:
| 1 - 10 | 6 |
|---------+---------------|
| 11 - 12 | 7 |
|---------+---------------|
| 13 - 14 | 8 |
|---------+---------------|
| 15 - 19 | 9 |
|---------+---------------|
| 20+ | 10 |
'---------'---------------'
===============================================================================
3. CHEATS [0300]
===============================================================================
o----------o
| Glitches |
o----------o
Frozen Targets
--------------
During any game, use Controller 1 to pause the game, then resume it. The
targets will stay frozen for a couple of seconds after you resume the game, so
you can quickly get an easy shot in.
o---------o
| Secrets |
o---------o
Control Flight of Ducks
-----------------------
Controller 1 can actually control the ducks' flight pattern in Game A with the
use of the D-Pad! This can make for enjoying the game with another player, if
one controls the ducks and the other tries to shoot them down.
===============================================================================
ii. Credits
===============================================================================
Gamesdbase |
http://www.gamesdbase.com/
* For their scanned copy of the Duck Hunt instruction manual, where I
obtained the game's story extract used in this FAQ.
===============================================================================
iii. Legal Disclaimer/Contacting Me
===============================================================================
Legal Disclaimer
----------------
This document is Copyright (C)2013-2014 Ryan Harrison. This document may not be
reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not
be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
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Only these web sites may host my current and most up-to-date work. I am aware
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-------------
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