Nintendo
Advertisement

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers(JP) is a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1990, based on the popular Disney animated series of the same name.

Capcom also released a sequel four years later. Both games were later collected along with the other Disney Afternoon NES games in the 2017 compilation game The Disney Afternoon Collection, which was released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One... but ironically, not on any Nintendo consoles.

Plot[]

The notorious Fat Cat has captured Gadget, and Chip and Dale must traverse through various hazardous areas to stop him. Sailor-type mouse Monterey Jack helps once in awhile and their fly friend Zipper acts as an occasional invincibility feature akin to the starman in Mario games.

Gameplay[]

The game is a side-scrolling and up-scrolling platformer. In single player mode, the player chooses either Chip or Dale (neither of which has an advantage or disadvantage over the other). In multiplayer mode, both players play co-operatively.

Development[]

Rescue Rangers was the second Capcom-developed Disney game after 1989's DuckTales, also for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was produced by Tokuro Fujiwara, who had previously worked on titles such as Mega Man 2 and Ghosts'n Goblins. According to then-Disney game producer Darlene Lacey, the title was one of the "least troublesome" Capcom projects to meet the company's family-friendly ethics standards, with very few changes made during development. The Japanese and European versions of the game contain fixes to minor graphical glitches during the opening cutscene seen in the North American release, and a leaked prototype cartridge from a private collector reveals that at one time the player was only required to collect half as many flowers and stars to gain extra lives, though the original amounts were still erroneously printed in the North American instruction manual.

Reception[]

Rescue Rangers proved to be a commercial success, selling approximately 1.2 million copies worldwide, becoming Capcom's fourth highest-selling game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It met with a mostly positive response upon its release in North America, with Electronic Gaming Monthly finding that "like previous Disney titles for the NES, this Capcom game offers the best graphics and game play for both young and old players alike," praising the title's 2-player option and "cartoon" visuals. The magazine criticized the title's lack of difficulty, saying "like the other Disney games, Capcom has hurt a great cart by making it too easy," calling the game "a great package that ends too quickly." Conversely, European Mean Machines magazine called it "tough and enjoyable," and said "what sets Rescue Rangers apart from other NES platformers is the speed of gameplay and the level of challenge." The game received the Parents' Choice Foundation's 1990 Parents' Choice Award for video games that November.

Nintendo Power ranked Rescue Rangers 79th in their 1997 list of the top 100 greatest games released for Nintendo systems, saying "Capcom lived up to its reputation for superior play control and graphics." In 2009, website IGN placed the game 71st on their list of the 100 greatest NES games of all time, with editors remarking that the title may have been more linear than Capcom's earlier title DuckTales, but it was nonetheless "an addictive platforming masterpiece". That year, GamesRadar ranked the game sixth on their list of the seven best Disney games, saying Rescue Rangers was "still worth playing" nearly 20 years after its original release.

Trivia[]

External links[]

Advertisement