DUCK HUNT
Fighter Number: 59
Fighter Group: Smash 4 Veteran
Franchise: Duck Hunt
Game of Origin: Duck Hunt (NES, 1984 (JP), 1985 (US), 1987 (EU)
It wasn't too long ago where The Shroom hosted a contest
between Dogs and Birds in the Shroomfest. In the end, Dogs were more popular, but Birds won in the overall points. A split like that actually pretty common given it is based on the Splatfests of Splatoon. As for my personal view on Dogs and Birds. I didn't choose between the two because I have reasons to like both. I've had many cherished memories of dogs I've had in my life (My family's just recently got a new puppy last month!), and watching birds can be peaceful. Not to mention the fact that the birds are what's left of the Dinosaurs. And Dinosaurs are cool. I've been a longtime Jurassic Park fan and just overall into Dinosaurs since I was a kid.
That said, Duck Hunt (Or if you're in the PAL regions… Duck Hunt Duo) is like a compromise of the two. The Dog teams up with a duck to lay waste to their foes. Even though it does seem like an odd couple, since in the original game. The ducks and the dog were certainly no friends. The dog triumphantly holds up the birds you shot. Let's hope that the duck that the Dog teamed up with never sees perhaps photos of past birds and sees a family member or friend being held by the dog.
Regardless, I'm pretty sure Duck Hunt was meant to be a retro choice akin to Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, and ROB. Just of course we found out of Duck Hunt through the ESRB leak (I could have mentioned the ESRB leak for when I was covering Shulk too. But I decided to focus mainly on talking about what I've experienced in regards to Xenoblade 1 more. If not for the ESRB leak (Or perhaps more so if the 3DS version had not released first). Duck Hunt would have been one of the last fighters revealed.
Duck Hunt for the most part represents a NES peripheral similar to how ROB represented himself (Even if technically the Duck Hunt light gun game arguably makes Duck Hunt older then any other character. But the design of the dog and duck are from the NES game), the NES Zapper was of course a gun peripheral that allowed you to aim and shoot. Only 4 games were developed by Nintendo to fully use it. (Though there was a fair bit of 3rd party titles that also worked with it.) This titles were: Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley, Wild Gunman, and Gumshoe. In Duck Hunt's Moveset, I think only Gumshoe is generally ignored. But otherwise you do have the can from Hogan's Alley. And Duck Hunt can summon different gunmen from Wild Gunman. Of these games I think I've only played Duck Hunt (Unless you count WarioWare microgames). I think I have played the original on the NES before but that was a really long time ago as I never owned a NES. But I did pick up the game when it went on Wii U virtual console where you could use your wii remote as a NES Zapper. Sometimes the ducks are shootable in the target minigame of Wii Play too. It's a relatively simple game anyone can get into (Well, unless you feel bad for the poor birds. Which I couldn't blame you for that)
Perhaps the most enduring legacy of Duck Hunt is how everyone hates the
Dog's laugh for if you're unable to shoot any ducks. That laugh has made some people want to be able to shoot that dog in anger. Honestly, I'm a little surprised the original sound of the laugh wasn't put into the taunts. He does laugh when he taunts, but it's closer to the snicker from
Muttley from the Wacky Races cartoon then it is the infamous laugh from the NES sound chip. The notoriety of the dog quickly made him high up on a WTF choice in the Smash forums. People supporting him just to see how hilarious it would be to see the dog be a playable character. (Or even supporting him to one day make him a punching bag). It finally came to fruition in Smash 4. Honestly, despite being something of a joke character to be supported. Duck Hunt still overall makes sense amongst the many retro choices. It was even combo-packaged with Super Mario Bros. There's a good chance many people who's first experience with Mario was with the other game in the package. So there's a good chance Duck Hunt was able to hit a good sized audience. Just of course, the game is a little too simple to become a real franchise. So other then the aforementioned cameo in Wii Play. There likely isn't going to be a priority for a Duck Hunt revival anytime soon.
I do think it's cool now that Duck Hunt gets to meet up with Banjo-Kazooie. They even appeared as the fake-out character in the trailer. Duck Hunt was the original mammal-bird duo of Nintendo. (Although, status as an actual duo's age certainly goes to the bear and bird. As it wouldn't be until Smash 4 that they even got the idea of having the dog team up with one of the ducks.)
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Now as for merit-wise. I'm going to put Duck Hunt above Steve do to being an enduring icon of the NES era. I think I will put Duck Hunt below Ness however, as the cult-classic RPG series I think has a more definite impact then the simple Duck Hunt. You can thank the many quirky RPGs inspired by Earthbound for that.
1. Link
2. Banjo & Kazooie
3. King K. Rool
4. Sonic the Hedgehog
5. Rosalina & Luma
6. Snake
7. Shulk
8. Pit
9. Ness
10. Duck Hunt
11. Steve
12. Mythra
13. Wii Fit Trainer
14. Chrom
15. Dr. Mario
16. Piranha Plant
