Bucky O'Hare

About Bucky O'Hare

Bucky O'Hare (1992) is Konami's NES platform shooter based on the comic, in which the rabbit captain rescues his kidnapped crew from four planets, each joining the team with their own weapon and power.

Bucky O'Hare in Depth

In the parallel universe of the Aniverse, the robot K.O.M.P.L.E.X. orders the Toad Air Marshall to capture the crew of the Righteous Indignation. Captain Bucky O'Hare escapes, but the android Blinky, the cat Jenny, the duck Dead-Eye and the human Willy DeWitt are imprisoned on four planets that can be tackled almost in any order: the lush Green Planet, the volcanic Red Planet, the icy Blue Planet and the huge Yellow Planet of laser cannons and floating asteroids. Each is split into eight or more acts that vary in style and scrolling direction, from climbing a giant tree to riding a log down a waterfall. Once reunited, the crew is swallowed by a Toad tanker and must free one another and escape.

Every rescued crewmate becomes playable and can be swapped in with the select button. Bucky has a standard gun and a long jump, Willy fires a piercing beam, Jenny's third eye forms an energy ball, Dead-Eye shoots three ways and climbs walls, and Blinky's short-range bombs break the Blue Planet's ice while his jetpack lets him fly. Special abilities are charged by collecting power-up icons and unleashed by holding the B button, growing stronger the longer it is held. Enemies are androids and cyborgs modelled on toads, bosses appear mid-level as well as at the end, and continues are unlimited.

Making Bucky O'Hare

Masato Maegawa directed it and programmed it with H. Awai, with graphics by Kaname Shindoh, Madonna Taira and Toshiharu Furukawa; like other Konami staff, the team went on to work at Treasure. First announced in Nintendo Power in June 1991, it was previewed in Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro before release. Reviews were generally positive: Nintendo Game Zone and Poland's Top Secret called it one of the best NES games, and EGM felt its power-ups, variety and tight controls made up for its lack of new ideas. Reviewers highlighted the huge levels and speed, though Play Time found it scrolled so fast that small enemies hit unnoticed, and Nintendo Magazine System found it uninteresting after so many cartoon platformers.