Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow

About Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow

Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow (1995) is Disney Interactive's platformer starring Donald Duck as a Magnum P.I.-style detective who switches into a staff-wielding ninja to recover a stolen island idol.

Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow in Depth

Donald Duck plays Maui Mallard, a "medium-boiled" detective spoofing Magnum P.I., visiting a tropical island when the Shabuhm Shabuhm idol, the island's guardian spirit, goes missing; unless it is recovered, the whole island will explode. His investigation leads through a creepy mansion, ancient ninja training grounds where he learns to become Cold Shadow, and a native village, where he is thrown into a volcano as a sacrifice, survives, and passes the "test of duckhood" to win the islanders' trust. In the North American versions all references to Donald are removed, because, according to composer Patrick Collins, marketing felt Donald Duck was not cool in the United States.

Its most distinctive feature is switching forms. Maui fights with a pistol that fires several kinds of bugs, some combinable for greater effect. From the second level he can become his ninja alter ego Cold Shadow, who fights up close with a bo staff and uses it to explore, for example climbing narrow tunnels. After that, the player can switch at will if they have enough ninja tokens, which on SNES also determine how many attacks Cold Shadow can chain, while the Mega Drive version uses separate red tokens for strength. Some levels force one form, since Cold Shadow cannot bungee jump on vines. Critics praised the large, non-linear levels, detailed graphics and the depth the two personas add.

Making Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow

After Aladdin's success, Disney brought game development in-house rather than licensing to outside studios, and because its business model relied on existing characters, the detective was played by Donald Duck to give a clear brand identity; the design document was compiled in July 1994. It was released on the Mega Drive in Europe in November 1995, ported to the Super NES by Eurocom, to Windows in 1996 and to the Game Boy by Bonsai Entertainment in 1998. It received positive reviews: GameSpot called it "quite possibly the best low-tech title to come out this year" and GamePro "well-crafted entertainment for novice and veteran gamers", though critics noted control problems.