Retro Redux: Chip 'N' Dale's Rescue Rangers

Welcome, once again, to Retro Redux, our look back at games past. This week we'll be looking at Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Originally released in 1990 by Capcom, it was a side scrolling platformer based on the popular cartoon characters, and specifically the cartoon series by the same name. It starred the chipmunk duo of Chip, the level headed "brain" of the two, and Dale, the red-nosed, goofball. If you never saw the cartoon, the show was based around the two and their team of investigators, Gadget, Monterey Jack and Zipper, solving a new crime each week, as well as foiling the schemes of the villanous feline, Fat Cat. It's a slightly different take on the traditional damsel in distress scenario. You play as a small character in a big world and the environments are scaled accordingly.

Fat Cat has captured the team's technology wiz, Gadget, and it's up to Chip and Dale to rescue her. The adventure would take you through a series of levels and ultimately a fight against the mob boss himself. The different levels were laid out on a map, similar to Super Mario Bros. 3 and you had the option of choosing the path you took through the game. This was mainly deciding from one level or another since the branches ultimately brought you back to the main path. Rescue Rangers, as previously mentioned is a side scrolling platformer, and is a very easy one at that. From the title screen you could choose which of the titular duo you preferred to play as, though this choice was merely cosmetic as the two characters played identically to each other. From there you would enter the first level of the game and proceed to uncover the plot hatched by Fat Cat. As chipmunks are fairly non aggressive in reality, the two characters had no ability to attack outside of picking up objects in the game and throwing them at the various enemies trying to stop you from reaching your goal. You could pick up apples, crates, or bricks and throw them. Also littered throughout the levels are flower cards that you could collect, but I never really understood if they did anything.. You were given three hearts that constituted your life bar and each time you got hit you would lose one heart. Lose them and and you lost a life. You could replinish lost health by picking up acorns found in the world, and this was the only way to regain your health.

From the beginning you begin to understand this game might have been created simply to get fans of the show to buy it. You are greeted with the familiar theme and even after all these years I still remember it and can sing along with it. The level design is amazingly simple, and they don't take very long to traverse. Enemies are placed very sparsely throughout the levels and the only thing to do other than move to the right was pick up crates and throw them. These crates are everywhere and you can find collectibles under a few of them. While the levels were sparsely populated there was a lot going on in each level. There were multiple paths that you could take through the levels as well as a lot of stuff going on. Jack in the boxes would pop up during the level in a toy factory, poker chips flew back and forth in the casino, and water faucets had to be turned off to progress through the kitchen area. None of the tasks you had to undertake were difficult by any means, but they added a bit of interactivity no found in many games previous to this one. You could also carry the crates in levels around and duck under them to give you a brief shield. If you got hit while under a crate you would lose the crate, but would not take any damage. Other interactive elements were live power lines that had electricity moving back and forth that would cause damage to you if not jumped over and switches that needed to be activated to shut off obstacles. There were some puzzle elements to the game such as the aforementioned water faucets, but also occasionally you would have to create a sort of bridge from one part of a level to another. The boss fights in the game were all very similar. When you entered the boss area they would be on a platform of some sort and there would be a random object on the ground. You would need to pick up the object and thrown it at the boss five times in order to defeat them. Sometimes the boss would be static, but there would be traps on the ground you had to avoid, and other times the boss would move and fire different themed objects at you. Ultimately, though, all the boss fights were very much the same and if you could defeat one boss, none of the others were very hard. After defeating the boss you would be taken back to the world map and into the Rescue Rangers blimp to choose your next path towards Fat Cat's Lair.

If you didn't want to play alone a second player could join in on the fun as the other chipmunk for some co-operative play. This could be a double edged sword because if you got hit by a crate thrown by the other player you would be briefly stunned and vulnerable to attack. Dasterdly players could also throw their partners into enemies or down pits causing them to die. It was very helpful for families who enjoyed playing together because you could pick up your partner and carry them along if they were having difficulty getting through an area. There were not many games that had true co-op modes back then, but this one added a bit of fun to the adventure that could otherwise have been dull for one person. The other two members of the Rescue Rangers were not playable, but did make appearances to aid in the adventure. Monterey Jack would occasionally be lured into the action by the smell of cheese and during his trance like walk he would smash through walls that would allow you to continue to the next area. Zipper could be found stuck inside crates and if he was found he would fly ahead of you smacking enemies giving you a brief moment of invincibility. It would have been nice to be able to play as these characters and could have greatly increased the fun of the game. Zipper could fly and that could have made it possible to reach levels otherwise inaccesible to the team and Monterey Jack could have been used as a bit of a tank or just brute muscle and created a bit of diversity in the team.

While the game was simple, it was fun to play, especially if you had a friend along for the ride. Licensed properties based on movies and TV shows were and still are generally very generic, but every once in a while there are a few that stand out above the crowd. This one along with the Duck Tales game were two of the NES era that really stood out in my mind. Looking back on this one, though, I wonder why I liked it so much. Going back today it's not as much fun as I remember it, but I still enjoy it. I don't know if it's because the game is just generic and I've seen it a hundred times before or if I've just moved on and appreciate a different style of game. My children all really enjoy it, especially if they get the chance to throw dad down a hole and maybe that's part of it. They don't really know these characters, other than Chip and Dale, as they've never watched the show, so it can't be nostalgia for them. It's a complete trip down memory lane for me and that's why it's still part of my gaming collection. It's good for an hour of play every once in a while and still gets pulled out and popped into my NES. The interactivity of the levels, the bright environments and two of the cutest playable characters ever combine to bring you an experience you should play at least once. If you can find this game in a vintage store or online for a decent price it should be part of anyone's NES collection.

What are your thoughts on Chip 'N' Dale's Rescue Rangers? Was it one of those games you remember fondly or did you hate it? If there are any games that you would really like to see talked about in this feature or games you just want me to know about e-mail me and let me know or head over to the forums and let me know there.