Donald in Maui Mallard

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Donald in Maui Mallard
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Disney Interactive, Sega
Developer: Disney Interactive
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT), SF Interactive Media (SE rental), Tec Toy (BR), Consumer Electronics (ZA)
Licensor: The Walt Disney Company
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code US ▼ (Sega Channel) 199x SUBsub EU 1995-11 1192-50 PT 199x MDJ 1192 UK 1995-11 £44.9944.99 1192-50 SE (Rental) 199x CZ 199x BR 1997 047230 ZA 199x
Non-Sega versions Game Boy Super NES Windows PC

Donald in Maui Mallard is a platform game starring Donald Duck which was released for the Sega Mega Drive. It was one of the first games developed by Disney in-house (along with the parallel development of Gargoyles for the Mega Drive) and the first one developed under the Disney Interactive label.

The original Mega Drive version was only released in Europe and Brazil, because Disney Interactive was not a publisher in the console games market at that time and it did not have a US publishing partner to release the game in the States (although a US Mega Drive version was shown at Winter CES 1996 with a planned release for Q3 of that year).

Story

Donald assumes the role of Maui Mallard, a washed up "medium-boiled" detective who visits a mysterious island and discovers that its idol of Shabuhm Shabuhm, considered to be the island's native guardian spirit, has gone missing. If the idol is not recovered soon, the whole island will explode. Maui is then put on the case, which will lead to him undergoing the ability to change into his ninja alter-ego: Cold Shadow.

Gameplay

Donald in Maui Mallard fulfills the typical gameplay of a platform game, but gives the player the ability to switch between detective and ninja forms for different styles of gameplay. As a detective, Maui's only form of self-defence is a pistol that uses different kinds of bugs as ammunition which he can fire forward by pressing , or upwards by pressing +. There are multiple kinds of bugs he can use as ammo, and the player can press to switch between different types of bugs or even combine multiple types together for greater effects.

Upon reaching the second level, Maui will acquire the ability to transform into Cold Shadow, his ninja alter-ego. Once transformed, Cold Shadow trades his bug gun for a bo staff that he can use for short-ranged attacks with , as well as using special techniques for getting around: pressing when between walls that are close enough together will allow Cold Shadow to wedge the staff between both walls to climb higher; swinging the staff at a sparkling duck head will allow Cold Shadow to swing from it, and holding and double-tapping or will make Cold Shadow dash.

From the third level onwards, the player can switch between Maui and Cold Shadow after collecting Yin-Yang Coins. When Maui can transform, his life icon will flash between regular and ninja forms, and the player can hold down to make him transform. Should the player run out of ninja power, they will be forced to change back into Maui. However, some levels of the game prevent Maui from transforming at all; for example, Cold Shadow cannot bungee jump from vines, which forces the player to use Maui throughout the level.

Items

	Basic Bug
	Basic ammo for Maui's gun. Maui needs to collect at least one of them to be able to shoot, but once he has one, this one has unlimited ammo. Has short-range and deals minor damage.
	Bombardier Beetle
	Fires beetles that drop to the ground and explode, dealing good damage.
	Lightning Bug
	Fires electrical bolts that are faster, do more damage and have more range than Basic Bugs.
	Fireball Bug
	Fires projectiles that home in on enemies and deals good damage.
	Special Firefly Bug
	Lights the way in dark places, revealing hidden platforms.
	Tropical Punch
	Restores Maui's health. Glasses restore 10 points, while pitchers restore all health.
	Yin-Yang Coins
	These give Maui the power to become a ninja. White coins give him 100 points of ninja power, gold coins give him a full power boost, and red coins give him more combo attacks to use as a ninja.
	Golden Maui Token
	Awards an extra life.
	Mojo Doll
	Awards a continue.
	Magical Shrunken Head
	Acts as a checkpoint. The player will restart a level from the last shrunken head reached after dying.
	Treasure
	Collect enough treasure to reveal passwords at the end of each level.
	Zombie Powder Bag
	Increases Maui's maximum health.
	Golden Ticket
	One of these is hidden in each level, sometimes inside an enemy. Collect it and finish the level to go to a Babaluau Baby bonus level.

Levels

	The Mojo Mansion
	The first part of Maui Mallard's case sees him explore a large trap-filled mansion, and different parts of the mansion can be accessed via swiveling bookshelves. The level serves as an introduction to the game, as well as demonstrating the versatility of Maui's bug gun. Enemies encountered include spiders, tiki heads that spit phlegm at Maui, and old butlers carrying monsters on a plate. After climbing up a giant organ, the player fights the first boss of the game, which is a giant metal spider.
	Ninja Training Grounds
	Password: ININJA
	After making it through the mansion, Maui meets a witch doctor who creates clones of his ninja alter-ego to test his skills. As such, this level serves to introduce the player to the abilities Maui can do after transforming into Cold Shadow. Throughout the level, the player will be fighting enemy ninjas, taking control of giant duck statues to break down walls, and using Cold Shadow's abilities to reach high places. The boss is a giant golden statue who summons ninjas for Cold Shadow to fight.
	MudDrake Mayhem
	Password: ILVMUD (EU) / MUDPIE (BR)
	Maui reaches the darkest heart of the island where its tiny natives, the MudDrakes, make their home in mud flats built in a muddy swamp. Neither of them are happy to see Maui, and will attack him on sight with boomerangs and buzzsaws. At a specific point, a MudDrake witch doctor will shrink Maui to half the size of the MudDrakes, and the player will have to navigate the mud flats and small passageways until they can change back to regular size. The boss fight has the player fight a horde of MudDrakes in a small arena.
	The Sacrifice of Maui
	Password: ITSHOT (EU) / HTFOOT (BR)
	The MudDrakes capture Maui and throw him into an active volcano as a sacrifice to the native gods. Being a typical lava level, the player will have to watch their step and bounce off the lava bubbles to reach higher places, and use Cold Shadow's teleport dash to safely cross lava. Volcanic heads serve as the boss of the level, and each one of them will hover around to attack and defend themselves with rocks. Upon defeating this boss, the volcano will begin to erupt, and the player is tasked with escaping from the rising lava.
	The Test of Duckhood
	Password: GETHIM (EU) / ZEFROG (BR)
	After having survived becoming a sacrifice, Maui must now make peace with the MudDrakes by passing their ritual of proof. This is a vertically-oriented level where the player must climb tall trees and scale a large waterfall while using vines to propel Maui higher. At specific points, Maui will be attached to bungee vines that will pull him upwards if he drops too low, so he will need to grab on to poles in order to progress. The boss is the MudDrakes' object of terror and awe: a giant red frog who the player must feed using Bombardier Beetles while also dealing with the bungee cord.
	The Flying Duckman
	Password: YOHOHO (EU) / ARRGGH (BR)
	After gaining the trust of the MudDrakes, Maui learns that the ancient native chief, Quackoo, knows the location of the missing idol of Shabuhm Shabuhm. Unfortunately, Quackoo has long since died, and his remains rest on the bottom of the sea inside the ruins of the Flying Duckman. This level is entirely underwater, so the player's movement speed is limited, and as such they will need to use the recoil from Maui's bug gun to propel themselves through the water while also warding off puffer fish and undead pirates, and using sea mines to blow up TNT barrels to open new routes. For the boss fight, Maui rides a small rowing boat, the Sea Hag, and must shoot bugs at the pirates' undead captain.
	The Realm of the Dead
	Password: UNDEAD (EU) / DKMPOZ (BR)
	Quackoo's spirit has been restless ever since his death, and Maui is tasked with bringing his bones to their final resting place through the Realm of the Dead so his soul can finally rest. Getting through the Realm of the Dead is no easy task, as the player has to wade through green soup that limits Maui's movements much like water, and zombies that roam about restlessly. The level does not end with a boss fight, but instead tasks the player with protecting Quackoo's remains from evil spirits while simultaneously climbing a sinking tower.
	Mojo Stronghold
	Password: GDLUCK (EU) / NOCHNC (BR)
	Maui finally learns of the whereabouts of Shabuhm Shabuhm from Quackoo. The witch doctor is planning on casting the idol into the storm in a vile attempt to harness its mojo energy. For this level, Maui has become a true ninja and thus the player no longer needs to collect Yin-Yang Coins to maintain Cold Shadow's powers, as they will need to use his abilities to defeat the witch doctor.
	Babaluau Baby
	Babaluau Baby is a bonus level that is played at the end of a level after finding a Golden Ticket, in which Maui is riding on a unicycle and the player has to navigate him across an obstacle course filled with hazards to avoid. The player will collect several bonus items such as an extra life at the beginning, and getting hit by a hazard will make them drop one of the items. Should the player successfully reach the end of a Babaluau Baby level, they will be rewarded with whatever bonus items they have remaining.

History

Legacy

In parallel with the creation of the original game for Mega Drive, the British studio Eurocom was engaged in the development of the SNES version. Both versions were radically different from each other in level design, character sprites, mechanics, and gameplay in general. Notably, by the end of 1995, the SNES version had only been released in Europe by Nintendo. It appeared on the shelves of the USA, Japan, and several other countries a year later when Nintendo bought the rights to the game from Disney Interactive. In 1996 the Disney Interactive team ported the original Mega Drive game to Windows PC in-house as Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow. Interestingly all US versions (PC and SNES) omit all references to Donald Duck, citing that the main character's name is "Maui Mallard". On Nintendo's initiative, Bonsai Entertainment ported the game to the Game Boy in 1998.

History of creation

At the end of 2019, hardcore fan Max Nasikan conducted an extensive interview with John Fiorito, game's lead artist, and later a new two-part interview with the 12 creators of Maui Mallard, in which he unraveled the complex story of the game and its canceled sequel. In the spring of 2022, his interview with Jon Williams , a Eurocom programmer, was released, who spoke about the details of the creation of the SNES version and provided a lot of materials on the canceled sequel. In issues 225 and 226 of Retro Gamer magazine featured his articles with a more compact account of the creation of the original game and Maui Mallard 2.

Canceled sequel

Back in the summer of 1995, before the final PAL-build of the original Mega Drive game was completed, work began on a sequel to the game with the working title Maui Mallard and the Lost City Of Dread, which was to be released in late 1996 on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The development was entrusted to the British Eurocom company, which has just ported the original game to the SNES. Unfortunately, the need to create a game for Hercules forced the team to devote all efforts to creating a game for the feature film. Some of Maui 2's developments, such as 2.5D screen rotation in boss battles, have been turned into similar stages in the Hercules game. After running out of the schedule for Maui 2, the Disney Interactive and Eurocom teams were unable to secure management support to continue working on the sequel.

Production credits

• Programmer: Cary Hara
• Senior Producer: Patrick Gilmore
• Associate Producer: Craig Annis
• Assistant Producer: David Bergantino
• Lead Artist: John Fiorito
• Backgrounds: Shannon McNeill, Alex Schaefer, Christina Vann
• Additional Art and Animation: Ann-Bettina Colace, Tamara Holcomb, Adolph Lusinski, Paige Pooler and Oliver Wade
• Level Design: Alan Hickey, Joe Santos, Eric Ventura
• Music Composition: Michael Giacchino
• Composition and Sound Design: Patrick Collins
• Project Manager: C. Steve Booth
• Software Production Administrator: Amy Steiner
• Concept Art and Character Development: Thom Ang, Kurt Dumas, Raymond Fung, Teddy Newton, Jane Nussbaum, Erik Wiese, Lil' Gangster
• Production Support: Arden Ishimaru, Toby Espiritu
• Test Supervisor: Jeff Blattner
• Lead Tester: Brian Adriano
• Testers: Andre Aguilar, Kristen Bachman, Chip Beaman, Roger Bray, John Castro, Daryl David, Karl Drown, Daniel Hall, David Hickey, Aki Kim, Andrew King, Scott Lamb, Pat Larkin, Wes Lazara, Kevin Ocampo, Jocelyn Pastrana, Luigi Priore, Mary Schuyler, Victor Schwartz, Weijean Strand, David Watts
• Eurocom Entertainment Software: Mat Sneap, Jon Williams, Hugh Binns, Steve Duckworth
• Programming Support: Adrian Stephens
• Tume Development Software: Echidna

Creative Capers Entertainment, Inc.

• Animation Directors: Terry Shakespeare, David Molina
• Animation Producer: G. Sue Shakespeare
• Production Manager: Darci Ernst
• Animators: Matthew Bates, Ian Christopher C., Jeff Etter, Connor Flynn, Ronald Friedman, Ernie Gilbert, Michael Kiely, Gavin Moran, Dermot O'Connor, Sandra Ryan, Natasha Sasic, Greg Tiernan, Janice Tolentino, Adam Van Wyk, Drew Woodard, Shane Zalvin
• Clean Up Artists: Peter Anderson, Adam Burke, Kathy Burton, Richard Draper, John Eddings, Aidan Flynn, Ellen Heindel, Tom Higgins, Cathy Jones, Mi Yu Lee, Leticia Lichwardt, Wantana Matinelli, Shannon Murphy, Richard Smitheman, Debbie Spafford, Marshall Toomey, Monica Zorman

Magazine articles

Main article: Donald in Maui Mallard/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Flyer (RU)

Print advert in Sega Magazin (DE) #28: "März 1996" (1996-02-14)
also published in:

• Sega Magazin (DE) #29: "April 1996" (1996-03-13)
• Sega Magazin (DE) #30: "Mai 1996" (1996-04-10)
• Sega Magazin (DE) #31: "Juni 1996" (1996-05-08)
• Sega Magazin (DE) #32: "Juli 1996" (1996-06-12)
• Sega Magazin (DE) #33: "August 1996" (1996-07-10)

Artwork

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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 80 CD Consoles (FR) PAL 48 Consoles + (FR) PAL 81 Cool Gamer (RU) 60 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 80 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 6 (RU) 70 Fun Generation (DE) 40 Hobby Consolas (ES) PAL 89 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 79 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 79 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 82 Player One (FR) PAL 87 Secret Service (PL) PAL 90 Sega News (CZ) PAL 93 Sega Power (UK) PAL 71 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 89 Svet Kompjutera (YU) PAL 88 Todo Sega (ES) 90 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 78 Video Games (DE) PAL 83

	78
Based on 20 reviews

Donald in Maui Mallard

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, FR (Blister pack)
Cover

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart Manual EU Manual

Mega Drive, SE (rental; SF)
Cover

Mega Drive, CZ/SK (DDC Agency)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, ZA
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Donald in Maui Mallard/Technical information.

External links

• Maui Mallard Interview with John Fiorito (lead artist) by Max Nasikan at vk.com
• Maui Mallard Story: A Giant Interview with the Creators by Max Nasikan; part one and part two at vk.com
• Maui Mallard Interview with Jon Williams (ex-Eurocom programmer) by Max Nasikan at vk.com