TaleSpin (TurboGrafx-16) Playthrough

A playthrough of NEC's 1991 license-based platformer for the TurboGrafx-16, TaleSpin.
TaleSpin was one of just two Disney games to ever grace the TurboGrafx-16, and like its younger brother, Darkwing Duck, it was only released in North America. The game was produced by Interactive Designs, who also created the Sega Genesis version ( • TaleSpin (Genesis) Pla... ), under contract with Radiance for NEC.
Louie has found a piece of an ancient stone map that he claims, when complete, will lead to an ancient lost city full of untold riches, and he has convinced Baloo to go off in search of the remaining four pieces. Adventure awaits!
You can play the first four stages (The Watusi River Valley, Shere Khan's Aerodrome, The Ice Caves of Thembria, and The Great Simeon Reef) in any order you like. Once the map is complete, you'll pilot the SeaDuck through a flying stage and take on a short platforming section as Kit before finally moving on to the showdown with Don Karnage.
Thanks to high quality efforts by Capcom (and on occasion, Sega), Disney games were generally held in pretty high regard in the early 90s. TaleSpin, on the other hand, was one of the worst action-platformers to land on the TurboGrafx.
The gameplay is dogged by every issue imaginable: Baloo falls through platforms, he takes damage from hazards that clearly haven't made contact with his sprite, rapid-fire is necessary to reliably fire his weapon, enemies constantly respawn behind foreground objects, there's no grace period of invincibility after taking a hit, and so on, and all of these things make for a game that's infuriating difficult to play.
The cutscene graphics are nice, but the in-game graphics, comprised of poorly drawn sprites set against badly tiled, heavily dithered backdrops, are a total mess. The TurboGrafx-16 was quite a capable machine, but you'd never know it from the show this game puts on. The sound isn't much to write home about either.
Unfortunately, TaleSpin turned out to be exactly the sort of game that a struggling platform like the TG16 didn't need. To anyone who had this as a kid, you have my condolences.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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