For those somewhat familiar with Looney Toons during its Golden Age, animator Chuck Jones created a little short called Duck Amuck, in which an unseen animator torments a temperamental Daffy Duck by poking, erasing, and redrawing him. This hilarious premise has been transported into the 21st century in an ingenious way via the Nintendo DS.

Instead of an animator messing with Daffy this time around, it's you - the gamer - with a stylus. Wayforward, the developer, has created a very post-modern game; after you first turn on the game, the cartoon backdrop disappears leaving just you and Daffy against a white backdrop, staring at each other in a very uncomfortable, very funny silence. The developers leave it up to the gamer to figure out where to go from there. While figuring out the purpose of the game can be confusing, it is something completely fresh and unexpected. For instance, during this awkward silence, Daffy just started mocking me, so, unsure of what do to, I just started poking Daffy. After multiple pokes, a very annoyed Daffy just stormed off the screen, frustrated. He comes back carrying three buckets of paint for me to presumably repaint his background, but, as I soon found out, by dragging the paint with the stylus onto Daffy I unlocked some of the mini-games.

In another wonderful discover (*Don't read this paragraph if you want to be surprised!), after waiting for Daffy to do something, I closed the DS into sleep mode. Right after, I heard a growl and then Daffy yelled at me to open it back up. When I closed the DS, according to Daffy, a monster came out and chased him around. After that, there is a little mini-game with the DS closed where you pull the L and R buttons to guide Daffy in the dark. It was truly a wonderful experience.

The best part of Duck Amuck is the dialogue. The writers have precisely recaptured what made the Chuck Jones' cartoons so hilarious in the 50's. In countless Daffy monologues, I found myself laughing out loud, but at the same time surprised that a game could actually be so funny (so many games are often not). While the game is considerably short, Daffy's little quips and outbursts never become stale. And like in the original Jones' short where the jokes are about the world of animation, the DS game reinterprets the jokes for the game industry. In one hilarious scene, Bug's Bunny's face is dropped into the top screen and Daffy dead pans about how he knew there was a "bug" in the system. In other scenes, he points out how ingenious the DS is, how many pixels there are on the touch screen, or about how he wishes he could have the sleek polygons of a next-gen duck, instead of pixels. Some of the mini-games are even inside jokes about video games, like a cave fantasy/adventure game quest that is a nostalgic throwback to Atari's own golden days.

The goal of the game is to make Daffy as angry as possible, and after figuring out how to make him mad during the meta game (the blank background where you interact with Daffy), you'll be ushered into the mini games, what the instruction books calls "Gags." Sadly, this is the weakest part of the game. Most of the games are painstakingly simple, and get their depth from the sheer amount of times the game makes you play through them. Some of the games are decent, like the ones that use the microphone or touch screen in creative ways; but ultimately, this game is a sharp juxtaposition between a brilliant presentation and sub-par, underdeveloped "Gags." After about 45 minutes from when I started, the credits were already rolling. Having filled Daffy's anger thermometer one time around, I started again, trying to unlock all 20 gags. You can collect golden coins scattered around the game (after 20 you get a new "Gag"), but few will have the patience to retread many of the more frustrating games.

Gameplay: 9.0
While the mini games make only decent use of the touch screen, the interaction with Daffy between games is unprecedented and very postmodern.

Graphics: 7.0
There is little 3-D (except when Daffy mocks next-gen games by growing some polys) in the game, but ultimately for the better. The animation is strong and suits the purpose of the developers.

Sound: 7.0
Between Daffy's angry diatribes and ridiculous Acme explosions, the sound holds up. Too bad the Looney Toons theme couldn't make it into the game (if you listen closely, it's merely a sound-a-like).

Difficulty: Medium
Sometimes figuring out exactly what it is you're supposed to do can be hard, but the mini games rarely become too difficult. If you are confused, pressing start will bring up instructions for that particular game.

Concept: 10
The idea and execution behind the meta-game is phenomenal. While the mini-games aren't quite on the same level, experiencing this game is something unto its own. The absence of a conventional menu screen, replaced by the gamer's interaction with Daffy, is very avant garde and experimental, forcing the player to find his or her own way through the game in a non-linear way.

Multiplayer: 6.0
Only basic multi-card matches using a few of the "Gags."

Overall: 7.5
Ultimately, the score of this game cannot encapsulate my feelings toward it. I would recommend that everyone experience the brilliant design of this game and the witty dialogue, especially if you're a fan of the cartoon; however, the mini-games (the meat of the game) do not hold up for very long. There is about 2 hours of gameplay in Duck Amuck, and whether that warrants a $30 purchase is up to you. Sadly, while I had a wonderful time playing Duck Amuck, this is a game propelled by brilliance, but running on too much mediocrity.