Duck Hunt Guide VS. Duck Hunt (Arcade)

In April 1984, Nintendo released a version of Duck Hunt for the Arcades. It features many changes over the NES game.

How to Play

Each round, you play a different challenge. Odd-numbered rounds are duck shooting and even-numbered rounds are clay shooting. After clearing both, you take on the all-new bonus round.

  • Each Round has 12 targets.
  • You have 3 shots to take out all the targets in each wave.
  • You start with 5 extra lives, represented by the guns under your score.
  • You earn an extra life when your score reaches 30,000 Points.
  • If a duck escapes or a clay pigeon hits the ground, you lose a life. Lose all your lives and the game is over.

2-Player Game

If you insert two coins, two players take it in turns to clear each Round.

VS. Duck Hunt title screen

Duck Shooting

All odd-numbered Rounds are based on Game A/B of Duck Hunt. Waves of ducks will appear, fly around and then try to escape. Shoot the ducks out of the air.

  • Each Round has 12 ducks.
  • You have 3 shots to take out all the ducks in each wave.
  • If a duck flies away, the dog laughts and you lose a life.

Scoring

When a duck appears on screen, it is worth 2000 Points. The longer it stays on screen, the fewer points it is worth.

There is only one kind of duck, and the value does not increase as the game continues.

Round 1 of VS. Duck Hunt. Shoot the ducks.

Difficulty

  • The speed of the ducks will increase and their movements become more erratic.
  • On some later Rounds, you must shoot down 3 ducks in each wave.
The dog has caught 3 ducks.

Clay Shooting

All even-numbered Rounds are based on Game C of Duck Hunt. Clay pigeons are fired into the distance. Shoot them out of the air before they land.

  • Each Round has 12 clay pigeons.
  • You have 3 shots to take out all the clay pigeons in each wave.
  • If a clay pigeon lands, the dog laughs and you lose a life.

Scoring

When a clay pigeon is fired, it is worth 2000 Points. The longer it stays on screen, the fewer points it is worth.

This screen-time value does not change along with speed increases. Because it's always hard to hit a clay pigeon as soon as it's been launched, this makes it easier to get the high points values when the clay pigeons are moving faster.

Difficulty

  • The speed of the clay pigeons will increase.
  • On some later Rounds, you must shoot down 3 clay pigeons in each wave.
Round 2 of VS. Duck Hunt. Shoot the clay pigeons.

Bonus Round

Your hunting dog is running through the tall grass, scaring a flock of ducks. 35 ducks will fly out of the grass and immediately try to escape. Shoot down as many as you can.

  • You have unlimited ammo in this Round.
  • You do not lose a life if you miss any ducks.
  • The dog will leap out of the grass. If you shoot the dog, the Bonus Round ends.
  • In later Rounds, the ducks move faster and more of them will appear at the same time.
The duck-shooting bonus round. Don't shoot the dog!

Scoring

Each duck you shoot down is worth 500 Points. This is added to your score at the end of the Round.

If you successfully shoot down all 35 ducks, you get a Perfect Bonus of 5000 Points.

A Perfect Bonus in the Bonus Round.

Break Time

After clearing two Rounds and the Bonus Round, the game loops around on a higher difficulty.

After you clear the second loop, you will see a comical Break Time animation showing your hunting dog chasing a duck.

This same animation plays every 2 loops (4 Rounds plus Bonus Rounds).

VS. Duck Hunt title screen