Donald Duck’s Speedboat

How to play Donald Duck’s Speedboat online

• Steer the boat: arrow keys
• Throttle: hold the Space bar
• Start a game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
• Save and load: Ctrl + 0–9 saves, Alt + 0–9 loads

Gameplay

Donald has to get through a course full of rocks, whirlpools and other hazards. The fire button works as the throttle, and you only score points while you hold it down. Crashing does not end the game, which was meant to keep it friendly for small children: they can go slowly and safely, while older players keep the throttle open and race for points. How quickly you finish decides which cup Donald’s nephews give you: bronze, silver or gold.

Was it released in Brazil?

No. For years a ROM with a CCE logo, a Brazilian cartridge maker, was passed around online, and many people believed the game had come out in South America. This page used to say so too. That ROM was later shown to be a modern forgery. The game was announced in a Polyvox catalogue in Brazil, and a prototype box and screenshots appeared in European Atari catalogues, but no version reached the shops.

History

The game was first called Donald Duck’s Regatta. It was part of Atari’s line of games for children, and the most likely reason it was dropped is that the whole children’s line was selling poorly and was shut down.