Addicting Soundtrack
Ducktales has possibly been more well known for its theme song than anything else, so it’s no surprise that a game based on the series would have excellent music. The original had very memorable and fitting music that is still talked about to this day, including a wonderful 8-bit version of the theme song. Ducktales: Remastered takes these themes and builds upon them to further enhance the experience. The music still has an 8-bit sound to it, but is updated to fit perfectly with the HD feel of the release. Try to play through the game and not find yourself humming some of the themes later. I know I sure was after playing.
Diving in Scrooge’s Money Bin
This reason is nothing more than what the heading says, but man did it feel great to be able to dive into that pool of gold and treasure in Scrooge’s vault. One of the most iconic scenes of the TV series’ opening featured Scrooge McDuck diving into his pool of treasures, known as his money bin. It’s just a little addition to the game, but when you are in the vault and can choose what level to play, you can choose instead to go into the money bin and make a big dive into the pit just like in the opening. I found myself going back and doing it a few times between each level for some reason. I guess it was just a dream watching the show as a kid to do that, and doing so in the game is the closest I will ever come to doing it, since it wouldn’t go so well in real life even if I somehow had that much gold anyways.
NOT
Dialogue Disrupts Game Flow
While it was great to have most of the original cast back for the game, the stretches of dialogue in the game began to wear thin. The worst offender was in the Amazon stage, where you had to collect coins throughout the stage to advance. Every single time you found one of the coins, the game would stop and Scrooge McDuck would have a conversation with Launchpad. They weren’t overly long, but they disrupted the action every time. The original game was fast-paced action with only a few stops during the entire game while this one seemed like it was stop for a conversation every few minutes. The game did add a lot of backstory to why everything was done in the original game, which was a welcome addition, but it just got too long-winded at times.
Too Short
Like most NES platformers, Ducktales was not a very long game and could easily be beaten in one sitting. The problem with that translating to today is that a game that short would not be received well today more than likely. Luckily we do get a good bit more content in this release than the original with the addition of an intro and full new ending stage, a new difficulty level, and longer levels. The problem is that the game is still a little too short. I beat the game in one day, but was inbetween doing other things, and could have probably been beaten in a couple hours if played straight through, especially on the easiest difficulty settings. The game adds a collect-a-thon aspect to each level, but sometimes it ruins the flow of a stage when you have to backtrack as a result. The game does add a little bit of replay value with a gallery where you can spend the money you collect on unlockables, which will require multiple playthroughs to unlock everything.
VERDICT
Ducktales: Remastered is a very faithful remake of the classic Ducktales for NES. WayForward Technologies has taken one of the most iconic 8-bit platformers and brought it to a new generation with a variety of new additions to make it worth playing for those that have played and beaten the original. Beautiful graphics, aesthetically pleasing music, and tight simple controls allow the game to stand out above some past remakes that were not so well received. It’s possible that this may be your last chance to hear Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck as well. Whether you may have played the NES game or not, or do not even know what Ducktales is, Ducktales: Remastered is one to check out for anybody that enjoys a fun platformer. The game may be a little short for a more expensive downloadable title at $14.99, but the combination of almost everything else in the game makes it well worth the price of admission.
Hopefully this game’s release will allow for other Capcom classics to be remade, with Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers for NES being mentioned in the past as the next possibility, if this does well. Ducktales: Remastered is available for Playstation 3, Wii U, and PC now, with a release on Xbox 360 coming on September 11.
[Editor’s Note: Ducktales: Remastered was reviewed on the Xbox 360 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]