Dan Geeks Out: Video Game Review #161: DuckTales: Remastered

DuckTales: Remastered

PlayStation 3

Nostalgia Factor:

I had played the original NES version of DuckTales when I was a kid, so when I first caught wind of the modern day HD remaster I took notice. I never actually owned this game for the NES - instead I believe I only rented it for one weekend.

I don't remember a whole lot about my time with the original DuckTales, other than that I beat it pretty quickly, despite everyone telling me how difficult they'd heard it was. I don't think I spent a whole lot of time playing the game once I beat it. Seeing as how this was just a rental, and not a game that I ever physically owned a copy of, I forgot about it pretty quickly.

DuckTales' popularity has risen over the years, and many people now herald it as one of the best NES titles of all time. Since I didn't own a copy of the game and had only played it just that one weekend of my life as a kid, reading all those great reviews made me want to go back and revisit it again. In a world class stroke of great timing, this was right around the time that the HD remaster came out. Rather than bust my butt trying to find an old, rare version of the 8-bit classic, I decided to opt for the new version instead.

Story:

Scrooge McDuck is on the hunt to uncover five lost artifacts. Reportedly, these five artifacts will lead the way to a treasure so vast, it will forever secure Scrooge's position as the richest duck on the face of the planet.

That's... pretty much it. Each stage has its own self-contained story elements to it, making each one feel like a mini episode of the show. For example, the African Mine stage has you not only looking for the lost treasure, it also has you investigating a species of underground creatures who are competing in athletic competitions that are so intense they are causing devastating earthquakes. The Himalayas level has you scavenging for parts after your plane crashes, so you have to fix the plane in addition to looking for the treasure. The moon stage has you teaming up with Gizmoduck as you race to save the cosmic green cheese from a giant rat creature.

I don't remember the NES version of the game having a story, so I was surprised by all the dialogue when I started playing this. There are some, at times, rather lengthy conversation sequences. I appreciate that the makers of the game tried to incorporate more elements from the show into the game, rather than just giving us a straight up HD recreation of the original title. But at the same time, I don't play 2D platformers for their story. Does anyone care about the story when they are playing a 2D Sonic or Mario title? No. The game gets a bit too bogged down at times trying to be funny and clever when really I just want to PLAY.

Gameplay:

From what I remember, the gameplay seems like it is faithful to its source material. The control scheme is very simple. You only use the directional pad, the jump button, and the stick button. What makes the game unique is in Scrooge's pogo stick attack. Hold down the stick button when you are in mid-air, and Scrooge pulls out his pogo stick and will bounce on it when he he hits the ground. You can use this bounce move to reach areas that you can't reach with regular jumping. If you land on an enemy with your pogo stick out, you will kill or damage it. Not only does the pogo stick help you bounce higher and attack enemies, it also allows you to get past obstacles such as spike pits. Can't find a way to get past it? Just bounce across with your stick!

Another thing that makes DuckTales unique is its non-linear nature. The first stage of the game is as linear as can be, but after that things really start to open up. You have to collect five artifacts, each one hiding out in its own stage. The game lets you select the order in which you want to tackle these stages. Each stage is also somewhat non-linear in nature, as there are usually things scattered about each stage that you have to collect or unlock before you can move on to the end of it. You can't just race from the stage's starting point to its finish. No, no. The way the game is set up, it really makes you explore every inch of each level's map. It is pretty genius game design, I must say.

Graphics:

DuckTales looks really nice. The art, the animation, everything looks as crisp as can be. The makers of the game didn't simply take the easy way out with this. They could have gone with a more classic, 8-bit look, like a lot of the indie games you see out there nowadays. But no, they started from the bottom up. Each stage is a rich, fully detailed cartoon marvel. The game is beautiful, and parts of it look like they could have been ripped directly from the old cartoon. Forget that, the game looks BETTER than the old cartoon.

My wife doesn't even like video games very much, but even she had to comment on how fantastic this game looked when she saw me playing it.

Sound:

Ducktales shines in its music and sound effects as well. Each stage has its own enjoyable, hum-along-with tune to it. The sound effects fit the action perfectly. What impressed me was the voice acting. It's been AGES since I have seen Ducktales, but a lot of the game's voices brought me back in time. I didn't even realize that I had forgotten so many of these characters until I heard them speak. I was 8 years old all over again as I played this. I don't know if these are all the same voice actors or not, but you could have fooled me. Really, really great voice acting. I just wish there wasn't so much pointless and sometimes boring character banter in the game. But hey, at least if I had to sit through it, it was well-voiced boring banter.

I can't make it through this review without mentioning the classic Ducktales theme song. Is there a more iconic 80's cartoon theme song out there? I'm not sure. At first I was disappointed that the game didn't play the song immediately when I fired it up, like I was expecting it to. In fact, you don't even hear the song at all until you have beaten the game. But when you do, oooh it is so majestic. I look at it as a well-earned reward for finishing the game.

Overall:

Aside from the long, boring character conversations, I have almost nothing bad to say about this game. It looks great, it sounds great, it handles well, it's creative, it's fun. I barely remember the original NES game, but I can't imagine that they didn't do it justice. In fact, they may have even improved it.

The game is short, I won't deny that. You can easily beat the whole thing in two to three hours. If you were buying this game full price for 30 or 40 bucks, I don't know if I can say that it would be worth it. If you're a diehard fan of the original, then sure. But if you are a casual fan or a guy like me who only has passing memories of the old game, you may want to see if you can get it at a discounted price. I am pretty sure I got it for either 10 bucks or less than 10 bucks. And that was several years ago, so I am positive you can get it for dirt cheap now.

Once you beat the game, there are unlockables to collect with the money you earned in the game. If you find yourself short some cash, you can go back and replay old levels to collect more money. The game's unlockables include things like character art and music. I kept playing after I completed the game, if only to unlock everything and collect 100% of the game's trophies. I know that digital accomplishments are pretty much useless, but they do add some replay value to the game. Without them, I probably would have just beat the game in 2 or 3 hours and been done with it. Instead, I ended up playing for well over 10 hours, collecting everything there was to collect and beating the game multiple times, even on its highest difficulty.

This is a really fun game, but unfortunately nostalgia bias works a little bit against it this time around. I didn't own DuckTales as a kid. I didn't spend countless days, weeks, and hours playing it like I did everything else on the NES. It doesn't carry the same kind of emotional clout that a game like, say, Mario does. If they did an HD remaster of Mario 3 in the same vein as this game, I would be falling all over myself to get a copy. I'd be putting it on a pedestal and proclaiming it a game for the ages.

Instead, all I can say is that DuckTales is a fun game. I certainly appreciate how well done its visuals and its audio are. I played it, I liked it, I enjoyed my brief time with it. But I've played a countless number of 2D platformers in my life and I can't say that this is going to leave a big impact on me as a gamer.

Final Score: