Power Hour Reviews are a new weekly NYMG feature in which we spend one intense hour playing newly released games in order to get a sense not only of game mechanics and characterization, but narrative as well. Let us spend our time first, so that you don’t have to waste yours.
Ducktales: Remastered is the new and improved version of the game Ducktales that was originally released for the NES in 1989. Based on the television series of the same name, this game follows the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his gang as they race to find five rare treasures before the Beagle gang can beat them to the treasures.
I personally remember this game as the Gameboy version, released in 1990, but that’s mostly because I never owned an NES (I know it’s terrible!). The first thing to really note about this game is that it’s a huge wave of nostalgia. I grew up watching Ducktales, playing QuackShot for the Sega (I really wish they would remake that one, too!) and of course travelling everywhere with my Gameboy to play Tetris and Ducktales. So my immediate thoughts when I turned this on were of my childhood and how much I loved this series.
This game plays out exactly how I remember it, an alarm goes off at Scrooge McDuck’s money vault and he has to save the day quickly before the Beagle Gang steals all of his money. Once inside you’re acquainted with the controls, the mechanics are pretty much exactly the same as they used to be: Scrooge can jump, bounce on his cane like a pogo stick, and utilize his cane to hit specific items. The game plays as a side-scrolling platformer: there are timed elements on different levels and secret passageways that can be found by jumping around the different elements in the level design. Once you’ve saved the vault Scrooge learns that the Beagle Gang broke in so that they could find the coordinates to large and rare treasures. Of course Scrooge needs to find these treasures because his already vast fortune isn’t quite large enough!
And thus begins the adventure! From that moment on the vault room turns into a control center of sorts where you can choose which location you’ll travel to next. Again, this is all pretty much exactly the same as the original version, except with full blown modern graphics. One thing I didn’t quite remember from when I was younger was how ridiculously long the cut scenes are. I had to cheat a little bit on this whole hour of play then review thing because I spent at least half the time watching cut scenes and only wound up playing through the intro scene and part of the Amazon level. So, I started over and skipped every cut scene (the option to do so presents itself in the pause menu each time they come up) which extended my hour worth of gameplay by so much that I was able to play all the way through the intro part, the Amazon level, AND the Transylvania level.
Another element that I don’t remember exactly the same is Scrooge’s treatment of the other characters; especially Launchpad, who was my personal favorite when I was little. He can be cruel with the things he says, but eventually he ends up congratulating the characters on a job well done. And when I say cruel, I mean he calls Launchpad a “Blockhead” on more than one occasion, as well as the other characters being called a slew of other mean names. I don’t remember Scrooge as a cruel character (grumpy sure) and I was very little when I played this game as it came out the same year I was born, so it’s hard to say whether you should just let your child play. I’ll let you parents decide for yourselves.
One of my favorite things about this remake is that the sounds are identical to the original version of the game; amping the nostalgia level way up. So identical in fact, that the whole original cast came back to voice the characters. When Scrooge climbs up ropes it makes the same distinctive tink tink tink sound and the music brings back great memories for me. An interesting addition to the game is the ability to buy artwork with the money you collect throughout the levels. Once you purchase the artwork you can take a closer look, revealing the way the character used to look in the 16 bit version of the game or concept art. The more you purchase, the more you can unlock and the more you can learn about how they redid the game.
As far as I can tell from my hour+ of gameplay there is not a multiplayer option and you only play as Scrooge McDuck throughout the levels. You interact with all of your favorite characters: Mrs. Beaksley, Launchpad, Webbigail, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. You consistently run into the Beagle Boys, along with some other “evil” characters such as Magica De Spell. At the end of each level you fight a boss and then your money is counted and you are able to move onto the next level. In the original version there are different endings depending on how much money you collected, so I imagine this version will have multiple endings base on your performance as well.
All in all, I would say this is a must have if you played the original or know and love the Ducktales series. If you didn’t play the original you might find the game slow, with all of those dang cut scenes, but if you enjoyed the cartoon series this would still be a very fun game. It’s priced to impulse buy at $14.99 and the nostalgia alone is worth that money. I’d love to have this on the 3DS, but it is unfortunately only available on the WiiU as far as Nintendo devices go. It’s also available on PSN, Xbox Live Arcade, and the PC through Steam!
