DuckTales Remastered Review
12 August 2013 | By Jamie Donnelly
Scrooge McDuck has taken his wealth and got himself a makeover, but is he still worth quacking about?
DuckTales Remastered is an HD upgrade done right. No shortcuts have been taken - every level has been given new backgrounds and animations, from the jungles of the Amazon to spaceships on the moon, with Scrooge McDuck vibrantly popping off the screen, Everything looks and sounds slick, with new story sequences bulking up the action - they occasionally feel forced, but mostly contribute to drawing you further into the DuckTales world.
All of this makes a classic action-platformer spring to life in a new age. Playing as Scrooge McDuck, you’re motivated by money, treasure and saving your nephews. It’s a simple game - you jump on enemy heads with your pogo stick or whack them with your cane, and occasionally you may need to hit an object into another object, or move an object so it acts as a platform, but that's as complicated as it ever gets. Mostly, it’s about using these simple elements to discover and explore each of the five stages placed in front of you.
There are hidden walls, secret areas, and special items littered throughout the levels. You’ve got to collect these in order to progress, while also finding as many gems as you can to help boost Scrooge’s personal wealth. The levels may not be the most complex, sprawling affairs, but there’s enough going on to keep things interesting across multiple playthroughs - and, due to the high difficulty of the game and the low amount of lives you're gifted, you’ll be looking at the same scenery and obstacles over and over again.
Age-old frustrations do crop up. Difficulty is high due to tricky jumps and a large number of enemies, but made more frustrating because there are no in-level checkpoints across the five stages. Even if you’ve reached the very end of a level, losing all your lives will send you right back to the start, leaving you to do everything over again, including watching cutscenes. Likewise, there’s a few cobwebs in regards to hit boxes and button reactions, and you’ll occasionally lose a life because a thorn pit has encroached up onto a platform, or because Scrooge fails to pogo even when you swear you’ve pressed the button.
No matter how annoying these aspects can be, though, they’re part of the charm. Ducktales Remastered is a nostalgia trip from start to end, frustrating, life-taking warts and all. There are mine cart levels, collectibles that ding when you pick them up, a bank vault full of money that exists for no reason other than to let you dive in. It’s clear that this was a project of care and love, with attention to detail ever-present - everything new is there to accentuate the old, and it results in a game that brings retro into the modern era with barely a hiccup.
All of this makes a classic action-platformer spring to life in a new age. Playing as Scrooge McDuck, you’re motivated by money, treasure and saving your nephews. It’s a simple game - you jump on enemy heads with your pogo stick or whack them with your cane, and occasionally you may need to hit an object into another object, or move an object so it acts as a platform, but that's as complicated as it ever gets. Mostly, it’s about using these simple elements to discover and explore each of the five stages placed in front of you.
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| Real mummy ducks or a case of the scooby-doos? |
There are hidden walls, secret areas, and special items littered throughout the levels. You’ve got to collect these in order to progress, while also finding as many gems as you can to help boost Scrooge’s personal wealth. The levels may not be the most complex, sprawling affairs, but there’s enough going on to keep things interesting across multiple playthroughs - and, due to the high difficulty of the game and the low amount of lives you're gifted, you’ll be looking at the same scenery and obstacles over and over again.
 |
| It wouldn't be an old school platformer without a mine cart level |
Age-old frustrations do crop up. Difficulty is high due to tricky jumps and a large number of enemies, but made more frustrating because there are no in-level checkpoints across the five stages. Even if you’ve reached the very end of a level, losing all your lives will send you right back to the start, leaving you to do everything over again, including watching cutscenes. Likewise, there’s a few cobwebs in regards to hit boxes and button reactions, and you’ll occasionally lose a life because a thorn pit has encroached up onto a platform, or because Scrooge fails to pogo even when you swear you’ve pressed the button.
No matter how annoying these aspects can be, though, they’re part of the charm. Ducktales Remastered is a nostalgia trip from start to end, frustrating, life-taking warts and all. There are mine cart levels, collectibles that ding when you pick them up, a bank vault full of money that exists for no reason other than to let you dive in. It’s clear that this was a project of care and love, with attention to detail ever-present - everything new is there to accentuate the old, and it results in a game that brings retro into the modern era with barely a hiccup.
DUCKTALES REMASTERED VERDICT
No matter how annoying these aspects can be, though, they’re part of the charm. Ducktales Remastered is a nostalgia trip from start to end, frustrating, life-taking warts and all. There are mine cart levels, collectibles that ding when you pick them up, a bank vault full of money that exists for no reason other than to let you dive in. It’s clear that this was a project of care and love, with attention to detail ever-present - everything new is there to accentuate the old, and it results in a game that brings retro into the modern era with barely a hiccup.
TOP GAME MOMENT
Diving into Scrooge’s vault.
