GoNintendo 'End of Day' thought - DuckTales Remastered review

Might as well make this a week of reviews, don't you think?! DuckTales Remastered is on the chopping block, with SteamWorld Dig, Pikmin 3 and Mario and Luigi: Dream Team to come! For now, see what I thought of WayForward's remake! See you in a few, short hours.

One month before DuckTales Remastered was announced, I was hanging out with a friend (R-Type for our podcast listeners) and we were talking about classic NES games. The discussion focused in on NES licensed property games that were the cream of the crop. Obviously DuckTales was a huge part of that conversation. Our fond memories were enough for us to hook up an NES and play through the original title once again.

My friend asked me why this game was never released on the Virtual Console, or remade, for that matter. I said the chances of that happening were so slim, simply because Capcom and Disney would have to renegotiate a deal for the title. Seemed like a lot of work just to get a Virtual Console release, which I thought was the more likely of the two. Of course, I never thought either would happen...but am I glad to be wrong.

Somehow the stars aligned and DuckTales lives to see another day. Even better, WayForward handled the duties in revamping the title for today's market. One of my favorite NES games being tackled by one of my favorite game developers. Those facts alone were enough to get me ridiculously pumped up for the game. Now that I've plowed through the title and had the wave of nostalgia rush over me, how do I feel about the revisit?


DuckTales on the NES isn't one of the most difficult games on the platform, but it certainly put up a challenge. It wasn't a platformer that you could just rush through and expect to win with ease. You had to take your time and plan your attacks, as well as your route ahead. Throw in levels with branching paths and necessary backtracking and you have an experience that can throw you for quite a loop on your first playthrough. That might not sit too well with today's gamers, which is why WayForward had to shift some things around for this remake.

All the levels from the original NES outing are included in DuckTales Remastered, plus a bonus intro and end level. The meat-and-potatoes of the gameplay comes from the 5 worlds we all know and love. While you can still tackle them in any order you see fit, the need to obtain items in one level to progress in another has been removed. You no longer have to worry about entering a level only to find that you can't move forward without a key from another level. That bit was somewhat confusing in the original game, so the removal of that mechanic seems quite welcome.

The classic NES title's levels also had all sorts of paths for you to explore. You could wander around and climb vines, hop through mirrors, jump down pits and do much more during your adventure. You'd climb up, down and all around to find out where you need to go and what to do in order to reach the boss. The game gave you very little in the way of direction, but that was kind of welcome. I found the classic experience to be something like a Metroid-light adventure. You didn't have a world the size of Metroid to explore, but you did have a few twists and turns that you'd have to sort on your own.

DuckTales Remastered may still offer various paths, but a few of them have been shifted around to make a bit more sense within their levels. You also have a bit more reason to explore levels now. You might need to collect pieces of objects in order to progress deeper into that level. This makes you wander around each level and hunt down items while seeing what's hidden within. While I do appreciate having the reason to explore, I kind of enjoyed wandering around on my own a bit more. Now you have to wander no matter what. Not a bad thing, but not as open as the original.

The deeper you get into DuckTales Remastered, the more you see just how much gaming has changed over the years. If anything, you notice that gamers today are babied MUCH more than they were back in the day. Many NES games made the player figure things out on their own. Sometimes this was just because of poor direction and planning by the game developer, but other times this was implemented in order to give a sense of exploration and wonder. Today's games have signs pointing out your every step and tutorials for everything/anything.

DuckTales Remastered's opening level is a giant tutorial to teach you how to play. I never found DuckTales to be all that complicated a game to understand, but I guess today's players might be a bit baffled by common platformer mechanics. The level is fun to play and harmless in general, but the fact that it's included makes me a bit sad for how little gamers seem to be capable of doing nowadays. Rather than figure things out on their own or think things through, they need an in-game tutorial and hop online to get past an easy roadblock.

I found the game's normal mode to be easier than the original NES game. Not a walk in the park, but an experience that I found quicker to tackle than the original. You can also choose from easy and hard difficulties, with an expert mode to be unlocked. Easy throws in multiple checkpoints in each level and halves the damage you take. Hard obviously does away with those cushy features. It's up to you to find the mode that works for you. I still just wish that normal offered up a bit more challenge. I also am somewhat saddened to see just how much easy mode has in common with the normal in most of today's games.

On the flip-side, who am I to judge? This is how today's gamers play games and they seem to enjoy the medium quite a bit. If this is what's going on today in order to make gamers smile, so be it. I've come from a different time and don't feel that i need these things, but I can always just plow though them and get to the main part of a game. While DuckTales Remastered does a lot to steer the player in the right direction, I never felt those new features getting in the way of my fun.

Make no mistake, DuckTales Remastered is still a ton of fun. The game definitely stands the test of time. I think WayForward's tweaks really shine through via their approach with level layouts. Compared to the original title, Remastered does a great job of making each level feel like a cohesive experience. Level designs now feel like they have a sensible flow to them. Things progress in a way that makes sense within that level. The original title crammed a bunch of stuff into each level just for fun, but WayForward has taken those elements and made them make sense at the same time.

I particularly found this to be true in the Amazon level. The original game had you trekking through a jungle, climbing a vine, flying over a pit and then ending up in a temple. Remastered still features all those elements, but now you feel like you're really going on a journey. You collect tokens to open a path to the temple, hitch a ride with Launchpad to reach the entrance and then climb your way through the expanded temple. Seeing how WayForward managed to shift the original design really tickled my fancy.

The game's boss battles also got a major overhaul. Again, the original title had fun boss battles, but they didn't seem to have much personality or depth. Remastered takes those boss ideas and fleshes them out to a completely different level. Now you'll have multiple patterns to remember and unique ways to attack bosses. These enemies even utilize background elements during the battles, which is always a sweet spot for me. Without a doubt, in my mind, these boss battles are head-and-shoulders above the original title.

Tying the level revamps and boss battles together is the game's new narrative. I know this is going to be a major bone of contention for some players with Remastered, but I truly enjoyed the new content. Each level now has it's own story, which felt quite like an episode of the original cartoon. A new level design, a new reason for Scrooge and the gang to go exploring. I was happy to hear the story details each time I went through, thanks to the writing that felt just like the TV show and the voice acting which almost entirely comes from the original cast. A truly enjoyable feature in my eyes. Even if it's not your sort of thing, you can just skip cut-scenes and get right into the action!

Of course, you can't tackle any WayForward title without discussing the absolutely amazing animation. There's a reason why Disney and Capcom were so eager to bring WayForward on-board with this project. They are known throughout the industry for their work with 2D art and animation. They absolutely do not disappoint with DuckTales Remastered. This animation is easily on-par with what you saw in the original cartoon. The characters are drawn perfectly and animate oh-so smoothly. Things are so gorgeous to look at that I would just sit and watch in some instances. Stand-out moments come from when Scrooge gets eaten by a ravenous plant, smacks his cane against a solid object or shivers in a pile of snow. Trust me, make a point to check out these animations over and over again!

Equally important to this game and always a high-point in WayForward titles is the soundtrack. This time around we have remixes of the original tunes, which were some of the best 8-bit compositions the platform ever saw. If you are familiar with WayForward's audio work, then you already know that you're in for a fantastic treat. All the classic tunes return with embellishments and new parts that fit in wonderfully. Even if this game never hit the NES, these remixed songs would be just as popular today. Hell, my favorite song in the game could very well be the brand-new tune that goes along with the brand-new final level!

DuckTales Remastered is definitely a remake that was handled with care. There's a reason so many people love the original, and those ideas are still present in this revamp. Sure, some content might be shifted around and modified, but the overall experience is just as wonderful. WayForward was the perfect choice for this project due to their technical know-how and their love of classic games. There are definitely some minor quibbles with the final project, but those issues come from how gamers have been coddled over the years. I feel like WayForward was just responding to what most gamers expect today.

You're going to hear that this game is too hard. You're also going to hear that it's too easy. I also expect that you'll hear complaints about cut-scenes. Keep in mind that while these are elements that might not make everyone happy, they can all be changed. Difficulty can be set to your liking. Cut-scenes can be easily skipped. If those options weren't there, then people would have a bigger reason to whine. WayForward included these options to make sure you could have the experience you want. Once you find the approach you enjoy, I know that you'll definitely get a big smile from DuckTales Remastered. Seeing this project come together with a fresh coat of paint and some new gameplay sensibilities really made me happy. It also made me wish that Disney would bring the cartoon back!

Now I think it's time for WayForward to tackle some Rescue Rangers!