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DuckTales(JP) is an NES and Game Boy video game released in 1989 and 1990, respectively. It is based on the widely popular Disney Afternoon television show of the same name, and thus was commercially successful. It also gained critical acceptance too, receiving high praises from magazines at the time due to its gameplay, music and graphics. In the game, the player takes control of Scrooge McDuck and uses his cane as a weapon and a pogo stick. Its sequel, DuckTales 2, was released in 1993.
In 2013 (24 years later), the game was remade as a Wii U game titled DuckTales Remastered. The original game and its sequel were later collected along with the other Disney Afternoon NES games in the compilation game The Disney Afternoon Collection, which was released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One... but ironically, not on any Nintendo consoles.
Gameplay[]
Players control Scrooge McDuck as he travels around the world and outer space in search of five treasures to further increase his fortune. Scrooge is able to attack enemies and get around using his cane. On the ground, Scrooge can swing his cane to attack enemies and to break open or throw certain objects. While jumping, Scrooge can bounce on his cane similarly to a pogo stick and attack enemies from above. This also allows him to reach higher areas as well as bounce across hazardous areas that hurt his palmate. Along the way, Scrooge can find various diamonds, hidden inside treasure chests or appearing in certain areas, to increase his fortune and ice cream that can restore his health. Scrooge will also encounter various characters from the series who have a variety of roles, such as providing hints, offering useful items, opening access to new areas, or attempting to stop Scrooge's progress. Hidden in the game is a secret life-restoring cheat, accessed by pressing the select button while standing still, that will refill Scrooge's heart points for $3,000,000.
The game features five levels: African mines, The Amazon, The Himalayas, Transylvania, and the Moon. The player can visit any of the destinations to pursue the treasures in any order. However, The African mines and Transylvania must be revisited to acquire certain essential items. Two secret treasures are scattered between all five destinations. Each destination's treasure is protected by a boss that Scrooge must defeat to retrieve. When all five main treasures are collected, the player returns to Transylvania for a final boss fight against Dracula Duck. After defeating him, the player must contend with Flintheart Glomgold and Magica DeSpell for the final treasure.
Upon completing the game, the player can receive one of three endings based on his performance: a regular ending for simply clearing the game, a great ending for clearing the game with at least $10,000,000, and a bad ending for clearing the game with $0. As the player is given $1,000,000 for each level's treasure, the bad ending is only achievable by spending all accumulated money on the life-restore cheat before the player ends the game. In order to do that, the player has to collect exactly $1,000,000 to get a total money of $6,000,000 because he gets a total of $5,000,000 from the bosses. Then, the player has to apply the life-restore cheat two times to end up with $0.
Development[]
Although Capcom had previously worked with Disney by publishing the Hudson-produced Mickey Mousecapade in North America in 1988, DuckTales became the first licensed game that the company developed, and shared many key personnel with the original Mega Man series including producer Tokuro Fujiwara, character designer Keiji Inafune, and sound programmer Yoshihiro Sakaguchi.
Revisions to the game included the removal of crosses from the coffins in the Transylvania stage, replacing them with the letters "RIP", replacing hamburgers as power-ups with ice cream, and the omission of an option for Scrooge to give his money up, an action deemed too "un-Scrooge-like." Scrooge McDuck's shirt sprite was changed from blue to red, matching his comic book counterpart, to make him stand out and pop more against the blue and dark backgrounds. A leaked prototype cartridge from a private collector reveals several differences between the original, unfinished version and the final release, such as different level names, unused music for the Transylvania stage, slower tempo on the music for the Moon stage, unused or altered text, and the character Gizmoduck going by his Japanese name "RoboDuck". Despite the changes, images of the unfinished beta version could be seen in the 1990 books Consumer Guide: Hot Tips for the Coolest Nintendo Games and the NES Game Atlas by Nintendo.
DuckTales was later ported to the Game Boy in late 1990. This version features the same gameplay, music and levels of the original console release, though the layout of each level was changed to accommodate the handheld's lower resolution screen.
Reception[]
DuckTales was a commercial success, with the NES and Game Boy versions selling approximately 1.67 million and 1.43 million copies worldwide respectively, each becoming Capcom's highest-selling titles for their respective platforms. It was released to generally positive reviews, with Electronic Gaming Monthly praising the NES version for its gameplay and colorful graphics, calling it "a prime example of very good game design." The magazine additionally commented that the title was probably made "with younger players in mind" due to its short length and relative lack of difficulty or complexity, declaring that "you'll probably enjoy this game but find it beaten after the first day of play." Conversely, Mean Machines magazine called the game "very tough and challenging", elaborating that "it requires plenty of skill to get all the way through the game in one go." Nintendo Power later called the Game Boy port "a faithful translation from the NES version." The game was featured on the cover of Nintendo Power volume 8 in September 1989.
External links[]
- DuckTales at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- DuckTales at The Disney Wiki, the Fandom wiki on Disney.
- DuckTales at GameFAQs
- DuckTales at MobyGames