RetRose Tinted is a regular feature of my Cblog, in which I re-examine games that we have fond memories of and see if they still hold up. If you have suggestions for titles to be featured in the future or ideas on how I can improve the column, please let me know.
DuckTales, 1990 by Capcom
As a child of the 80's and early 90's, I grew up on cartoons. There were cartoons on after school and then the motherlode on Saturday mornings. There was practically no time during the day that you couldn't flip to a channel and enjoy some animated entertainment. Some were great,
some we thought were great because we were too young to know better and some were
Snorks.
The first few years of the nineties were particularly excellent for cartoons. As the Saturday morning shows started to peter off in their popularity, the weekdays thrived. Warner Brothers and Disney seemed locked in mortal conflict over the hearts and minds of children everywhere. Tough decisions had to be made when
Animaniacs and
Darkwing Duck aired in the same timeslot. One show that I almost never missed was
DuckTales. There was something so utterly charming about the characters and the animation that compelled me to keep watching, even if it was essentially the same thing day after day.
Scrooge obviously has both taste and class.
While these cartoons were enjoying such success, it was only a matter of time before the licenses started proliferating into the games market. Disney turned to Capcom, who was already known for producing top-notch platform games, to make games based on
DuckTales,
Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers and
Darkwing Duck.
DuckTales, as with the TV show, follows the exploits of Scrooge McDuck as he attempts to increase his already mammoth wealth. In the game, he's seeking out five of the world's greatest treasures. Controlling Scrooge, you'll travel to the Amazon, Transylvania, the diamond mines of Africa, the Himalayas and even the moon. Along the way, Huey, Dewey, Louie and Launchpad McQuack will lend a hand or give direction as to how to complete levels.
Some enemies had creative methods you could employ to kill them
Scrooge doesn't have a whole lot of moves in his arsenal, limited pretty much to running, jumping and using his cane. The cane allows him to bounce higher than the standard jump, kill enemies by driving it into their cartoon skulls or to hit objects in levels to clear paths or make secret bonus items appear. And that's pretty much all there is to the game. It's a testament to how simple a game can really be and still be fun.
The only thing this game needs more of is Gizmoduck
Several secondary characters make appearances in the game. Bubba Duck, the frozen caveman, is hidden in a level and needs to be rescued. In a woefully brief appearance, Gizmoduck clears a path on the Moon. The Beagle Boys pop up in a few of the levels, while Magica De Spell and Flintheart Glomgold appear as boss characters (Glomgold's is at once disappointing and exhilirating). It's quite excellent fan service that feels right in line with the tone of the show.
The game has two difficulty settings, Easy and Difficult. The Easy setting isn't exactly easy, but it's certainly far more forgiving than Difficult, which may frustrate all but the most persistent players. The level design is very solid and forces you to reconsider techniques from time to time, such as in the Himalayas where you can't just bounce your way through the whole level due to deep snow that Scrooge will become stuck in. There are many little, hidden rooms and paths in each area which will have valuable power-ups, bonus points or absolutely nothing at all. The maze-like Transylvania level ranks today amongst my favorite platforming levels ever.
DuckTales 2, 1993 by Capcom
Three years after the release of
DuckTales, Capcom gave us a sequel.
DuckTales 2 follows the formula of the first, with Scrooge again travelling the world in search of rare and valuable treasure. It looks the same and sounds the same, but the gameplay only resembles the original title.
While all of the same basic elements persist, Scrooge gets a few more ways to interact with the enviroment with his cane. He can still bounce on it and hit blocks and such, but the reasons for doing so are now more intrinsic to the level design. Some areas will have Scrooge riding on rubber rafts, hiting the wall behind him to propel the craft forward. New abilities manifest themselves in using the cane as a hook to hang from rings on walls or to pull levers and switches.
While it's nice to see Capcom working on innovating the game, it always felt to me like the formula was strong enough on its own that it didn't necessitate these changes. They really slow the pacing and, frankly, give an excuse to the level designers to not have to be quite so clever. Constant placement of these new elements quickly becomes somewhat dull and made me long for the run-and-jump action present in the first.
They're both excellent games, mind you, and highlights of the platforming genre on the NES as a whole. The first
DuckTales, however, is a title that I can go back to time and time again to feel like a kid. This is a game worth having in any NES collection, but I'd strongly encourage anyone to at least NOT try the game out via emulation. Don't be put off that it's a cartoon license,
DuckTales is a winner all the way.
Final Verdict: A classic plaformer with just the right amount of charm and challenge.
MOAR RETROSE TINTED
I loved this game back in the day. Nice writeup :)
oh god that horrible sound of the cane hopping!!!
it still haunts me.
Favorite game ever.
I just played through the first game again around Xmas. Fucking awesome game!
Definitely could have used more Gizmoduck. But I remember these fondly, having rented them many times as a child. Good write up.
Great article, this is one of the best features on Dtoid. This game holds a special place in my heart, too.
Please tell me that you consulted Wikipedia for all those character names, and that you don't possess some Rainman-esque compendium of Ducktales knowledge.
Animaniacs blew Darkwing Duck out of the goddamned water, I'm sorry.
Still one of my favorite old games, along with Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers. Nice write-up.
@Char Aznable: The only name I had to look up was Flintheart Glomgold, whose name always seems to get muddled up in my brain. My mind doesn't let me forget useless information about things that entertain me.
I'd usually go for Animaniacs too, for what it's worth, but I adored Darkwing. It's too bad the game Capcom made for that is utter shite.
Oh my, Ducktales. Ever since I've heard the German version of the theme song of that show, I've never been able to listen to it the same way again.
Char: Animaniacs = Best. Cartoon. Ever.
I haven't played Duck Tales in more than a decade, but I still remember it whole heartily, one of the best NES games out there. I loved the Transylvania stage, I just like horror themes.
Excellent write up as always Conrad!
Good read, though I never played the 2nd one, I did spend many hours as kid playing the first I still love that game.
Woo-hoo! Awesome writeup as usual Conrad. I really feel bad reading these because I never have played these.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the moon theme is still one of my favorite pieces of video game music ever.
Totally own the 1st one for NES, good times!
@shipero: Agreed!
I was obsessed with Ducktales as a kid, I never missed a show and saw all of the movies too. I never could finish this game, but damn if it wasn't good times. I should probably play it all the way through sometime..
Side note, Animaniacs blow ANY cartoon out of the water.
Nice write up, though I've never seen the game in action I used to watch the cartoon on kids TV every day. <3
Please do a Retrose review of Cool Spot. Please!
@McSnow: I loved Cool Spot and was actually just thinking about it the other day. Your wish is my command, hopefully sometime in May.
The theme for The Moon is still my favorite composition of beeps and bloops of all time.
Ducktales!!! Whooo hoo!
superb game. one of the best on the NES.
oh, and The Tick is the greatest cartoon ever. just so we're all on the same page.
this game was really hard when I was a kid. I don't think I ever beat this.
This game is so hard, and yet so awesome
"The only thing this game needs more of is Gizmoduck "
-agreed
Also, the moon stage music is my current ring tone.
I know I could get to the Moon as a kid, don't think I ever beat it. This game and Rescue Rangers were both awesome Capcom/Disney titles for NES.
I'm always impressed with Capcom graphics. Yeah, Disney designed the ducks, but how the hell did Capcom cram them into such tiny sprites?
I've never actually played Duck Tales, so maybe I'll go grab it somewhere. I feel like I missed the old-but-good platformer boat.
I loved the first ducktales game as a kid, I still remember the first time i beat it.