The NES Cat: Review #5: Sing along everybody! Might solve a mystery, or rewrite history...

DuckTales box art

...Ducktales, Oowoo, woo.

So, today it's all about Ducktales. A phenomenal NES game that is still played and was recently (a month ago) remastered and re-released with enhanced visuals and audibles.

Released by Capcom's Mega-Man team in 1989, the game was praised for its controls, non-linear gameplay and it became one of the best and most selling NES games, having sold over 1.67 million copies worldwide.

Box back side

First time I played the game, I was stunned. The graphics, the music, the movement of the characters, the detail of the backgrounds, it was all there. And Scrooge was so easy to control that made the whole experience even better. I jumped around on my cane (Scrooge's cane, not mine-not that old) and killed enemies Super Mario style (stomp on their head) like a pro in no time. I adjusted immediately.

The game is about -what else- finding and collecting treasure. You take on the role of Scrooge McDuck as he travels across the world 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 break open or throw certain objects. While jumping, Scrooge can bounce on his cane like a pogo stick to attack enemies from above. This also allows him to reach higher areas, as well as bounce across hazardous areas that would hurt him on foot.

Along the way, Scrooge can find various diamonds, found in 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 various roles, such as providing hints, offering up items and opening up new areas. Five levels are available in DuckTales: African Mines, The Amazon, The Himalayas, Transylvania and The Moon.

The player can visit the levels in any order and can revisit them in order to access new areas unlocked after collecting certain items. Each level culminates in a boss battle that the player must defeat to retrieve that level's treasure. There are also two secret treasures hidden within some of the levels. When all five main treasures are collected, the player returns to Transylvania for the final boss fight. Upon completing the game, -spoiler alert- 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 both hidden treasures and at least $ 10.000.000, and a bad ending for clearing the game with $ 0.

Alternate endings in a 1989 game! That was ultra groundbreaking back then.

• The remastered version

The remastered version, released about a month ago, features 2.5D perspective visuals with 2D hand-drawn sprites (exceptional) and 3D modeled levels. The music is also more orchestral with 8-bit elements. Once you complete the game you can choose between remastered and original 8-bit music.

Now to the interesting NES part: Capcom released the so called "Ducktales press pack" features a lunchbox full of shredded one dollar bills, a coming up ad brochure with Mega Man 3 and other retro games that where released back at the day, a coupon for the "Green Cheese of Longevity" featured in the game, a fake ad for an upcoming cassette soundtrack from the game, a certificate of authenticity with the serial number hand-written onto it and A GOLDEN NES CART PACKED WITH THE ORIGINAL DUCKTALES AND REMASTERED LABEL LOGO. They made 150 of these and, as you expect, it might be the next big NES collectible. If you can get your hands on one, hold tight onto it. It's not yet found on eBay, so its price is not quite set yet, but some estimates talk about for about 200-300$. Personally I think it will go much higher in the range of a couple thousand.

Conclusion: Ducktales is a great NES game. It's super addictive and you won't stop until you finish it. The remastered version is better on the visuals and music, but the original just has the feeling and you get to play it with the world-loved NES controller. It's not rare (C+ Not quite rare on the NES rarity list) and you can find it on eBay full with box and manual for about 70$. If you can get your hands on the golden remastered version, hold on to it, but if you want to sell it give it some time to grow. As time passes by, the bids get higher, don't let it go for a couple of hundred$.

-NESCat