Ducktales Remastered Review

Hello Fellow Gamers,

Today’s game is a remake of a game from the eighties, a game from the NES that has sustained popularity to the point of this remake, and it does a very good job.  I have not played the original, but if given the opportunity, I might.  I speak of DuckTales Remastered on the PS3.

First off, I bought this game for fourteen dollars on the Playstation Network, and I feel like I underpaid.  The quality of this game is high, maybe not sixty dollars high, but higher than fourteen for sure.  The character sprites (playable, non-playable, enemy, and boss)  are all hand drawn, and the backgrounds are painted.  The voice acting is very similar to the cartoon, so it’s like you’re watching an episode of Ducktales.  This means a blast of nostalgia for those who watched the cartoon or played the original.  

The controls are simple and don’t require getting used to.  You can just pick it up and go.  Also, the animation is smooth, not choppy in the slightest.  There are seven levels, each with a boss at the end.

The Intro is the money bin.  It serves as the tutorial, and the boss is Big Time Beagle.  Then the player must finish five levels in any order they choose.  Each level has a treasure that is part of the story.

The first level on the list is the Amazon to get the scepter of the Incan king.  It is the easiest level because it has no gimmicks.  I recommend doing this one first because it allows you to master the Pogo jump, which is your basic way of attacking, and allows you to get over hazardous things that would hurt you otherwise.  The boss here is a statue.

The next level is Transylvania to get the coin of the lost realm.  This level has ghosts that you cannot defeat and must dodge.  They fly at varying heights and bob up and down, so they can be difficult to avoid.  The boss here is Magica De Spell.

The third level is the African Mine to get the giant diamond of the inner earth.  This level has several mine carts to ride and boulders to flee from.  While other levels have these too, this level has the most.  The boss is the king of a race of creature called the Terra Firmas.  

The next level is the Himalayas to get the lost crown of Ganges Kahn.  You cannot use your pogo jump freely because you get stuck in the snow if you don’t get out of Pogo jump before you hit the snow.  While you can get out quickly by jumping, in the split second it takes you to get out, you can get hit by an enemy. The boss is a yeti.

The next level is the moon to get the green cheese of longevity.  There are lots of floating enemies here, and many pitfalls that will kill you instantly if you fall in.  This stage is the most fun and I recommend you save it for last.  The boss is a giant rat.

Scrooge now has all five treasures.  But they, along with Huey, Dewey, and Louie, are stolen by Magica De Spell, and you have to go to Magica’s lair to get them back.  This stage is the hardest, as it is the final level, and the boss here is Count Dracula Duck.  When you defeat him, the boys are set free, but we’re not done yet.  Scrooge must race Magica to his first dime, the ransom for setting the boys free.  When you get it, you must climb to the top quickly to avoid the lava.  After this, watch the ending and the credits.  

When you start the game you have three hearts.  Each heart can take two hits before being drained, so you have six hits between you and death.  Each stage, with the exception of the money bin and Magica’s lair, has a hidden heart.  They are well hidden and must be searched for well.  You can have eight hearts, or sixteen hit points.  You defiantly want those extra hit points.

Also, there is money littering every level, and you want as much of it as you can get, because you use it to buy art and the like from the shop.  You won’t be able to get enough money to buy everything in your first play through, but the game lets you replay every level after you beat the final boss and win the game.

A great tribute to its twenty four year old predecessor.  DuckTales Remastered gets a five out of five.