It’s no shock that anyone who’s followed this site and my Playing With Power reviews knows that I love the NES. And among the many classic carts of the great grey box, one of my all time favorites is DuckTales, the Capcom/Disney adaptation of the beloved 1980’s cartoon. And it’s clear that I’m not alone in my love of Uncle Scrooge and his cane pogo magic, as the game is often considered by many as one of the greatest games of all time. So, when from out of the blue Capcom and Wayforward Studios announced a HD remake of the game, the world rejoiced, as it’s been long overdue for a trip back to Duckburg.
When the trailer hit back in April, it wet the whistles of those kids of the 80’s, who can’t get that darn theme out of their heads. Since then bits and pieces of information was being released. This included not only was every level in the game being brought back in glorious HD, but a new bonus level inside Scrooge’s beloved money bin. But the most exciting piece of news to come from the game’s announcement was that there would be cut scenes complete with the entire surviving voice cast, including 92 year old Alan Young reprising his classic role as Scrooge McDuck.
This past week, IGN released gameplay footage of the Amazon and Transylvania levels. And after watching the videos, here’s my current thoughts on the game.
First off, level design is excellent. They look almost exactly like the original levels, with some notable deviations. Character and enemy sprites are all fully animated and look like they leaped out of the classic Disney cartoon, with the levels looking very polished and 3D. I honestly don’t feel the two looks clash at all with one another. While levels for the most part look about the same, the boss fights are definitely given a much needed boost in challenge. No longer just wait for the enemy to get close and bop them on the head with a cane pogo. It should be interesting to see how tough these fights get in harder difficulties.
My next thing to praise is the music. Every tune from the game is getting a new version, and the ones that I’ve heard so far all sound not only epic, but extremely faithful to the originals. And while they have yet to release either footage of the Moon level, or the new version of the Moon theme, I can only imagine they’ve done an epic job. So far the tune I enjoy the most is the upgraded Boss theme.
But the one thing that excited me the most from the footage was hearing the voice cast return. It feels just like the old show again. All the surviving members of the show’s cast appear to be back including Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Launchpad McQuack, The Beagle Boys, and Magica De Spell, voiced one again by the legendary June Foray. While June doesn’t exactly match her version from the show, it’s understandable given the fact that she’s 95, and the show ended almost 25 years ago. It’s a shame though that we won’t have the likes of Hal Smith, Hamilton Camp, or Joan Gerber reprising their roles as Flintheart Glomgold, Gyro Gearloose, Gizmoduck, or Mrs. Beakley. But the sheer fact that the surviving cast is back at all is amazing.
So my thoughts are that this looks like an amazing remake of the original DuckTales game. It looks like no expense was spared to make this a true reimagining of the game, while also staying faithful to the original. Hopefully the success of this game will lead to more projects in the future, including the possibility of a new Chip ‘N Dale’s Rescue Ranger game complete with 4-player co-op. I can’t be the only one who’d want that.
So, in the end of it all, I’m definitely excited to play this game. While I doubt it will fully replace the original in terms of my love and admiration, it’s still looking to be an awesome tribute to one of the greatest games and cartoons of all time. It definitely feels like a project of love and admiration being done by people who want to bring Ducktales back to the generation that grew up with it, and also introducing a new generation to a classic series. Now if only Capcom would do the same with Mega Man, and you know, not cancel every project under the sun.
DuckTales Remastered will be released later this summer on multiple platforms including the Wii U, PS3 and the Xbox 360.