DuckTales Remastered - XBLA/PSN/WiiU/PC, Developed by WayForward

[TheOcelot]

I completed the Transylvania level. Then when the game was auto-saving (the screen goes black) it just froze. I had to shutdown and restart my PS3. When I loaded the game up and continued with my current save file, it went straight to the result screen and tallied up what I had collected in Transylvania. So despite the game freezing - some sort of save glitch - I didn't lose any progress.

 

As for the game itself, the voices and dialogue really brings the nostalgia. The graphics makes the game look very retro, a nice touch. The controls and how to move with the pogo stick does take some getting used to, as does the tricky difficulty. Sometimes I land perfectly on top of an enemy (with the pogo stick) and I still take damage.

 

I'm playing Easy mode because it's more forgiving and the game is thus more enjoyable.

 

I like this game and the level design, but the gameplay isn't perfect.

Edited August 14, 2013 by -Bender- Wolverine

[AlphaRuby]

I'm hearing that some people are having button lag and freezing problems on Ducktales Remastered. In that case, I'll wait until a patch is made.

[LunarEdge]

I'm hearing that some people are having button lag and freezing problems on Ducktales Remastered. In that case, I'll wait until a patch is made.

Any word on that happening with the Wii U version? I plan to gameshare the ps3 version with a friend but as I said before, gotta show wayforward some love and buy it anyway, so I figured why not the Wii U version. While I'm at it.... does the Wii U version support playing on the pad screen?

[AlphaRuby]

Any word on that happening with the Wii U version? I plan to gameshare the ps3 version with a friend but as I said before, gotta show wayforward some love and buy it anyway, so I figured why not the Wii U version. While I'm at it.... does the Wii U version support playing on the pad screen?

I'm mostly hearing that problem from the PS3 version.

[Conando]

The Wii U version plays fine to me. There's been some slowdown at points, but no button lag or freezing.

[Jango]

I'll get this by saturday. Not spoiling anything 'till there. And duck the reviews, I just want to relive my childhood, DuckTales was the first game I've ever played in my life (actually was DuckTales 2, but anyway, I've played both on my NES back in the day).

[t0ms0nic]

Right, so got this on the PS3 last night and finished about an hour ago on Easy difficulty. Had no experience with the original and barely watched the cartoon, so this was all fresh to me. In short; love it, a few niggling issues aside, and hope there's DuckTales 2 Remastered and maybe even a third game done in the original sprite style, like Mega Man 9 and 10. Would eat those right up.

Expanding a bit, I see what the reviewers meant about the story being pretty forced on you once you start replaying stages. Amazon and it's dozen cutscenes relative to each coin are jarring as hell in particular, though the other levels aren't as guilty in the least. Which is fine, since I basically only replay Transylvania; amazing DuckStep is the icing on the cake. Doesn't mean they shouldn't have stripped the story after the ending or added an option to cut the scenes, it's clearly a lack of foresight for replaying and the pause + skip option is just a last minute idea.

Only other problems are with the pogo; it rarely doesn't happen/respond, not being able to do it on the far edges of surfaces (Unless this is intentional? Jarring when trying to pogo across pits and it suddenly cutting out and falling off...) and sometimes getting hit when doing it on those spiders and other such enemies as they're going up and immediately cancelling the pogo, presumably from the hitbox still going up while it actually dies.

While not a complaint, I'd have loved if the original game was unlockable, even if just for daring to finish on the highest difficulty. Considering the added story, the timer being stripped off and the new areas and physics, in addition to just never playing it, I'd really have liked the original as well just because it's still got it's own feel to it, if not to help compare what was changed for the better and worse. Better be an eShop NES Virtual Console release for this (3DS needs in on it too!).

Otherwise, it's a rock solid game on every front and is further proof of WayForward's talents! A definite recommendation for anyone even remotely interested. Can't wait to get hold of the music, the remastered DuckTales Theme in particular is stellar and sounds amazing blared through amps.

[TheOcelot]

Just completed the African Mines stage. 

 

I must say:

 

I love the section (in the hub area) where if you go to the centre of the room (Scrooge's office), you can climb into Scrooge's money bin/vault and dive in his money. When Scrooge surfaces he spits out money JUST LIKE IN THE CARTOON! That is a wonderful nostalgic touch.

 

Look at the video from 0:19

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CMU2NwaaXEA&t=20

 

Once you have collected the main piece of treasure from each stage, that piece of treasure also appears in the money bin. Another nice touch.

 

Also, I love Mrs Beagley cameos.

Edited August 15, 2013 by -Bender- Wolverine

[Stasis]

Completed it on medium and now half way through hard mode. Absolutely loving it! it actually felt like I was on adventure or watching/playing an episode of Ducktales. Even though this is a remaster, it also feels like a completely new game. Give it a try.

[BlueTidalGamer]

Recent Steam update has fixed the Hard Pogo controls. Now it handles wonderfully.

 

Granted I beat the game first playthrough with them on and on hard difficulty but at times the pogo didn't activate. Not the case now.

Edited August 15, 2013 by BlueTidalGamer

[Conando]

So, the Steam version was patched already because, WayForward forgot to remove this from the final build.

 

 

You could press Space Bar and the stage clear text would be replaced with that. The patch got rid of that. Must have been a joke one of the programmers left for another one.

[Doctor MK]

ONM Review: 62%

 

"While far from being a bad game, Duck Tales Remastered is a huge missed opportunity and a sad day for fans who were expecting so much more."

 

I've been playing through the game on my Wii U and I can definitely understand the criticisms about the length - I'm on the final level after just a couple of hours - but I for one am thoroughly enjoying the experience. No, it's not perfect by today's standards, but the gameplay feels pretty solid just like a classic NES game would, and finding gems is a compelling enough reason to want to go back and play through it all again after I'm done.

[TheOcelot]

The final section in DuckTales on hard mode can go fuck itself.

 

The final boss isn't the problem:

 

It's the bit after. It's hard enough beating the enemy to the 'first coin'. One slip up when climbing and you won't make it in time. It's the bit after that sequence - where you have to climb fast before the fire gets you - which I hate with a passion. I made it almost to safety when a bit of collision detection fucked me, and I had the same problem when I tried again. So I lost all my lives.

 

This is so frustrating as I had made it to the final level - in hard mode - without losing all my lives in the previous stages.

I'm rather pissed off!

 

Edit: Finally beat hard mode. Yay! 

Edited August 16, 2013 by -Bender- Wolverine

[t0ms0nic]

Right, and finished Hard difficulty last night! Managed to clear the whole game without any Game Over, and figured out how to skip one part of the final section via pogoing on the last life, since taking the 'normal'/logical route barely gives you enough time. I'm really surprised at how smoothly the game flows after you learn the layouts and start just going where you need to go; it's like it's built for speedrunning, despite the persisting cutscenes.

 

Tried Extreme difficulty earlier. Got a Game Over in Amazon (aka, automatic first level because I can't be bothered doing them any other order) by being dumb and persisting with the pogo underground, instead of being smart and returning to the surface and going around the other way, and then having a moment of forgetting that the Hard Pogo option is automatically flipped on for Extreme difficulty, so I have to tackle right from the start of the game again. Perpetually keeping the Hard Pogo on is a bit much, after giving you the easier option automatically when starting the game and allowing it on every other mode...

[RK64]

Just started playing and man this game is hard; already got almost 5 game overs, was the original this hard? If any case, I'm not used to the controls yet but I don't get the reviewers statements that the controls are bad, as they feel perfect on my PS3 controller. The visuals look almost exactly like the cartoon (and the cutscenes brought back great memories of watching the show growing up ) and the music is incredible.

 

I have to say it was well worth its 15 dollar price tag and I cant what to continue playing, and dying in the game

[TheOcelot]

TSSZ review of DuckTales remastered

 

4/5, and the only thing he complains about is the price.

 

DuckTales for the NES is one of those legendary games you hear people refer back to when they talk about the days where cartoon-licensed video games weren’t of dubious quality. Me, I grew up not really “getting” the game. DuckTales was obviously from a different era; an era in which you had to fend for yourself with games and actually read the instruction manual to understand anything about what to do. I had come years after this era. To the untrained eye, DuckTales looks like just another action game, but its distinct emphasis on non-linear exploration left me bewildered. The game seemed arbitrary and confusing; I would aimlessly wander around levels until eventually stumbling on a boss encounter and then be dumped back at a level select menu. It didn’t make any sense. What was the point of it all? What was my overarching goal? There didn’t seem to be one. It wasn’t until I watched somebody guide me through DuckTales within the last couple years that the game finally clicked with me. The door opened, and suddenly, yes: DuckTales was awesome.

When WayForward announced DuckTales Remastered, alarm bells immediately began going off. Pre-release media suggested that the game was going to receive massive changes: though they never outright said it, a making-of documentary seemed to imply that the game had been dumbed down and streamlined in to the same kind of linear action game I originally assumed it to be so many years ago. To make matters worse, teasers suggested an inordinately large amount of spoken dialog – video from conventions made it to look as if you were being stopped every few feet for Scrooge to banter on with Launchpad or his nephews for extended amounts of time, completely destroying the flow of the game. It seemed as though DuckTales Remastered was becoming something that definitely was not the DuckTales NES we knew and loved.

I’m happy to report that almost every single fear of mine turned out to be completely unfounded, and DuckTales Remastered even goes a long way to improving the original game. It’s actually kind of impressive how WayForward zeroed in on exactly what I originally found confusing about the NES version: the general lack of goal. The original game was mainly about exploring an area to collect money, and once you were bored with that, you could fight a boss encounter and move on to the different level. But there was nothing really stopping you from just amassing infinite wealth, by accident or otherwise. Levels were often built so that they constantly looped back in on themselves, almost like a Metroid game. It was easy to get lost and even easier to not know what you were even supposed to do in these areas.

Remastered corrects this by slotting a little bit of extra narrative in to the game. A brisk (and new) tutorial level in Scrooge’s money bin reveals a treasure map, leading Scrooge to travel the world in search of riches. From there, each of the game’s five levels play out almost like a miniature episode of the DuckTales Saturday Morning Cartoon, complete with fully-voiced dialog by most of the show’s original cast. While I was fully prepared to be completely annoyed by their constant nattering, the moment I heard the original voices for the Beagle Boys all of that faded away as I lost myself in uncontrollable nostalgia. Most of the actors nail their performances as if they’d never left, though some, like Scrooge McDuck and Magica De Spell, are definitely showing their ages a bit – the actors for are both more than 90 years old at this point, and while they do an admirable job, they sometimes lack the pep they once had back in the 1980′s. That’s not so much a complaint as it is an observation, however.

The twist is that the added narrative finally gives levels a much needed objective. Everything’s still structured as such that you’re still largely left to explore stages at your own pace, but now you’re exploring them with a real purpose, as opposed to being left to aimlessly wander. WayForward even obliges with a map screen so you can keep track of where you’ve already been. How much plot each stage has varies depending on locale; the opening to The Amazon stops you seemingly ever few steps as Scrooge uncovers 8 gold coins used to open up the second half of the stage, while The African Mines level is largely plot-free, outside the brief intro and boss scenes. On the bright side, if the new cutscenes bother you, there’s always the option to skip them from the pause menu.

So then I guess the question comes down to this: does DuckTales still hold up? As somebody who did not know how to really enjoy the game until a couple years ago, I’d say yes. Does DuckTales Remastered do the original game justice? For the most part, that’s also a yes. WayForward took a classic NES game and modernized it in the best way possible, while still retaining that specific “DuckTales” feel in the controls and music. The only question I cannot answer is what this does for you if you’re either too old or too young to have seen much of the DuckTales cartoon in its prime. But I suppose that was the thing: people loved the original DuckTales because it transcended merely being a licensed game and was legitimately enjoyable on its own merits. Of course, with the extra storyline hooks in Remastered, it now matters a little more to have an understanding of who these characters are and how they interact with one another, though probably not enough that it would ruin your enjoyment of the game if you weren’t familiar with things.

If there was one major downside to DuckTales Remastered it would be the length, but I even hesitate to call that a negative. Fans of the original NES game will know that even casual playthroughs can usually take less than an hour, and while Remastered is most definitely a lot longer than that, it’s still the kind of game you can finish in a single sitting. Upon checking my gameplay stats after beating the game, my completion time read just shy of three hours. There’s nothing wrong with short games, but its $15 price tag feels just a little bit too expensive. I guess I also ran in to a few tech problems while playing the PC version, too – on my system, the game has a habit of crashing after every level I beat (thankfully, I never lost any progress). Presumably that won’t be an issue in the future – WayForward is already soliciting feedback in the official Steam forums in an effort to track down and squash bugs like these.

If DuckTales Remastered were $10, I wouldn’t have any trouble recommending it to anyone and everyone. Unfortunately, at $15, I’m a little more inclined to recommend this to fans of the original DuckTales cartoon – if only because I found myself so overwhelmed by nostalgia while playing Remastered that I have difficulty rationalizing what it must be like not to overtly love these characters and their continued adventures. The Disney Afternoon was my childhood, and as a result, I came away from this game with a big dumb grin on my face. And really, that’s just about the best outcome you could hope for.

RATING: 4 Stars Out of 5

 

Edited August 17, 2013 by -Bender- Wolverine

[Emmett L. Brown]

Honestly, bottomless pits and knockback damage are the bread and butter of NES era platformer difficulty. Those reviewers should know well what they were getting themselves into. I'm 2 game overs into the last level on Medium difficulty, but I haven't found anything unfair about the challenge of the game.

 

I've seen a few players completely forget that you can duck in this game, though, which is necessary for avoiding a number of hazards outside of the minecart sections. The duck can duck.

[Thigolf]

I died to the final boss and in the last section of the game simply because my cane didn't hit dead center of the boss/a small platform. Knockback damage and bottomless pits? Fine, but dieing because the cane didnt activate or didnt hit is not a fair challenge.

[Emmett L. Brown]

I died to the final boss and in the last section of the game simply because my cane didn't hit dead center of the boss/a small platform. Knockback damage and bottomless pits? Fine, but dieing because the cane didnt activate or didnt hit is not a fair challenge.

That's an exagerration, but I do agree it's annoying that the pogo won't activate if you hit the edge of a platform.

 

Come to think of it, I've played a lot of platformers where the buttons won't respond if you're at the very edge. Sonic Colors wouldn't let you jump, but since there were no pixel perfect jump requirements I never noticed until somebody described it.

[TheOcelot]

More reviews for DuckTales:

 

16 Aug - Digital Spy (PSN)

 

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/review/a507274/ducktales-remastered-review-psn-its-a-duck-blur.html

 

3/5.

 

16 Aug - Den Of Geek (Wii U)

 

http://www.denofgeek.com/games/ducktales-remastered/26920/ducktales-remastered-wii-u-review

 

3/5.

Edited August 17, 2013 by -Bender- Wolverine

[TheOcelot]

Sorry to double post.

 

Just unlocked a really tricky achievement/trophy "Look Ma, No Spats", where you are required to constantly bounce on a pogo stick (without Scrooge's feet touching the ground once), in the underground section of the Amazon level. I tried about 20 times before I nailed it.

 

I found two glitches in DT:

 

When you are very high up In the Moon level and you need to jump across some death pits; twice I noticed that a red alien - you need to bounce on to get across - wasn't there, which caused me to fall - in surprise - and lose a life. I noted that if you move to a different location and then return, the alien does re-appear.

Also, in the boss fight of the Money Bin stage, on one occasion the high up safe - which you use to attack the Beagle Boy boss - just disappeared. Therefore, I was unable to defeat the boss and had to restart it.

 

Has anyone else encountered these glitches? I'm playing the PSN version. I hope these are fixed in a patch.

 

I had a brief try at Extreme mode. Will try and complete it some other time. 

Edited August 18, 2013 by -Bender- Wolverine

[Emmett L. Brown]

I'm surprised to find that Hard difficulty is significantly easier than Medium, if only because all the full health cakes are replaced with 1-ups. Even so with fewer heart containers.

[Jango]

Just start playing this morning, on normal, and it's great. BUT, I'm having issues with the pogo jump, it can be very unresponsive, I've actually died a couple of times because of it. Looks like I have to press the square button really hard to make it work or something, not to mention you have to press square twice when falling from an edge to activate it. Completed the Amazon stage and played a lil' of the Transylvania so far, graphically, it's beautiful, the hand-draw sprites are lovely. The music is ducking awesome, could've not been better, the Transylvania is freaking AMAZING. I'm also happy that the game have PT-BR subtitles (I reaaally hoping for a patch that adds PT-BR VA as well!). Overhall, it's a love letter for the NES fans indeed.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Jango

[TheOcelot]

Start of rant..............................

 

I am really pissed off with DuckTales at the moment.  I have tried a few times to beat Extreme difficulty mode without success.

 

Twice today I tried to beat the game on Extreme, and on both occasions, after I beat a stage the picture just went blank and the game froze. This happened with my first attempt after beating the Himilayan stage, and on my second attempt when I beat the Transylvania stage. So I had to turn off and restart my PS3.

 

What makes this worse, is that in Extreme mode your progress isn't saved until you beat the game. Unlike the lower difficulties which save your progress after each stage. This means I have to start Extreme mode again from the beginning everytime, and because the difficulty is so cheap - due to the hard pogo controls and less extra lives - it's immensely frustrating.

 

The game has only ever frozen in Extreme mode, which is odd. 

 

Has anyone else had this issue (I know it's not a problem with my PS3 as all my other games are working fine)?

 

Dear Capcom. DT is a lovely little game, BUT WILL YOU PLEASE FIX THESE ISSUES WITH A PATCH!!!

 

...............end of rant.

 

To be honest, you don't need to beat Extreme mode to get full enjoyment from this game. Still....it would be nice to be able to do it at least once.  

Edited August 25, 2013 by -Bender- Wolverine

[Cola]

DUCKTALES REMASTERED IS HEADED TO STORE SHELVES IN DISK FORM

 

 

 

 

Bless those bagpipes, fans of physical media! DuckTales: Remastered will be getting a disc and box on store shelves across North America starting November 12th. Available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U at $19.99, DuckTales: Remastered will have a disc-based alternative to what players can currently enjoy on XBLA, PSN, Wii U eShop and Steam.