I am about to blaspheme, but I never really played Duck Tales on the original NES. I watched friends play it, I knew it existed, but I never really sat down and played through it. So the excitement for the remake of Duck Tales didn’t hit me like the rest of the internet. However, walking by the Capcom booth, I couldn’t pass up those adorable cartoon-accurate graphics.
I am happy I got a chance to hop on to the demo (get it? hop?). It may just be because I am older now, but there is nothing like a simple game with amazingly tight controls to remind me why I enjoy this medium. In fact, this may have been the most fun I had at E3, and you’ve probably heard me talk about it on The SideQuest last week. That surely says a lot for WayForward’s efforts of re-imagining this classic NES title, but it may also say just as much about my age.
It was humorous to hear people passing by the stations and exclaiming “Oh, Duck Tales! That’s like the old school one, on Super Nintendo or something?” These damn kids today with their GoPro Cameras and their myPod touches and their MacPro Air computers. More than once did I hear people talk about this game with seemingly little to no knowledge of its roots. So it is commendable that Capcom is taking a chance on publishing a remake of a game from a TV show that hasn’t been in public consciousness for almost 25 years.
However, you need know nothing of its roots to enjoy this. The animations and model accuracy of the characters makes your 5 year old self weep inside. As I said, I didn’t play the original when I was a kid, but did give it a whirl when I was older. I always found it a little confusing to understand the goal of each level, and ultimately spent my time bouncing around mindlessly until I died. That’s not the case here, thankfully.
The great visuals are coupled with a new fleshing out of the plot with cutscenes that are voiced by some of the original actors, helping you understand the goals of each level. The mini cutscenes provided as you progress through the level, along with a map that shows you areas yet to be explored, really help keep the pacing right so that you aren’t confused like you may have been in the original. Each time one came on, a friend watching me play instantly had a smile on his face from ear to ear hearing all of the old TV show’s voices come back to life, as it was one of his favorite shows growing up. The animations are great. The movements of the enemies, the scrolling backgrounds, and even when Scrooge McDuck gets eaten by a piranha plant, all breathe life into our memories of the original. Capcom nailed it from that respect.
The demo had two levels on display: the Amazon and a Transylvania level. Not knowing the original game like the back of my hand, I personally can’t tell for sure if these are bit for bit recreations of the original level or if they have new elements inspired by the source material. At any rate, they look amazing, and play perfectly.
There is no where for this game to go but up in my opinion, and luckily I wont have to wait long to download on the game device of my liking. Duck Tales: Remastered hits XBLA, PSN, PC and Wii U later this summer.
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