DuckTales Remastered

The days of 8- and 16-bit games are long behind the gaming industry. A majority of the titles today, even Indie/non-AAA studio projects are constantly leaning more towards updated graphics with crisp shaders, lighting, shadows, and the list could go on forever. However, the graphics of a game are hardly a good indicator of weather or not that game is good or was made with care. In fact, there has been a minor rise in lower-bit gaming that has been noticeable in titles like Celeste, Stardew Valley, and Terraria, all titles that were made with great attention to detail in a pixel art form. DuckTales Remastered takes a page right from this book, but instead of making an entirely new game, revamps and reworks a beloved older title. Not only does it deliver on the nostalgia you may have for it, but it also expands upon an already impressive title with a revitalized artistic touch.

Reimagined Capitalist Adventure

Playing as Scrooge McDuck is basically like existing at the peak of capitalist exploitation. However, the massive fortune that Scrooge already has is not enough for him, so its up to him and his three nephews to plunder the five Legendary Treasures from their hidden depths. If you’re looking to relive the original NES DuckTales in all its glory, that has the platforming and style of the original Metroid, you’re in the right place. Though the story is essentially identical (it IS a remaster, so its no surprise), much of the game has been totally reworked to fit in the modern era. I think what I was impressed by the most was the revoicing work that was done by the cast.

Looking back, I don’t know why I expected any less, but it was great to hear these voices that matched the way I’d always played the original when I was a kid. The environments and overall setting are lovingly redesigned. Every aspect of this game remains true to the original with great effect. Its vibrant, the music is fantastically remixed while maintaining their uniqueness, and everything just works better than ever.

Find the Legendary Treasures

The actual gameplay is still just as solid as it was nearly 30 years ago. All of the large crystals and hidden treasures are still where they used to be and each level operates in the same way as it originally did. Most of the bugs and issues that plagued the original have also been rectified. I’d like to praise the actual gameplay more, but it did leave a bit to be desired from a remaster that’s so far in the future. Clearly, a lot of love and labor went into crafting the setting and art designs – but for a remaster, there was little else offered to do. The level design is alright but was left unchanged and felt odd/clunky to play through compared to other remasters.

A lot of the hitboxes were way to large and/or small, causing frustration. Finally, despite the reworked controls, there were still some points, especially when using the pogo stick, where they were still jittery. Realistically, the last two are minor gripes, but the lack of innovative level design, given the care seen elsewhere, was disappointing.

Pros:

• Great new art design
• Voice actors revamped
• Gameplay much tighter this time around

Cons:

• Nothing new aside from some controls/all visuals
• Sometimes difficult for the ‘wrong’ reasons (controls, hitboxes, etc.)