My Month In Games: August 2013

DuckTales Remastered - PSN

If you’re my age (early to mid 30s) then you no doubt have fond memories of the original DuckTales for NES and of the cartoon on which it was based.  I can’t speak for the freshness of the show (not having seen it in many years) but in my opinion the original NES title still holds up fairly well.  Created by Capcom and built on the Mega Man engine, it’s a solid platformer that challenges you to comb every square inch of its half dozen stages in search of jewels and other treasures.  Though I wouldn’t call it a groundbreaking work, it is a satisfying game nonetheless, highlighted by its tight controls, pleasant graphics, and top-notch soundtrack.  

Fans of the original will be glad to know that in this remake by WayForward (Double Dragon Neon, Adventure Time), every aspect that made the original so good is lovingly kept intact.  The fun and intuitive gameplay, the secret passages and hidden treasures, the awesome music in the Transylvania stage…it’s all here and it’s been spruced up in a most enjoyable way.  Additions to the game include two new stages (in the form of a short tutorial and a new endgame sequence) and slightly more challenging boss fights.  DuckTales Remastered also places much greater emphasis on storytelling than its NES counterpart does.  This turns out to be something of a double edged sword.  On one hand I appreciate the fact that they fleshed out the story and assembled the original voice cast of the television show to reprise their roles, but the cutscenes are numerous and lengthy and I found myself skipping most of them in favor of getting back to the action.  Another potential drawback is the overall length of the game.  Even with the two new levels it’s possible to beat the game in just a few hours.  I feel that I got my money’s worth given that the original was also short and the PSN download only cost me $15, but I’m just throwing that out there.  Highly recommended for fans of the original, cautiously recommended to those with no prior experience.

Grade: B

DuckTales 2 – NES

Released in 1993, late in the NES’s lifecycle, DuckTales 2 is a game that I imagine I would have enjoyed had I not already moved on to the Genesis and Super NES.  A number of the reviews I've read for this game criticize it for being more of the same, but that's not entirely true.  Yes, it's got the same non-linear, treasure hunting, pogo hopping, side scrolling action that the original had, but this time around Scrooge can obtain powerups for his cane and you can revisit stages you've already cleared in order to find more treasures and access previously unreachable areas.  My only criticism is a minor one (the music is far less catchy) but in all other ways this is a worthy followup to its highly enjoyable predecessor.  Honestly, I wish that WayForward would have remastered this game as well.  I would have happily paid double for a 2-in-1 sort of deal and it definitely would have made for a more enticing (and lengthy) retro-gaming proposition. Anyway, good game.

Grade: B-