Developed by Capcom, it became a firm fan favourite and garnered extremely positive reviews. Now, nearly 25 years on and DuckTales Remastered is available.

So here we are, a side scrolling platform game where bouncing on baddies’ heads and collecting gems is the order of the day. Like all games of its ilk, it’s fairly repetitive, with levels completed through trial and error rather than sheer skill, and enemies respawning the minute you wander to the next screen. Mis-time a jump or clip an enemy thanks to the dodgy collision detection and you’ll shed some health, eventually dying and having to restart a few screens away. Don’t worry though, you’ll discover plenty of ice cream and cake that will help to prolong your life a little.

"The character animations are charming and the backgrounds are sufficiently detailed. Equally, the voice acting is faithful to the old show. "

On tougher difficulties, it can be massively frustrating but at least that means it’s faithful to the 8-bit original. After navigating the shortish levels and perhaps collecting an object or two, you’ll come face to face with a big boss that is generally easy to conquer thanks to their formulaic attacks. There are some hidden passageways and treasures on each level so ensure you check everywhere and explore. The more treasures and money you accrue, the more bonuses you’ll unlock in the form of characters, concept art and music.

Visually, everything’s been given a nice modern polish and the graphics and crisp and sharp, with a pseudo 3D feel to them. The character animations are charming and the backgrounds are sufficiently detailed. Equally, the voice acting is faithful to the old show. There are a few too many cutscenes for my liking but fortunately, these are all skippable.

Given the fact that none of the levels or bosses are particularly taxing, the game really won’t take too long to complete. After an initial tutorial level, you get to choose from any of the five main missions. These cover pretty much every stereotypical side-scrolling level of yesteryear: The Amazon, Transylvania, African Mines, The Himalayas and The Moon. Complete these and there’s a trip to Mount Vesuvius and a hugely irritating final boss battle. And that’s it.

"It’s a decent enough game but I’m not quite sure who would buy this. Those seeking a trip down memory lane will quickly realise Duck Tales is fairly dated in feel."

It’s certainly faithful to the old TV series – and between levels you can even choose to dive into your vault and swim about in your riches, which is another nostalgic nod to the cartoon. During your quest you’ll stumble upon both friends and foe, including Magica, Fenton, Bubba, Webby, Gyro, Launchpad, Mrs Beakley and those infernal Beagle Boys. And then there’s an appearance of your arch rival, Flintheart Glomgold – the world’s second richest duck – who is after Scrooge’s sacred “Number One Dime” – the first dime he ever earned.

It’s a decent enough game but I’m not quite sure who would buy this. Those seeking a trip down memory lane will quickly realise Duck Tales is fairly dated in feel. A competent gamer will squeeze out only a couple of hours’ gameplay at most. Younger players will most likely find such classic platforming and the bosses frustrating and tricky.

At the princely sum of £11.99 for PC (reviewed here), Duck Tales Remastered is fairly expensive considering the brief playtime and limited replayability. As an aside, it’s also a bit weird that ducks don’t appear to like water in this game, and getting your feet wet means instant death! Still, it’s fun while it lasts and great for fans.

Nostalgia is certainly making a comeback, with Duck Tales Remastered leading the return of classics such as Castle of Illusion, Flashback, Superfrog and The Chaos Engine. Personally, I’ve got my fingers crossed that Quackshot is next on the comeback list!

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Players control the entrepeneurial Scrooge McDuck, as he searches for hidden treasures with trusty cane in hand. It’s 2D platforming by the books, with the unique and addictive mechanic arriving in the form of Scrooge’s pogo jumping. He can land on top of enemies with his cane pointing downwards, allowing him to leap higher in the air. It has been made easier to use this time around, but the simplified controls don’t detract from this genius gameplay mechanic. Bouncing on stuff is fun, plain and simple.

The levels you remember return in full swing and, as in the original, you can tackle them in any order you wish. A few changes have been made to the levels, and a training level in Scrooge’s office also introduces players to the game in a more gentle manner. The changes are for the most part welcome, with the level design holding up well.

"The general flow of gameplay hasn't translated quite so well for this remastered edition, however."

The tunes you associate with each level also shine through spectacularly. The soundtrack has been remastered with a fantastic respect for the source material and, coupled with the luscious hand drawn character sprites, Ducktales has never looked or sounded so good. Full credit also goes to getting the original voice actors for the characters. It’s a shame that age seems to have slowed them down. Their delivery is weak on the whole and, with dialogue regularly interrupting the flow of gameplay for banal descriptions of the treasure you find, original isn’t always best.

The general flow of gameplay hasn’t translated quite so well for this remastered edition, however. The pogo jumping works for the most part, but it occasionally cuts out unexpectedly. It isn’t game breaking but, with only three hits before you die, it can be mighty frustrating to get unfairly hit by an enemy.

Unfair is a word that ultimately sums up the difficulty level in Ducktales Remastered. Normal mode offers you only three three lives before your booted back to the beginning of a level, so it’s very easy to find your hard work on a lengthy stage undone. It’s very frustrating, but the challenge is something you can come to terms with in a game ripped from a time when titles were generally much tougher.

"Ducktales Remastered plays out as you would expect a retro remake, slick, accessible but not quite as polished as the original. "

What doesn’t make sense is how much easier the easy mode is by comparison. Double health and unlimited lives? Don’t insult me. A middle ground would have made a real difference, but there is still an odd charm in the challenge of Ducktales Remastered for the most part.

Ducktales Remastered plays out as you would expect a retro remake, slick, accessible but not quite as polished as the original. Fans of older platformers will find a lot to love in Ducktales, but it’s a much harder sell for everyone else. It’s a brutal and often unfair adventure and, though it looks and sounds gorgeous (minus the voice acting), this beautiful presentation is likely to go over the heads of much of the younger generation. Should you get Ducktales? If you loved the original or have a soft spot for retro 2D platforming, then your curiosity will be satiated, but others should think twice before laying down their cash.

This game was reviewed on Wii U.

Game Overview:

DuckTales Remastered  expands on the original by enhancing the gameplay experience along with high definition graphics. The graphics from the 8-bit game have been mastered beautifully in order to run on more powerful current generation consoles and PC.

The game is published and developed by Capcom and WayForward respectively. The game is available for the PC, Wii U, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Check out the video walk-through of DuckTales Remastered below and let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

For video game guides, tips and wikis, check out our gaming portal here.

Well, Remastered will answer that with its opening level. As producer Rey Jimenez stated to Siliconera, “The Money Bin is an introduction to the story and a tutorial. It sets up why you’re trying to find these legendary treasures. As you go through the Money Bin you find out the Beagle Boys took all of your money. Big Time, the leader of the Beagle Boys, you fight him. Then you find out why Scrooge is going after all these treasures, but I won’t spoil that.”

Also, while the remake will feature far better animations and artwork this time around, it will also be more like an episode of the classic TV show. “We could have gone the easy route and had the same things as the NES [version], but made it prettier. As we added a lot of VO work and more Ducktales TV show presentation to it, it made sense to make each level like an episode.

“To make it feel like an episode of the cartoon, you need to have that explanation of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. The guys at WayForward wanted to present a whole story of why you were going to Himalayas and collecting parts.”

DuckTales Remastered releases in North America on PSN, Nintendo eShop and Steam on August 13th with an Xbox Live Arcade release on September 11.

DuckTales: Remastered will see the platformer return with brand new high-definition graphics and animation. Many classic voice actors from the TV show will lend their voices to the characters, such as Alan Young playing Scrooge McDuck. There will also be extra content such as a new level before the final boss, galleries, a tutorial level in Scrooge’s vault and much more. There will also be tweaks to the gameplay, including a map screen, and some new areas added to the old levels.

Published by Capcom, DuckTales: Remastered will release in North America on PSN, Nintendo eShop and Steam on August 13th with an Xbox Live Arcade version due out on September 11th.

As you can see from the video, Ducktales: Remastered, which releases in August of this year, is a project near and dear to much of the Design team, with many of them having been fans of the original Scrooge McDuck comics as children.

One of more debated aspects of the reimagining centered on the overall character design: With the transition from pixels to clearly animated models, the question arose, did the developers want a style more reminiscent of the original cartoonist, Carl Barks, or did they want to go with something similar to the title’s namesake, the Ducktales television show. While they have incorporated aspects of both, the design seems to favor the television series, as that is how the majority of people who will be playing this game remember the characters.

Another expanded-upon aspect of the game is the number of significant characters. In the original Ducktales, the game was mostly a solo-play as Scrooge, with the other characters in the Scrooge universe acting as helpful or antagonistic NPCs. In this remastering, the beloved “side” characters, such as Scrooge’s nephews, his friend and assistant, Launchpad, and the evil witch Magika will receive larger, more central roles in the game play and story line,

Ducktales: Remastered will release on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, Nintendo eShop, and Steam.

The developers have also released a Duckumentaries video for Ducktales Remastered HD. The developers in the video discuss how the world of the Ducktales was re-created and how the overall development process was happening all throughout.

Let us know if you’re looking forward to playing Ducktales Remastered HD, in the comments section down below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for our review in the game, in the next few weeks.

Capcom has released two new gameplay videos for DuckTales Remastered featuring the Amazon and Transylvania levels along with a batch of new screenshots that can be seen below.

DuckTales Remastered manages to capture the charm, voice acting and animations of Disney classics. Each video is a bout a minute long and is voiced by Launchpad who describes the enemies in the levels and game mechanics that are implemented. However, instead of talking about these videos it would be much better if you see them in person for yourself.

Check out the videos down below:

Amazon level:

Transylvania:

DuckTales Remastered Screenshots:

Let us know if you’re excited to experience the nostalgia from DuckTales Remastered later this Summer when the game gets launched for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U.

Check back on GamingBolt for our E3 2013 coverage and the review of the game when it comes out.

Some guy posted an Imgur picture on Reddit showing a post of Capcom’s senior vice-president Christian Svensson, and why he didn’t post the original link is something even I don’t have any idea of, but it’s not surprising considering the circle jerk on that site.

However, the original post can be found here. Sven says that the voice actor for Scrooge McDuck was 94 years old.

“We have ALL the original voice actors from the show,” he revealed.

“Scrooge’s voice actor is now 94 years old but he still came into the studio and did his thing like a pro. The voice work really adds a lot to the package.”

The game is developed in collaboration with WayForward, Disney and Capcom. The comes to Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and the Wii U e-Shop in Summer 2013.

The remaster was announced at PAX and we also have the trailer for it which you can check out below.