Disney DuckTales: Remastered

A masterclass in classic platformer design, DuckTales: Remastered may be over quickly, but it's a nostalgic trip that will certainly inspire a few smiles. [Issue#104, p.83]

Wayforward Technologies has done an excellent job of taking an old classic and giving it a fresh update for a new generation.

DuckTales Remastered is a brilliant remake of a classic game. The levels are rebuilt and just like you remember them on the NES. DuckTales Remastered serves you a delicious nostalgic feeling, but I think this game would fit better on a handheld console.

DuckTales: Remastered is a renovated and revitalised golden child which when all is said and done shows its age regardless of the effort imparted to hide such truths.

DuckTales Remastered looks great, but WayForward's tinkering has led to a disappointing remake. What used to be a simple story about an adventurous duck has suddenly become the type of long-winded story Hideo Kojima would be proud of.

It's a faithful remake, but it dredges up a lot of what was wrong with the original game, and the fun lasts barely as long as it'll take you to hum the theme tune.

For its target audience - those late 20s, early 30s gamers who remember blowing on the NES cart's connectors when it wouldn't load - the impact of WayForward's high-purity dose of old-fashioned platforming has been diluted by the new wrapping. Even those new backgrounds, as lovely as they are, pull the eye away from the parts of the level that have actually been recreated. For the Pixar generation, meanwhile, there's just a quaint, old-school platformer here, starring a character of whom they've never heard.

Nostalgia does play a huge part in why this is somewhat successful - if you were part of that era, the memories that’ll come flooding back make it almost worth the purchase alone.

If anything, I'll blame DuckTales Remastered's shortcomings on the current state of digital pricing. It's unfortunate that a short but near-perfect game had to be weighed down with so much extraneous material, seemingly for the sake of padding out its length to justify a premium-priced digital release.

It all works, but the majority of additions detract from the original's charm. A shame. [Nov 2013, p.73]

Maybe it’s worth checking out for the average ’90s Gamer and a new generation but the original remains the primary experience.

A dream come true for fans of the original but there’s nothing here for anyone else, especially given the tiresome new story elements and obnoxious difficulty.

It’s easy to admire the developer’s evident love for the NES game – it’s clearly been handled with the kind of care only a genuine fan would provide – but after a few repetitive hours bouncing around DuckTales’ pretty but unremarkable worlds you’ll begin to realise that some treasures aren’t worth the effort of unearthing.