You know this theme song by heart, I know it.

[Pressing Start Intensifies]

Now that we got the best part of remembering DuckTales out of the way (which is the theme song, let's not try to tell ourselves any differently) let's go into why the remastering of the awesome NES game is a fantastic value for both platforming fans, fans of the original game, fans of the original TV, or anyone that enjoys classic video games.

For those of you wondering, yes this is the exact same game as the original on the Nintendo Entertainment System...but with a few extra bells and whistles. Those that aren't aware of what "the same game" means, well it's simple. Scrooge McDuck, the richest duck in DuckBerg, decides to go on some adventures to find five rare treasures; adventures that may or may not include his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and niece Webbigail. With multiple appearances by other characters like Launchpad McQuack, GizmoDuck, and Scrooge's rival Flintheart Glumgold. Glumgold and other series icon Magica De Spell appear as villains in this game but are not necessarily the only things that end up in your way as you play the game.

As an old school NES game it runs as a platformer video game, and with that in mind DuckTales was built using the classic MegaMan engine. You jump on enemies like many platformers but in order to damage them (and in order to avoid damaging yourself) you hold the action button to bounce on Scrooge's cane. Bouncing on enemies is how you defeat them or bosses as well as traverse through hazards in levels, gain extra height to reach a collectible, or cross through bottomless pits. You can also use the cane while in a standing position to hit rocks and send them towards enemies with a hard golf swing. I assume a rich duck like Scrooge likes golf. Going through the levels you obtain diamonds for money. Money is your 'score' and you can save up money you collect in each level to unlock extras in the remastered version of the game. Small diamonds are $2,000, big diamonds are $10,000, and red diamonds are worth $50,000. You start the game with 3 hearts (one hit = one heart of damage) but you can find special items that extend your health by 1 heart (to a maximum of 8). 

The amount of love and detail that WayForward put to recreating the game is honestly amazing. I personally respect a company like them that goes so far out of their way to make it more than just an "HD facelift".

If you bump into Scrooge's maid, Mrs.Beakley, she'll give you items to restore your health and a 1-up, and given that the game can be hard for even seasoned game veterans (at least the final level and epilogue climbing sequence) this is welcomed, I feel. 

What makes the game last longer than an hour though (since the levels themselves are relatively short. Again, they were all made on a Mega Man engine) is the dialogue COMPLETELY VOICED BY THE ORIGINAL VOICE ACTORS! Bless Alan Young whom, at the age of 92, has returned to voice Scrooge McDuck for this game and still rocking the role. Hearing all of the characters interact while the story continues and going through the adventures just makes me feel like I'm watching the old cartoon again. Going through the Amazons and finding some ancient coin, Scrooge rescuing his newphews in a haunted mansion while dealing with Magic De Spell, and going to the Moon itself for some strange moon cheese just reeks of old cartoon episode ideas.

Now while I've been gushing over about the details of the base game the extras so far all I've spoken about are the HD 'face lift' in visuals and dialogue. The money that you collect can be used to buy extra pictures in the gallery which can range from pictures of sprite comparisons of characters and concept art OR you can unlock music tracks from BOTH THE REMASTERED AND NES ORIGINAL CHIPTUNE SOUNDTRACK, and two categories of artwork you can unlock from the actual cartoon.

If there's only one thing I can say that makes a negative impact on myself as a gamer and what may be detrimental to someone looking to buy it, is that the amount of dialogue can be considered needless padding. HOWEVER if you're not someone who gets easily irritable at story segments (especially those that were added in to make this feel more like an interactive segment of the 1989-1991 cartoon) and you've got enough patience to also deal with the difficulty you shouldn't be swayed away from it. Also because it's still an NES game that's been given a facelift, any and all difficulty is thrown out the window once you memorize enemy patterns and item locations. It's just -that- kind of oldschool video game y'know? 

But that's okay, because it doesn't have to be a full fledged AAA trillion dollar game to be satisfying. It's fun for the audience that wants it and goes more than out of its way to satisfy any nostalgic urges you're looking for..and.........I mean it's DuckTales! How can you be an angry curmudgeon about DuckTales?! I say you can't! It's impossible!

It's available right now across all the current platforms (with exception to Xbox One and Playstation 4) both digitally AND for retail and I suggest if you want an old school game in your collection then please give this game a purchase. 

....because if the success of this game is good enough then WayForward will bring MORE Disney classic remakes to video games like Darkwing Duck and Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers...and THAT IS RADICAL!